Patriots Breakfast Club: Week 15 Dolphins vs. Patriots

“Ready for the show, like I’m singing hey yo, do it like a pro, let the good times roll, roll, roll, roll”

The New England Patriots have a lot on the line when they take the field against the Dolphins, not only do they get a chance to extract some revenge on the Phins but they also get the opportunity to clinch the AFC East crown. With a win Sunday, the Patriots would capture their sixth straight division title and 14^th division crown since Robert Kraft bought the team 20 years ago.

The Patriots are coming in after a victory against the San Diego Chargers last weekend on Sunday Night Football 23-14, where as the Dolphins are coming off a tough loss to the Baltimore Ravens where they gave up 269 passing yards to Joe Flacco and company.

Taking a look at this weeks matchup, there are three areas of focus for the Patriots that if they execute and perform to their abilities they’ll be able to put on t-shirts and hats that read: 2014 AFC EAST CHAMPIONS.

The first area to look out for is the protection that Tom Brady gets throughout the game, it could be argued that the pairing of Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon are two of the best pass rushers in the game. If you remember back in Week 1 Tom Brady was consistently pressured by the two, which lead to a 33-20 loss for the Patriots. This week could be a huge test for the Patriots OL and especially Nate Solder matching up against Vernon. Solder has struggled for the majority of the season, however he has shown glimpse of promise defending against Brady and if he can put up a good performance against one of the best pass rushers in the game then that could get Solders confidence boosted just at the right time in the season.

One strategy to keep Wake and Vernon from consistently pressuring Brady is to establish a quality run game that forces the two to stay back and focus on the running back. The question is who is going to get the majority of touches for them this week? We’ve seen a healthy dose of LeGarrette Blount, Jonas Gray, Shane Vereen and even Brandon Bolden in the past 4 weeks, but trying to pick a lead running back from that group is very difficult because Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels change it up each game. Running the ball might be a great strategy against the Dolphins for two reasons, one it keeps Wake and Vernon off of Brady, but the Dolphins have been struggling against the run in the past and if the Patriots are able to establish a run game early it could be a good sign for how the rest of the game is going to go.

Another area to watch for is the matchup that takes place between Jarvis Landry and Darrelle Revis. The rookie Landry has a team-high 63 catches and is a favorite for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, so its all but promised that Revis would matchup against Landry. If that is the case then Brandon Browner would most likely matchup against veteran Mike Wallace who leads the team with 700 receiving yards, and Kyle Arrington matching up against Brian Hartline. In Week 1 Tannehill did not have to face Browner who was suspended for PED’s stemming from the previous season and as a result was able to exploit that hole in the Patriots secondary. But with Browner now in the mix it will be that much harder to air the ball out against arguably two of the best corners in the game. Some other receivers to watch out for are Lamar Miller who has grabbed 32 balls this season, as well as Charles Clay who has 387 receiving yards this season, third on the Dolphins behind Landry and Wallace.

The final area to watch for is the special teams aspect of the game, we’ve seen in recent weeks that the Patriots are a threat returning punts or kick offs. Since he started taking kickoffs, Danny Amendola has fit in to the role as best as anyone had hoped, taking the ball deep in to the opponents side of the field. While the Patriots have All-Pro kicker Stephen Gostkowski, they need to be wary of the threat of the Dolphins special teams and their returns. Landry has been the one returning most of their returns and on more then one occasion has broken out and either returning for a touchdown, or getting big yardage out of them. The Dolphins as a team return an average of about 28 yards per return which is obviously something that Bill Belichick and his coaching staff pointed out too this week. Limiting the big returns from Landry as well as the other Dolphins receivers has to be something that they pay attention too this week, if they are able to do that then the Patriots should fare alright against this Dolphins team.

 The Dirt Sheet

With the Patriots home and having the chance to capture another AFC East crown, this one should not slip away from them this week. The Patriots have been clicking on all cylinders since their loss against the Kansas City Chiefs back in September, and aside from a well-fought game against the Packers they have won every contest convincingly. It will be interesting to see the injury report in a few hours to see the status of Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones, both whom missed last week’s game against the Chargers. Jones has been close to returning and was thought that he would return last week but ultimately did not, so it will be interesting to see his status this week. Hightower injured his shoulder against the Packers in the final minutes of that game and as a result he sat out last week against the Chargers. From all the media reports this week he has looked better and there should be no question that he plays this week. In the end I believe that the Patriots wrap up another division title and another win to get them to 11-3, the Dolphins just are not in the same class as the Patriots. This is undoubtedly the Patriots last tough opponent before the playoffs begin, the Dolphins have created havoc for them in the past and with New York and Buffalo remaining those should be easy victories for the Patriots. Final Prediction: Patriots 34-Dolphins 17.