New England Patriots’ matchups to watch against Miami Dolphins

While the New England Patriots sit alone at the top of the AFC East after just one week after their impressive performance on the road against an NFC West powerhouse, they were not the only team in their division to make a statement against a Super Bowl contender from the NFC West. Their week two opponent–the Miami Dolphins–put up an impressive display in almost topping the Seattle Seahawks before falling 12-10.

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The Dolphins did not have a great game on offense with just 11 first downs and converting just 21% of their third downs against the strong Seattle defense; however, the Miami defense held Seattle to just 3.5 yards per rush, 31% third down efficiency, blocked an extra point, forced a turnover, and forced six punts allowing just one touchdown. For 56 of the 60 minutes the Dolphins were in position to win before Russell Wilson converted two fourth downs on the game winning drive.

The Patriots now have to turn the page on their opening game victory and come home to face the Dolphins. Remember, it was in week 17 against the Dolphins when the Patriots inexplicably kept running the ball in the first half during their must-win match-up with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs at stake. With the confidence from staying with the Patriots early, the Dolphins carried the momentum through the end of the game and won at home and forced the Patriots to travel to Denver for the AFC Championship game.

With a better game plan, the Patriots should be able to give Jimmy Garoppolo a chance to win on Sunday. Here are the five key match-ups for the Patriots that will go a long way to determine who wins the divisional tilt this weekend:

Miami defensive end Cameron Wake vs New England offensive tackle Marcus Cannon

The bi-annual Cameron Wake against Sebastian Vollmer battle has long been a major part of the Patriots-Dolphins rivalry. Last year Wake left the Patriots game with an injury and missed the rest of the season (including the Dolphins win in week 17). In 2013, it was Vollmer who broke his leg against Miami and missed the second match-up of the season against the Dolphins.

With Vollmer out indefinitely with a hip injury and on injured reserve, the traditional battle of the two titans will again be missed. Marcus Cannon–as he had in 2013–has stepped in at right tackle for Vollmer and will face-off against Wake on Sunday.

With Wake out last year, it was Miami defensive end Olivier Vernon stepping up but he left in free agency to cash in and join the New York Giants. To replace him, the Dolphins brought in Mario Williams after he was let go by the Buffalo Bills. Williams suffered a concussion in week one and the Miami game plan was to integrate Wake slowly into the defense with limited snaps.

With Williams likely to miss the game while in concussion protocols, the Dolphins either have to give more time to Wake or lean on Jason Jones, Andre Branch, and Julius Warmsley. Suffice to say, the Dolphins will lean on Wake.

While Cannon is not the ideal right tackle when healthy, he is worse when limited. He injured his knee in week one and is on the injury report but expected to play. A slowed Cannon is not a good prospect with Wake opposite him. However, Wake is still not 100% coming back from his torn Achilles. If Cannon can hold Wake in check, it will go a long way for the New England offense being able to move the ball on Sunday.

New England defensive end Chris Long vs Miami offensive tackle Branden Albert

The New England Patriots once again pulled a veteran contributor from the scrap heap by grabbing Chris Long out of free agency after he was released by the St. Louis Rams. Long had struggled with injuries the past two seasons and the veteran seemed healthy and back to his old disruptive ways over the summer.

Long carried over his strong summer into week one generating multiple pressures against Arizona’s strong offensive line. He finished with three tackles, a quarterback hit and a sack, but the stats fail to show how he was a disruptive force throughout the game with his never-ending motor pushing him into the backfield.

Long will face-off against Miami left tackle Branden Albert on Sunday. Albert and Long were college roommates at the University of Virginia who were both first round draft picks in 2008. The former teammates will line-up across each other at times (as New England will flip Long from the left to right side throughout the game). Other times Long will be across from right tackle Ja’Wuan James.

Albert held his own in Seattle as he helped keep the ferocious Seattle pass rush from getting too much pressure on Tannehill. The stat sheet shows the Dolphins allowed five sacks, but only two were “real”. One was Tannehill sprinting out of bounds and two were on the final, desperate drive as Tannehill held the ball waiting for receivers to get downfield.

If Long can continue his strong play and beat his former teammate to get in the backfield and pressure Tannehill it would help out the secondary and help get Miami off the field on third down. Long will again need to team with Jabaal Sheard and get pressure on Tannehill and slow the Miami passing attack.

Miami wide receiver Jarvis Landry vs New England cornerback Malcolm Butler

The Miami Dolphins have been trying to get a consistent receiving group since the Mike Wallace free agency debacle a few years back. They drafted Jarvis Landry in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft with the 63rd pick out of LSU, one pick after the Patriots selected a quarterback from Eastern Illinois with the 62nd pick (Jimmy Garoppolo).

The Dolphins got a steal with Landry as he has gotten to 200 receptions quicker than any receiver in NFL history. Miami traded for Kenny Still from New Orleans but he has failed to develop into a consistent threat and his drop of a wide open pass last week in Seattle was an abomination as he was literally so open no one was within ten yards of him.

