3 Players To Watch in Patriots’ Week 15 Matchup vs. Dolphins
In this week's installment of "3 Players to Watch," all three players will be youngsters along the New England Patriots offensive and defensive lines. The Patriots will be heading to take on the Miami Dolphins down in Florida for a critical division matchup.
New England - standing at 6-7 - currently have a two percent chance of squeezing their way into the 2020 postseason. The Dolphins have a 32 percent chance right now, but could shoot up to 49 percent with a win on Sunday, or down to 10 percent with a loss, according to FiveThirtyEight's predictions.
With the Patriots winning out all their games, their chances only boost up to 12 percent for making the playoffs, meaning that, if anything, they are in a better position to ruin Miami's playoff chances than in fact making it themselves.
Let's take a look at three players to watch in this pivotal Week 15 matchup between the AFC East rivals.
Devin Asiasi
Asiasi will be getting a large chunk of snaps as the Ryan Izzo show is currently on standby. It was Asiasi who played in last week's game against the Los Angeles Rams. A game that is probably best left forgotten. However, one of the few good takeaways from that game was watching Asiasi block.
Blocking is something that most rookie tight ends struggle with, which is a big reason why much of their production is often nil in the NFL. However, Asiasi held his own against a good group in the Rams' front seven. Many could make the argument that he showed even more promise in the blocking game than Izzo has all season.
While Izzo was certainly nothing to write home about as a blocker, he was serviceable at times and showed slow but steady improvement in that department. However, Asiasi now has an opportunity to build on his blocking display from last Thursday night. The hope is that by the end of the season, he can solidify himself as the best blocking tight end on the team.
With playoff chances slim and games dwindling down, there would be no better time than now to see what kind of spark the offense can potentially find from their top rookie tight end.
Expect Asiasi to see some heavy usage in the run blocking game as it should be a big component of the offensive attack plan.
Justin Herron
Despite Jermaine Eluemunor playing well, the absence of Isaiah Wynn has proved to be a real stinger to the New England offensive line. With that could come an even bigger sting, with Eluemunor now battling an ankle injury and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game. While he could very well play this Sunday, his chances are definitely iffy.
Even if Eluemunor can go on Sunday, he will still likely share some snaps with Herron, the rookie. While Herron is also battling an ankle injury that listed him as limited this week, Herron appears to be in better shape than his teammate right now. Herron has been doing a fine job throughout his rookie season, mostly coming in as a sub, and also coming in as a extra lineman (as we saw plenty in the first matchup against Miami). It's not crazy to think that Herron could potentially start against Miami. However, regardless of that, he should be on the field likely a good amount, helping the Patriots gain leverage in the ground game.
Chase Winovich
With Belichick looking to force Dolphins' rookie quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, into some difficult situations that require quick decision-making, don't be surprised if you see Winovich, along with other rushers like Josh Uche, heavily involved on Sunday.
With the days dwindling down in the 2020 season, it will be important to get Winovich as many snaps as he can get throughout these last three weeks. He has had this season times where his snap totals have been diminished, but he continues to improve and show he deserves more playing time.
Look for Winovich to be involved in a spearheaded attack that focuses on the weak spots of the Miami offensive line. The Dolphins' front five have really struggled to protect their quarterback at times this season, which has contributed to some rather questionable decision-making from the position at times. One of the only ways that this game can be won is by running the ball effectively on offense and forcing turnovers on defense. Those turnovers will not come without some pressure from Winovich and the crew on Sunday.
