MIAMI GARDENS — The mission for the Miami Dolphins in Sunday’s home opener against New England is clear — win.
The Dolphins (0-1) were blasted by Indianapolis, 33-8, in last week’s season opener.
Fans have been irate all week and if they don’t see better effort and a better result they’ll be more irate, and no one, especially general manager Chris Grier, coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who have taken the brunt of the fans’ anger, wants to see how that looks.
The Patriots (0-1), under the direction of first-year coach Mike Vrabel, are looking to get on the winning track, and Vrabel could be the man to get them there. He defeated the Dolphins, 28-27, the last time he faced them which was late in the 2023 season when he was coaching Tennessee.
Conventional wisdom says there’s no such thing as a must-win Week 2 game but the Dolphins might be as close as it gets considering they travel to Buffalo in Week 3 for a Thursday night game. The Bills have defeated the Dolphins in their past six games, including the past four in Buffalo. A loss to the Patriots almost guarantees the Dolphins an 0-3 start.
The pressure is on Grier, McDaniel and Tagovailoa.
Here are some things to watch:
Dolphins’ mentality, fan ire
The Dolphins appeared uninspired and unprepared against Indianapolis. Fans at Hard Rock Stadium will watch their effort closely Sunday.
Fans are already salty due to last week’s listless performance and if that repeats there will almost certainly be a chorus of boos at some point from the home crowd.
If the Dolphins come out and play inspired, exciting football, fans will cheer lustily and all the ills of the Colts game will be forgiven. McDaniel and Tagovailoa will return to their Teflon status locally and there will be talk of winning at Buffalo on Thursday Night Football.
If McDaniel can’t motivate them, however, it’ll be big trouble.
Dolphins’ defensive front seven
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver has to get his front seven to be a force or he risks Patriots quarterback Drake Maye picking the Dolphins’ secondary apart.
Outside linebackers Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson and Matthew Judon must lead the way in pressuring Maye, and defensive tackle Zach Sieler, who is coming off back-to-back 10-sack seasons, has to be a major pass-rushing factor.
If they can get to Maye, life becomes much easier for the struggling secondary.
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By the way, New England, which gave up four sacks in last week’s 20-13 loss to Las Vegas, only rushed for 60 yards on 18 carries, so the Raiders were successful making them one-dimensional. If the Dolphins can do the same it’ll be a great help.
Otherwise, Maye could do damage with wide receivers Kayshon Boutte (six receptions, 103 yards) and Stephon Diggs (six receptions for 57 yards).
Heat and humidity
It should be hot and humid Sunday afternoon, which figures to give the Dolphins a homefield advantage over the Patriots. There’s almost no way to combat the weather conditions.
In the 2022 season opener, McDaniel’s debut, legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick brought his team down on Tuesday in an attempt to acclimate to the oppressive humidity. They practiced at Palm Beach Atlantic University all week. It didn’t work. The Dolphins won, 20-7.
A cold front is scheduled to pass through the state over the weekend but it won’t affect South Florida much. Early forecasts call for a high temperature of 89 degrees with a dew point between 72 and 74, which translates to “very humid” conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
That should serve the Dolphins well.
Right side of OL
Right guard James Daniels (pectoral) is on the injured reserve list, meaning he must miss at least four games. Right tackle Austin Jackson (toe) is also a threat to miss the game due to an injury he reaggravated against the Colts, so the guys who protect Tagovailoa’s blind side could be sidelined. This could spell trouble.
The Patriots recorded four sacks against the Raiders. Linebacker Harold Landry led the way with 2.5 sacks while fellow linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson had a half sack.
The Dolphins’ run game could also be greatly impacted because Jackson is their best run blocker and Daniels also thrives at run blocking, although neither player’s skill was apparent vs. the Colts.
Tagovailoa’s rebound
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa must bounce back from one of his worst career games, which featured two interceptions and a fumble that the Colts turned into 17 points. He had a woeful 51.7 passer rating, which is 31st in the league, ahead of only Carolina’s Bryce Young (49.0)
Tagovailoa’s on-field connection with wide receiver Tyreek Hill (four receptions, 40 yards vs. Colts) wasn’t good last season, and it was worse in the opener. In their past three games the Tagovailoa-to-Hill connection has totaled nine receptions for 105 yards on 20 targets.
Colts cornerback Xavien Howard, the longtime Dolphins standout, said Tagovailoa was in “panic mode” last week when he couldn’t throw to his first read. If that’s the case again, the Dolphins will have a hard time winning.
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