Miami added DeVante Parker in the first round and he had 22 catches for 445 yards (over 20 yards per catch) with three touchdowns when he finally got on the field last year. However, Parker is again on the sidelines as he has been sidelined all summer with hamstring issues. He missed the Seattle opener and is still questionable for Sunday’s matchup although his impact may be small where he has missed so much time.

Again, it leaves Miami leaning heavily on Landry in the passing game. Disappointing tight end Jordan Cameron had just two catches for six yards last week and Stills finished with one reception despite being targeted five times. Short of a couple of big plays on receptions out of the backfield, it was all Landry as he had seven catches on ten targets for 59 yards as he garnered almost all off the attention of the Seattle secondary.

For the Patriots, it will be interesting to see how they cover Landry. It appeared to be a tactical mistake last week leaving Logan Ryan on wily veteran Larry Fitzgerald. Ryan was not terrible, but he needed help over the top at times and asking any cornerback to match-up with him in single coverage is not smart. Ryan will likely draw DeVante Parker and/or Kenny Stills on the outside in coverage.

The Patriots would be wise to match their number one cornerback on Landry throughout the game. Landry often works outside and inside from the slot (similar to Julian Edelman in New England) and leaving him covered by Justin Coleman or rookie Cyrus Jones is a mismatch that the Dolphins can exploit all afternoon in Foxboro on Sunday. Landry is the one legitimate receiving threat in Miami and should be the focus of the defense.

New England tight end Martellus Bennett vs Miami linebacker Jelani Jenkins

The Patriots always miss tight end Rob Gronkowski when he is out of the lineup and last week in Arizona was no exception. Tight end Martellus Bennett had just three receptions on five targets for 14 yards and spent a lot of time staying on the edge to pass block and help out in the running game. The production in the passing game came primarily from the wide receivers.

Bennett may be leaned upon for more production in the passing game this week as the Dolphins will be aware of Garoppolo’s 20 of 33 passing targets going to the wide receivers last week against Arizona. New England spent most of the game with three wide receivers and just one tight end on the field. While Bennett was targeted five times in the passing game he was on the field for 97% of the snaps.

New England needs more production from the tight end position and may be spending more time with two tight ends as second tight end AJ Derby played just 20 snaps and was not targeted in the passing game. While Bennett had some big blocks in the running game and helped out the tackles in pass blocking, he is too valuable a weapon in the passing game to ignore.

Miami will match-up against him with linebacker Jelani Jenkins. Jenkins is a tease as he flashes great athleticism one week and then disappears for a period of time. Jenkins is a decent blitzer and is strong in coverage, but he gets run over repeatedly even with Ndamukong Suh tying up blockers in front of him.

Jenkins is Miami’s top coverage linebacker and will be responsible for covering Bennett. Last week in Seattle the tight ends failed to make any impact as Luke Willson and Jimmy Graham combined for just three catches for 37 yards and minimal impact on the game. Jenkins has the size and athleticism to stay with bigger tight ends in the passing game.

Getting Bennett on track is a priority for the Patriots’ offense this week. Bennett went above and beyond expectations last week in Arizona as a blocker and this week he will be needed to make plays in the passing game to help out the offense. To do so, he will need to win this match-up with Jenkins.

Miami running back Arian Foster vs New England Front Seven

The Miami Dolphins imported former Houston Texans running back Arian Foster this offseason to replace Lamar Miller who left in free agency to…the Houston Texans. Miller had a huge game in week one helping the Texans start their season with a win while Foster took over at running back for disgruntled second-year running back Jay Ajayi in Miami.

Ajayi was left in Miami last week after sulking through the preseason after being beat out for the starting job but should be back against New England. Foster had a big 50-yard reception against Seattle but was held to just 38 yards on 13 carries. In total, Miami had just 64 yards on the ground against the Seahawks’ strong defensive front.

To try to win in New England, the Dolphins will attempt to get the running game in gear with Arian Foster. Foster has run well against the Patriots in the past grinding out 165 yards with two touchdowns in two previous games while in Houston. That gives him a leg-up over Ajayi who had just 2 yards on 7 carries against the Patriots

The Patriots will be without linebacker Dont’a Hightower who injured his knee against Arizona, but still have a strong run defense up front. Arizona had 92 yards on the ground on 19 carries but 45 of them came on one run by David Johnson. For most of the game, the Patriots’ strong front seven shut down the potent Arizona rushing attack.

New England used Alan Branch and Malcom Brown in the middle of the defense to stuff the run while rotating in rookie Vincent Valentine as additional bulk in the middle of the field. While Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long were strong on the edge, linebacker Shea McClellin quietly had a strong game helping out in the middle of the defense to help stop the Arizona running game.

Letting Miami run the ball and control the clock would allow them to control the tempo of the game and stay with the Patriots. New England needs to put Miami in tough third down situations and get their offense off the field and give Garoppolo more opportunities on offense. Seattle slowed the Dolphins running game and Miami finished just 3 of 14 in third down conversion rate. New England’s front seven needs to duplicate that effort.

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