The first step to having a successful season in the standings of any sport is to win within your division. By routinely being better than the teams you’ll face the most, logically you will set yourself up for success if you can find ways to translate that divisional success into even .500 play outside the division. For the Miami Dolphins, divisional successes have been a mixed bag for the past several years.
Miami has routinely bucked logic and found modest success against the AFC East giant New England Patriots. Miami is 4-6 against the Patriots since the 2015 season — an impressive feat considering the Dolphins’ ineffective status as NFL contenders versus the long-standing Patriots dynasty. Relative to the rest of the AFC East, Miami ought to be considered the Patriots’ fiercest division rival.
The new look Miami Dolphins will look to parlay their evolving roster into added success against the Patriots, and find more of the magic that unfolded in Week 17 of the 2019 season — and they appear to be well positioned to do so. There’s hoards of defensive reinforcements in house for Miami; including one key area that gives the Dolphins a clear identity and advantage over their division rivals to the north.
Miami’s secondary has suddenly evolved into a fearsome group — and the Dolphins offer the potential to smother New England’s pass catching group across the board, which would allow Miami to thrive in instances that require obvious passing from the Patriots. The Patriots’ most accomplished pass catchers are RB James White and slot receiver Julian Edelman — veteran receiver Mohamed Sanu and rookie TEs Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi don’t pose devastating threats to Miami’s defense.
So between Byron Jones, Xavien Howard, Noah Igbinoghene and Miami’s safety tandem (both Eric Rowe and Bobby McCain are well versed in man-coverage), the Dolphins have a chance to bully the Patriots in the secondary and keep the timing of New England’s offense out of sync. And if they can do that, it becomes a proposition of getting out in front of the Patriots in games and forcing them to play into Miami’s strengths.
