Dolphins Look to Right the Ship in New England
The Miami Dolphins will head to New England to face the Patriots in a Week 5 battle of 1-3 teams. Miami is coming off an embarrassing loss on Monday Night Football to the Tennessee Titans. Miami’s Mike McDaniel will try to avoid two straight losses to rookie head coaches. Brian Callahan got the Titans a victory and the Patriots’ Jerod Mayo looks to right his New England ship this week. Mayo and McDaniel will have to be creative offensively, as their teams are ranked 31st and 32nd respectively in scoring.
For Miami to enter the bye week with a 2-3 record, the defense will have to carry the Dolphins. Anthony Weaver‘s unit has been a relative bright spot. The Dolphins defense has been doing their job, especially on third downs. Weaver’s bunch leads the NFL in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 23.8 percent of the time. On the flip side, New England is 31st in the NFL in third-down defense, allowing a 51.9% opponent conversion rate. That mix matches well for McDaniel and Miami. They will roll once again with quarterback Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, who did not perform well against the Titans.
Huntley could get a familiar face back, so to speak, in wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. The pair were teammates in Baltimore and have connected on scores before as Beckham looks to make his Dolphins’ debut. He will join a Dolphins offense that has yet to provide a lead for the team all season through four games. Despite Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane being weapons, McDaniel’s offense has been firing blanks.
For this offense to succeed, Miami must rely on the run and utilize rookie Jaylen Wright more. He has just 16 rush attempts and one target out of the backfield. An encouraging sign this week was the full participation of fellow running back Jeff Wilson. He is another potentially valuable player on the road this week. Wilson ran well in the fourth quarter, Week 1, in helping Miami beat Jacksonville. The trio of Achane, Wright, and Wilson, hopefully, can hit 20-plus carries. Huntley showed that he is not extremely comfortable in this offense, and that’s not a shock. Complex as it is, Huntley has been in Miami less than a month, which should scream more running on Sunday.
Should the Dolphins move the chains and outplay the Patriots offensively, their defense will have to account for running back Rhamondre Stevenson. He has 267 rushing yards through three games and a pair of touchdowns. Miami’s rushing defense is 16th in the league, giving up 119.5 yards per game. Patriots quarterback and former Dolphins’ backup Jacoby Brissett has been sacked sequentially more in each game this season so far. He was sacked once in Week 1, three times in Week 2, then five times and six times last two games.
The Dolphins will be without Jaelan Phillips for the year after a knee injury suffered last week. Miami will need rookie Chop Robinson to step up, and fellow rookie Mohamed Kamara could make his debut. Phillips was injured on a collision with teammate Jordan Poyer who will miss that game on Sunday as well. Miami will look to have veterans Kendall Fuller and Terron Armstead back, who both missed Monday’s night’s Titans’ game.
Friday’s injury report had wide receivers Malik Washington and Tyreek Hill and cornerback Jalen Ramsey listed as limited but with no game status designation. Miami will need all hands on deck if McDaniel, Weaver, and the Dolphins look to right the ship heading into a much-needed week off. Following the bye, Miami will head to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Following that game, Tua Tagovailoa will be available. Regardless of what may be on the horizon, Miami must beat New England in Week 5, or the season could be heading to a metaphorical iceberg, with or without Tagovailoa.
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