Patriots Week 1 roadmap to the Miami Dolphins: The Mac era begins

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick sees “continuity” on Dolphins

Brian Flores and his Miami Dolphins squad are coming off a 10-6 season and looking to make the players in 2021.

With hopes of Tagovailoa taking another step in his progression as a starting quarterback, the Dolphins are out to show that they are a threat in the AFC East and what better way to do that than to knock off the Patriots in Week 1.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Belichick talked about the challenges the Dolphins present both defensively and offensively.

"“Well, I think there is a lot of continuity on the defensive side of the ball in Miami,” Belichick said, via Patriots.com.  “Offensively, Chan Gailey was the offensive coordinator and play caller last year, so we’ve seen what we’ve seen in the preseason games, but how much that’ll change with George Godsey or however the play calling gets distributed down there, relative to Chan who’s not there anymore.  Again, we’ll kind of have to see on that.  In some aspects, I think there is a level of familiarity in probably how they play, although I’d say that they made a few changes, at least in preseason.  They’ve changed a few things that they’re doing differently from what they’ve done in the past, but how much we’ll get those and whatever else they have, again, I don’t know.  That’s part of opening day.”"

While both teams have high expectations entering the season, there will be a lot of question marks, particularly for the Patriots.

How will Mac Jones do as he goes up against a Brian Flores defense in his first NFL star?  How will the new tight end tandem of Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry look on the field together?  Will the running game look as impressive as it did in the preseason?  Who will step up as the team’s top receiver?  Will it be Jakobi Meyers or will another free agent addition, Nelson Agholor, have a career year?

On the defensive side of the ball, have the New England Patriots improved on their run defense?  We know they have the players who can get to the quarterback, but the absence of Stephon Gilmore in the secondary will put even more emphasis on Judon, Josh Uche, Henry Anderson, Chase Winovich and Dietrich Wise to create quick and heavy pressure on Tua.