Setting the Stage for the Dolphins-Patriots Week 18 Matchup

The Miami Dolphins will wrap up their 2021 season when they face the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

Here's all the pertinent info for this Week 18 Dolphins-Patriots matchup:

MIAMI DOLPHINS (8-8) vs. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (10-6)

DATE: Sunday, Jan. 9

TIME: 4:25 p.m. ET

SITE: Hard Rock Stadium; Miami Gardens, Fla.

WEATHER FORECAST: The temperature between 4 and 8 p.m. ET in Miami Gardens will be between 74 and 77 degrees, according to AccuWeather.com, with intermittent clouds and a chance of precipitation ranging from 33 to 49 percent. The wind is expected to be 8-13 mph with gusts up to 14-23 mph.

TV: CBS

TV distribution: The game will be shown in South Florida, in the Northeast, Honolulu, and most of Alabama.

Announcers: Spero Dedes (play-by-play), Jay Feely (color analyst), Jenny Dell (sideline)

STREAMING: fuboTV

SI Sportsbook betting line: Patriots by 6.5 (over/under 39.5)

Final Injury Report:

Dolphins — None.

Patriots — S Kyle Dugger (hand) is out; C David Andrews (shoulder), DL Christian Barmore (knee), DB Cody Davis (wrist), K Nick Folk (left knee), RB Damien Harris (hamstring), LB Dont'a Hightower (knee), WR Jakobi Meyers (thigh), S Adrian Phillips (knee) and T Isaiah Wynn (hip) are questionable.

Regular season series history: Dolphins lead 58-54

Last five meetings:

Sept. 11, 2021 at New England; Dolphins 17, Patriots 16

Dec. 20, 2020 at Miami; Dolphins 22, Patriots 12

Sept. 13, 2020 at New England; Patriots 21, Dolphins 11

Dec. 29, 2019 at New England; Dolphins 27, Patriots 24

Sept. 15, 2019 at Miami; Patriots 43, Dolphins 0

Dolphins' largest margin of victory: 52 (1972 at Miami; Dolphins 52, Patriots 0

Patriots' largest margin of victory: 43 (2019 at Miami; Patriots 43, Dolphins 0)

Highest-scoring matchup: 74 points (1994 at Miami; Dolphins 39, Patriots 35)

Lowest-scoring matchup: 3 points (1982 at New England; Patriots 3, Dolphins 0)

Former Patriots players with the Dolphins:

CB Eric Rowe (2016-18), CB Justin Coleman (2015-16), DB Jason McCourty (2018-20), LB Elandon Roberts (2016-19), DL Adam Butler (2017-20), QB Jacoby Brissett (2016), LB Calvin Munson (2018, 2021)

Former Patriots coaches with the Dolphins:

Head coach Brian Flores, defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, co-offensive coordinator tight ends coach George Godsey, assistant tight ends coach Mike Judge

Former Dolphins players with the Patriots:

RB Brandon Bolden (2018), LB Kyle Van Noy (2020), C Ted Karras (2020), DT Davon Godchaux (2017-20)

Other connections

Dolphins GM Chris Grier worked for the Patriots from 1994-99, first as a scouting intern and then as a regional scout ... Dolphins DB Jason McCourty (on IR) and Patriots DB Devin McCourty are twin brothers ... Each teams has three former starters at the University of Alabama, including Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and Patriots QB Mac Jones ... Dolphins LB Anthony Campanile coached Patriots linebackers Josh Uche and Cameron McGrone when he was at the University of Michigan.

DOLPHINS-PATRIOTS SEASON FINALES

1974 — at Miami; Dolphins 34, Patriots 27

1978 — at Miami; Dolphins 23, Patriots 3

1986 — at Miami; Patriots 34, Dolphins 27

1987 — at Miami; Patriots 24, Dolphins 10

1992 — at New England; Dolphins 16, Patriots 13 (OT)

1993 — at New England; Patriots 33, Dolphins 27 (OT)

1997 — at Miami; Patriots 14, Dolphins 12

2000 — at New England; Dolphins 27, Patriots 24

2002 — at New England; Patriots 27, Dolphins 24 (OT)

2005 — at New England; Dolphins 28, Patriots 26

2010 — at New England; Patriots 38, Dolphins 7

2012 — at New England; Patriots 28, Dolphins 0

2015 — at Miami; Dolphins 20, Patriots 10

2016 — at Miami; Patriots 35, Dolphins 14

2019 — at New England; Dolphins 27, Patriots 24

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PATRIOTS SCOUTING REPORT

Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the Dolphins will be playing a meaningless (in terms of playoffs) against a Patriots team preparing for the playoffs. As it turned out, it was a one-year blip for Bill Belichick and New England, who overcame a slow start to the season to clinch yet another playoff berth. The formula has been simple for the Patriots: a strong running game and a really good defense. Rookie quarterback Mac Jones also deserves credit for his poise and avoiding the critical mistakes that can drown a team, which is why he's in consideration for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors (even though it should go to Ja'Marr Chase). The Pats will enter this game with a slim chance of winning another AFC East title, but that will happen only if the Jets somehow can beat the Bills at Buffalo at the same time New England is defeating Miami. Regardless. one would expect Belichick to coach this as a normal game even if early word from Buffalo has the Bills clearly on their way to winning.

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THE BIGGEST REASON THE DOLPHINS WILL WIN ...

The most logical reason at the start is that the Dolphins already did win against New England, although that happened way back in Week 1. One also could look at the Dolphins' mastery over New England in December and January games over the past almost 20 years. More logically, the Dolphins will win if their defense can go back to dominating the way it did during the seven-game winning streak. The best way to get that done, of course, is harassing Jones into mistakes.

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THE BIGGEST REASON THE DOLPHINS WILL LOSE ...

New England is the second consecutive playoff opponent the Dolphins will face, and we all saw how that turned out last week in Tennessee. Of course, the weather won't be the factor Sunday that it was last week, but blaming the weather for the loss against the Titans is a bit myopic. The Dolphins lost mostly because they couldn't do anything offensively, and it's not going to be much easier for them against a New England defense that can be difficult to solve. The Dolphins also will need to stop the run better than they did against Tennessee, though it wasn't nearly the catastrophe some media members would have you believe.

FINAL DOLPHINS-PATRIOTS PREDICTION

It seems pretty crazy to think the Dolphins can win this game after the way they were handled by Tennessee last weekend and going against a New England team preparing for the playoffs, but haven't we seen this show before? Weren't the 2019 Patriots much better than this New England team that the Dolphins defeated — at Gillette Stadium. And should we forget everything the Dolphins did during their winning streak — even though, yes, it came against much weaker teams. One thing for sure, you know that Brian Flores is going to play this game to win and not worry about giving young unproven players some playing time. It would be foolish, it says here, to expect anything but the same kind of game we saw in the opener and it could again come down to a late turnover. New England is the better team, but it says here the Dolphins complete their first sweep of the Patriots since 2000. It's a little something, even though it really doesn't make a difference in the big picture. Dolphins 16, Patriots 13.