Every week I will focus on the opposition for the week by highlighting their personnel and some of their tendencies.<\/p>\n
In Miami, it starts and ends with QB Tua Tagovailoa.\u00a0 The Phins finished at 10-6.\u00a0 It was the tale of two QBs.\u00a0 The starter was Ryan Fitzpatrick, brought in to keep the seat warm until Tua was ready to go.\u00a0 Tua was coming off a horrific dislocated hip and a broken socket injury suffered in college.\u00a0 Many don\u2019t come back from this type of injury, never mind play QB.\u00a0 His offseason was rehab the injury as well as learn the playbook.\u00a0 He was also learning the Pro offense of Miami under less than ideal conditions with the COVID restrictions.\u00a0 Add to his learning woes was the fact the offense was structured around the passing abilities of Ryan Fitzpatrick.<\/p>\n
What a strange season it was.\u00a0 Fitzmagic started 0-2 but finished .500 (3-3) after 6 games.\u00a0 That\u2019s when Head Coach Brian Flores pulled the trigger and replaced Tua for Fitz.\u00a0 Immediately its had positive results and a 3 game win streak.\u00a0 Then week 11 in Denver!\u00a0 Tua was flat-out awful and eventually was replaced by Fitz.\u00a0 Game 12 had Fitz back at the helm for the win vs the Jets.\u00a0 Game 13 had Tua back in control for a brutal loss against the Chiefs.\u00a0 Tua beat NE but was replaced mid-game vs Las Vegas and Fitz brought the Dolphins back for a victory.\u00a0 Tua finished the season with a loss vs Buffalo.\u00a0 Each QB ended up 5-3.<\/p>\n
This year it is Tagovailoa\u2019s ship to captain.\u00a0 Some interesting stats came to light when Tua took over.\u00a0 Under Fitzmagic, the Dolphins threw out of 11 personnel package 63% of the time.\u00a0 They used 12 personnel to pass just 19%.\u00a0 However, with Tua they became more of a 12 personnel team, passing 37% while reducing the passing under 11 to 52%.\u00a0 This was probably done to protect the young passer.\u00a0 He has had a complete off-season including mini-camp, OTAs, and classroom work.<\/p>\n
Miami has a good group of Wide Receivers starting with DaVante Parker.\u00a0 Don\u2019t sleep on WR Will Fuller coming over from the Texans.\u00a0 Fortunately, Fuller is suspended for the Patriots game.\u00a0 They added rookie and former Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle in the draft.\u00a0 Waddle has played 68% of his snaps at Alabama from the slot.\u00a0 This will be a tough matchup for Jonathan Jones.\u00a0 Preston Williams is a big receiver that had a down year last season.\u00a0 They also have Albert Wilson and Hakeem Grant.<\/p>\n
The big question mark is the Phins Offensive Line.\u00a0 They chose not to keep C Ted Karras, their loss is our gain.\u00a0 They signed Greg Mancz as a Free Agent and he didn\u2019t work out and was cut.\u00a0 They have a big hole here.\u00a0 Add to the Phins woes, starting Left Tackle Austin Jackson is currently out with COVID protocol.\u00a0 Will he be available for Sunday?<\/p>\n
At running back Myles Gaskin is the leading candidate as the starting RB.\u00a0 Malcom Brown formerly of LA Rams is a big back and short-yardage specialist. UDFA Salvon Ahmed finished last season as their #1.\u00a0 None of these running backs scare me.\u00a0 \u00a0Last year the Dolphins gashed us on the ground, however, I have confidence our front 7 will stop their run game.<\/p>\n
The TE group is strong too!\u00a0 Mike Gesicki leads the group with Adam Sheehan a capable backup but could be out for Sunday under the COVID protocol.\u00a0 Durham Smythe will be the third TE and is an up-and-coming player.\u00a0 The Phins drafted Hunter Long (BC) from Exeter NH.\u00a0 They like to use the 12 personnel formation a lot and I can see that being the case again against the Pats.<\/p>\n
On Defense, they have two outstanding CBs in Xavien Howard and Byron Jones.\u00a0 Three former Patriots make up the remainder of their secondary in Justin Colemen, the slot corner, Eric Rowe SS, and Jason McCourty the Free Safety.<\/p>\n
The defensive line is strong with Raekwon Davis, Christian Wilkins, and Emmanuel Ogbah.\u00a0 Another former Patriot, Adam Butler is a backup.<\/p>\n
At LB Andrew Van Ginkel is strong inside LB and another former Patriot, Elandon Roberts is a backup.<\/p>\n
Head Coach Brian Flores has two former Patriots coaches, George Godsey (Offense) and Josh Boyer (Defense) as coordinators on his staff.<\/p>\n
Injuries \u00a0<\/strong>The injury bug seems to be hitting the Patriots hard.\u00a0 Nelson Agholor and Jalen Mills appear to be out for Sunday\u2019s game.\u00a0 This will have an impact on the game.\u00a0 Either Shaun Wade or Joejuan Williams will start at CB opposite JC Jackson.\u00a0 Agholor eliminates the only deep threat the Patriots have. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>It also appears that TE Hunter Henry and rookie Edge Ronnie Perkins both have shoulder injuries. \u00a0\u00a0This may have an impact on who gets called up from the Practice Squad.\u00a0 One has to be QB Brian Hoyer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every week I will focus on the opposition for the week by highlighting their personnel and some of their tendencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":37649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22712],"tags":[45,44],"class_list":["post-37731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2021-patriots-season","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n