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Thursday, August 31 ESPN.com | ||||||||
Game of the week | Sunday night | Monday night | Rest of the week
Dolphins (3-1) at Patriots (4-1) Why to watch: The AFC East is the most competitive division in the NFL, so every divisional game is extremely important. This meeting of two '98 wild-card teams should help shape the divisional race and might eventually serve as a key playoff tiebreaker. The Dolphins avoided a two-game losing streak with a big comeback victory last week at Indianapolis. Future Hall of Famer Dan Marino, who had been criticized by coach Jimmy Johnson for his poor decision making, rallied Miami from a nine-point deficit in the final eight minutes. As for the Patriots, they're coming off their first loss of the season, a frustrating 16-14 defeat at Kansas City in which Adam Vinatieri clanged a 32-yard field goal off an upright in the final minutes. The matchup of New England's explosive offense against Miami's suffocating defense should be entertaining.
Who to watch:
Dolphins' numbers to know:
Patriots' numbers to know:
What it means:
Sean Salisbury's breakdown Miami will see a lot of man-to-man coverage from New England's aggressive defense. You always expect a shootout when Dan Marino is on one side and Drew Bledsoe is on the other. Miami will try to establish the run with Cecil Collins, but I expect the Dolphins to push the ball around and challenge on the perimeter like they did against the Colts. Tony Martin showed his importance to this offense by catching 10 passes at Indianapolis. Expect the Dolphins to attack and try to offset the Patriots' defensive aggression because I think New England will come after them. Defensively, George Hill does a nice job of game-planning against teams. He will continue to call for man-to-man coverage from his aggressive cornerbacks, Sam Madison and Terrell Buckley. But I don't think the Dolphins can play that style all game long against the Patriots. If they miss on a bump, Bledsoe will throw a long touchdown pass to someone. The Dolphins can mix and disguise man and zone coverages so Bledsoe has to make adjustments on the run.
Patriots' game plan: While the Dolphins are excellent at covering from sideline to sideline, they don't have anyone who can cover tight end Ben Coates. Expect the Patriots to take advantage of this matchup. The Patriots will run, but only as a change of pace. Their main objective is to spread out the Dolphins defense with three or four receivers and Bledsoe throwing out of the shotgun because he can see the blitzes better to find his talented receivers. New England's defense will try to create pressure any way it can on Marino. The key is to get people at Marino's feet or in his face. The Patriots can't allow Marino to get into an early rhythm and get hot right away. So the Patriots need to pressure Marino from the start. They need to rush Marino inside, not outside, because he is never a threat to scramble outside of the pocket. The Patriots will blitz their inside linebackers and load up the line of scrimmage because they feel pretty good about their secondary, led by cornerback Ty Law. They will stop Miami's run by stunting defensive linemen and attacking with linebackers inside. The Patriots should make Marino sidestep the pressure, but don't let him stand back and get into the throw. The Colts tried to corner blitz Marino, and he burned them for a touchdown pass. Marino understands where blitzes are coming from.
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