Tyreek Hill makes a big mistake ahead of Dolphins-Patriots matchup

Although times are a bit different for the Patriots now, you would think their opponents would have learned not to give them any added motivation to win a game. But apparently, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill doesn't care about the age-old unwritten rule.

The Patriots and Dolphins are set to match up this week for Sunday Night Football, and their opening games of the season could not have gone any differently.

The Eagles visited Foxboro for week one, coming off a Super Bowl appearance where the Kansas City Chiefs barely beat them. They came into the game as the clear favorite, as nearly all those who make picks in the media sided with the magic of Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown to dominate for a full sixty minutes.

That's not exactly how the game went, however. The Eagles came out swinging early, capitalizing on two early turnovers to put them up 16-0 until late in the second quarter. The momentum eventually shifted in the Patriots' favor, allowing them to bring it down to just a five-point game.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to get the win. But the strides the offense has made under Bill O'Brien were undoubtedly noteworthy. And it's changed some analysts' minds about who can win the upcoming week two game.

On the other hand, the Dolphins had difficulty taking down the Chargers in Los Angeles. It was a fantastic performance from Tua Tagovailoa, who recorded 28 receptions for 466 yards and three touchdowns. But their defense allowed the Chargers to do almost anything they wanted, especially in the run game, and it took until the final minutes of the game for Miami to secure the win.

Now, looking ahead to the match-up on Sunday night, there's a clear divide in who will come out the victor. The Dolphins are currently favored by three points, but as a divisional game, there are no real absolutes in predicting who will have the upper hand.

It will presumably be a game focused on the Dolphins' explosive offense and the Patriots' dominant defense. Whoever can be better of the two units will likely determine the game.

But Tyreek Hill isn't too concerned, especially since he's coming off a game where he totaled 11 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Even knowing how unsuccessful he has been when being covered by Jonathan Jones, Hill's confidence hasn't waivered, and he proclaims he will dominate no matter what.

"I’m still going to dominate that no matter what. I still got a job to do, and that’s to run my routes. You put two guys on me, one guy on me, or three guys on me I’m still going to run my route to get open."

The problem that he will run into again, however, is Jones, who has been historically fantastic in slowing Hill down during their last several matchups. The cornerback has been assigned the receiver in six games over the years, allowing Hill to record just seven catches on 16 targets for 88 yards.

Quarterbacks have also suffered when trying to throw Hill's way during that time, completing just 44% of their passes to him when Jones guards him.

But if we want to look at the most recent games between the Dolphins and Patriots, it still doesn't look good for the seven-time Pro Bowler.

Mark Daniels of MassLive wrote in his column that Tua went "2-of-4 for 28 yards when Jones was in coverage" during the week one game of the 2022 season. Jones was a standout in their second meeting in week 17, where Hill totaled just four catches for 55 yards, and the Dolphins quarterbacks didn't record a single reception when throwing Jones' way and actually threw an interception instead.

Likely knowing all of this when speaking to the media, Hill didn't hesitate to assure the doubters that he would still be a menace on the field come Sunday. He even cited the apparent large number of Dolphins fans to help even the odds and asked those attending the game to yell trash talk to Mac Jones and the Patriots.

"There were a lot of fans on our side of the stadium. Fin fans, we need that. We need that each and every week, every home game. I’m telling you, that juice each and every play. If you guys come out, be loud and just boo the other team. Call Mac Jones sorry, please. That would be great."

In the big scheme of things, is this type of trash talk really that bad? No, but it's an interesting tactic when you're a receiver going against a defense that has been historically best at essentially eliminating you as a factor in the game.

Hopefully, we will see Jones on the field for this game. He's been limited in practice this week as he deals with an ankle injury. And since this is an important game early in the season, it would be a massive loss if he cannot maintain his post as the best corner to cover Hill in the league.