Patriots vs Dolphins News & Picks
Expert Picks
The New England Patriots (10-6) will head to Hard Rock Stadium for an AFC East regular-season finale with the Miami Dolphins (8-8). Last week, the Patriots destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars 50-10, while the Dolphins fell to the TItans 34-3. Las Vegas NFL oddshave the Patriots as -7 favorites and the point total at 40.
New England’s defense took care of business in Week 17 as they held the Jaguars to 10 points and recorded two sacks and three interceptions to clinch a playoff spot.
The Patriots bounced back after a poor outing against the Bills and held the Jaguars to 253 yards. This isn’t anything new as they’ve been doing this all year, holding opponents to a league-best 16.9 points per game.
Offensively, New England hit 50 points for the second time this season. The running game continues to be the main focus of this group as they rattled off 181 yards on the ground and are averaging 126.1 yards per game. Rookie Mac Jones had an excellent showing as well, tossing three touchdowns.
The Miami Dolphins were officially eliminated from postseason contention after losing to Tennessee. Miami hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016 and will have to wait at least another year after falling just short in back-to-back seasons.
Miami mustered just three points and 279 yards in the loss and got nothing from Tua Tagovailoa, who threw for 205 yards and an interception.
The Miami defense was exposed by Tennessee, recording just one sack and not forcing a turnover. Brian Flores’ group has been hot and cold as this was the first time the defense failed to record a turnover and garnered one sack or less in 2021.
