New England Patriots Week One Preview: Five Thoughts On The Miami Dolphins
By Cyrus Geller
Dec 15, 2013; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace (11) scores a touchdown against the New England Patriots in the first half of the game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
2. Dolphins’ offensive weapons
To put it nicely, the matchup of the Patriots secondary versus the Dolphins skill-players is not exactly even.
New England will be trotting out Darrelle Revis, Alfonzo Dennard, and Devin McCourty, while Miami will counter with Mike Wallace, and Brian Hartline. I am confident in saying that the Pats have a big advantage here, especially with Revis in the fold. I don’t think Wallace will be doing anything against the former Buccaneer, which will leave Hartline, and tight end Charles Clay to do the rest.
I am not implying that New England will completely shut down Miami, but I do feel like this will be a fairly easy game for Bill Belichick’s secondary. In fact, the first four weeks should be relatively easy, which is good, because they will be without Brandon Browner for those first four weeks of the season.
Clay is an interesting player, as he is a bit of a hybrid, but the Patriots have Jamie Collins in their back pocket, who seems tailor-made to neutralize the talented Clay.It will be fun to see the Pats revamped defense work against Ryan Tannehill‘s offense.