Beautiful day for football up here in New England, as the Dolphins and Patriots are just under three hours away from kicking things off here in week 15.
Today is an absolute must win for Miami if they want to get back in the playoff race, and it's also their toughest of matchup of the season. So yes, it's going to take an A+, picture perfect performance all around for them to pull this thing off.
How can they do it? How can they keep their season alive?
Glad you asked:
1. Start Fast: This is an absolute must today for Miami. You're on the road, in New England, in December, where they haven't lost at home in years. You're also a fragile team that could break at any moment. With all that in mind, you MUST get off to a fast start. If New England comes out strong, I fear this team could quit today.
2. RUN THE FOOTBALL: I'm yelling this because Bill Lazor seems to always forget to do this in the second half. Last week against Baltimore the Dolphins ran the ball THREE TIMES in the second half. Three! Give Lamar Miller the football early and often today, and let that running game get you into manageable third down situations.
3. Replicate the week one pressure: Cam Wake and Olivier Vernon has been nonexistent over the past month. Sorry, but it's true. These two can literally change the course of a football game, Wake in particular, and the Dolphins need them to return to that form today. Remember week one? Wake was in Brady's face all day long. All day. He needs to do it again today if Miami wants to have any shot at winning.
4. Red Zone success/third down success: These are two key areas for Miami today on both sides of the football. Offensively, this team must put itself in manageable third down situations. No third and 11's today. They also must score touchdowns in the red zone. They absolutely cannot afford field goals today, because that doesn't cut it. Defensively, get off the field on third downs (meaning you have to cover Gronkowski), and hold stiff in the red zone (again, meaning you have to cover Gronk). These are two areas Miami MUST be perfect in today.
5. Put em' on: It's a big boy pants day, and every member of the Dolphins 53 man roster must be wearing them if they're going to pull this off. I was extremely disappointed in this team's effort last week, particularly the way it appeared they just quit in the second half. I haven't seen that out of a Miami team in a long, long time. It's going to take an A+ effort from this team to win today, and they must maintain a high level of play for all 60 minutes. With the season on the line, I expect to see a lot of fight out of this team.
PREDICTION
You all know that I can't pick Miami to win today, right?
New England is the better team, and they're at home. The Dolphins are a fragile, feeble unit right now, and I fear that they just don't have the fight in them to pull this off. Could they do it? Sure, it wouldn't completely surprise me if they somehow won this game. But with the way they're playing, and the way New England is playing, I just don't Christmas coming early for the aqua and orange.
Final: Patriots 31 Dolphins 17
Come back in an hour or so for any last minute news, including today's inactives.
THEN, come back during the game for the live blog.
2.5 hours.
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