New England Patriots: 5 key players to watch in AFC East battle vs Miami
Here are five New England Patriots players to watch in the AFC East showdown against the Miami Dolphins.
The New England Patriots enter this Week 15 matchup against the Miami Dolphins with a slim chance to make the playoffs if they take care of their own business on Sunday.
It will be a challenge against an 8-5 Dolphins team hungry for the playoffs, but they are going up against a rookie quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and a team that can be beaten as long as the Patriots take care of the ball and execute on both offense and defense.
The Patriots did beat the Dolphins the first time around in Week 1, but Bill Belichick knows his team will be seeing a much-improved team on Sunday.
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"“They’ve done a good job, turned the ball over a lot, done a good job offensively of staying balanced and getting the ball to skill players,” Belichick said during his press conference on Wednesday, via Patriots.com. “They changed the quarterbacks. Both quarterbacks have played well. So, it’s a good team that really has thrived off a lot of defensive turnovers, and as always, ball security will be key for us in this game.”"
Overall, the team must get better quarterback play out of Cam Newton and stay discipline on the defensive side of the ball. Of course, there are players who must step up and here are five key players to watch in this AFC East battle.
The status of James White
With Damien Harris already ruled out for this game, the status of veteran running back James White will be even more important.
Listed as questionable heading into Saturday, the New England Patriots may find themselves very thin at a position that is considered their strongest on the offensive side of the football.
White is not the power runner Harris is, but he can give the Patriots some of what Rex Burkhead gave the team both in the run game and in the passing game.
Limited in production this entire season, this game against the Miami Dolphins would be the perfect spot to get James White going in the game plan, if he is healthy and able to go.
If the Patriots are down both Damien Harris and James White, the ground attack will depend marginally on Sony Michel and undrafted rookie running back J.J. Taylor. That also means a lot of designed runs for Cam Newton and some dependence on him running the ball.