Dolphins 2020 Opponent Breakdown — Week 15: New England Patriots
As the Miami Dolphins continue to prepare for the 2020 regular season as best they can during this most unusual offseason, we will be dissecting their upcoming opponents.
We're up to the rematch against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 15, and a lot has changed since we did the preview of the season opener at Gillette Stadium.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
2019 Record: 12-4, First in AFC East (lost vs. Tennessee in the wild-card playoffs)
Last Dolphins-Patriots Meeting at Miami: 2019 — Patriots 43, Dolphins 0
A week after their 59-10 loss against the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins again were routed, though this game wasn't nearly as lopsided as the final score would indicate. New England led only 7-0 until Tom Brady threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown with 1:24 remaining in the second quarter, a play where it looked like Brown pushed off his defender and easily could have been called for offensive pass interference. Things got out of control in the second half when New England scored twice on interception returns, a 54-yard touchdown by Stephon Gilmore and a 69-yard TD by linebacker Jamie Collins after Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass went through the hands of running back Kalen Ballage. Josh Rosen replaced Fitzpatrick after Collins' touchdown made it 37-0, but he had no better success. Fitzpatrick and Rosen were sacked a combined seven times and intercepted four times.
Season in Review: The Patriots started the season 8-0 thanks to a defense that began drawing comparisons with some of the all-time best, but there were underlying issues with the offense all along. New England was only 4-4 in the second half of the season, with losses against Baltimore, Houston and Kansas City preceding the one against the Dolphins. That loss dropped New England to the No. 3 seed and the offense stalled again in a 20-13 playoff loss against Tennessee. Tom Brady's final pass as a member of the Patriots became a pick-six for Tennessee DB Logan Ryan. In the final analysis, though, it was yet another successful season for the Patriots, who won the AFC East title for the 11th consecutive season.
Key Veteran Additions: QB Cam Newton, QB Brian Hoyer, WR Marqise Lee, S Adrian Phillips
We wrote about the latter three players in the preview of the Week 1 game, but the three combined don't come close to matching the significance of the addition of Newton alone. Getting Newton on a cheap one-year deal was a major coup for the Patriots, who got themselves an elite quarterback if he's fully recovered from the injuries that plagued him the past two seasons. Let's just remember that Newton had a passer rating over 103 through 11 games in 2018 before a shoulder injury got things going in the wrong direction. As a point of comparison, when he won the NFL MVP award in 2015, Newton's passer rating was 99.4. There is a question as to whether injuries have caught up to Newton, but this is a low-risk, high-reward situation for New England.
RELATED: What the Newton News Means for the Dolphins
Key Departures: QB Tom Brady, LB Kyle Van Noy, LB Elandon Roberts, S Duron Harmon, LB Jamie Collins, DT Danny Shelton, FB James Develin, WR Phillip Dorsett, C Ted Karras
Brady is by far the biggest name on the list, but the Patriots' depth also took a big hit in the offseason. Van Noy and Roberts, who both joined the Dolphins, were key members of the defense, along with Collins, Shelton and Harmon. Tight end Rob Gronkowski is not part of that list because he technically was a departure last year when he retired for one season.
Notable 2020 Draft Picks: S Kyle Dugger, LB Josh Uche, TE Devin Asiasi, TE Dalton Keene
The Patriots moved around quite a bit in the early part of the draft, trading out of the first round before making three additional trades on the second night (Round 2-3). Dugger, a physical safety from Division II Lenoir-Rhyne, should fill in for Harmon. Uche, who played for new Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile at Michigan, will be counted on to help the pass rush. Asiasi and Keene both were taken in the third round in the hope of giving the Patriots the kind of tight end production that was missing last year.
Prognosis: We wrote earlier that there was this feeling that the AFC East finally, mercifully, really could be up for grabs this year because the Patriots wouldn't have Brady as their starting quarterback for the first time since Drew Bledsoe was taking snaps at the start of the 2001 season. But there are now some suggesting it's the Patriots' division again because of the arrival of Newton because he represents such an upgrade over Jarrett Stidham. We're not ready to go there because Buffalo still looks like the best team in the AFC East. The Patriots lost an awful lot of good football players in the offseason, as well as a key assistant with the retirement of offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia. That said, there's still plenty of talent on the roster. And the assumption that the Pats will fall apart because Brady is gone should bring everything back to 2008 when Brady was lost for the season in the first quarter of the opener and New England still managed to finish 11-5. If Newton is back at 100 percent, New England will be difficult to handle as usual.
RELATED: The Dolphins' December Home Success Against New England
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Alain Poupart has covered the Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989. You can follow him on Twitter at @apoupartFins.
