It’s easy to dismiss the Miami Dolphins, standing at 1-5 with a new, unproven head coach in Jeff Hafley, coming off two straight sub-.500 seasons with a quarterback who owns a 4-8 mark in his 12 career starts over five seasons.
But is that wise for the New England Patriots on Sunday (4:25 p.m.) in Miami?
New England’s offense currently sits in a state of disarray with injuries changing faces around QB Drake Maye on almost a daily basis.
Miami can’t be overlooked
Meanwhile, that Miami quarterback, Malik Willis, and a running game featuring Ollie Gordon might just give the Patriots all they can handle defensively, especially in that hot, Florida sun.
“I have a lot of respect for what (Jeff Hafley) has done, and probably a unique set of circumstances, which they’ve kind of admitted to,” said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. “But they’ve got a quarterback that Jeff’s been around and seen him grow and develop and win football games.”
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Vrabel knows him well
Willis is a guy that Vrabel knows well, having drafted him with a third-round pick with the Titans back in 2022. He gave Willis his first start in Week 8 that year.
A week ago, Willis threw for 208 yards with a pair of TDs and added 37 yards and a touchdown on the run in the win over the New York Jets.
Miami’s offense, even with Pro Bowl running back De’Von Achane lost to a knee injury after three games, has been productive and taken steps forward.
The run game with Ollie Gordon (72 carries, 339 yards, 4 TDs) has not missed a beat.
“They run the ball, they shift motion every play offensively. They’ve run for 185 yards the past two weeks on average,” said Vrabel.
“Malik can hurt you, designed runs or play extensions. They create X plays. They’re tough to tackle. (Malik) Washington, as a punt returner, when he catches the ball on offense. He had a 74-yarder against us last year.
“They had an X play where they threw the ball for 5 yards last week, and couldn’t tackle (Caleb) Douglas, and he scored. So, they’re doing a really good job of continuing to improve.”
Defense has to show up
Defensively, the Patriots will need to be sound at all three levels.
They welcome back Carlton Davis to the secondary, so that should help. But still, if they can’t slow Gordon and allow Willis to get going, things might get dicey.
