Another entertaining and busy Sunday in the NFL 2023 season concludes with the Sunday Night Football which this week takes us to Gillette Stadium for the AFC East clash between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.
These two began their season in very different ways last week. New England were edged out by Philadelphia while Miami won in Los Angeles against the Chargers. It will be interesting to see if the form reverses or not.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots had a tough start to their season. It always looked like being difficult on paper and in the first half that was how it played out in reality but the former Super Bowl champions almost stole a win when they nearly took advantage of a sloppy Philadelphia Eagles second half display. They did ultimately fall to defeat and won’t want to go 0-2, especially against a divisional rival.
The thing that would have pleased Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff the most was the way they were able to the passing game going in the second period. Admittedly the scoreboard forced them into it somewhat but the fact they were able to do it from behind bodes well. Their defence restricted the Eagles offense better than most teams do as well which is another positive. If the defence can make some plays here there was enough to suggest New England can be competitive here at the very least.
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Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins reminded us why there is a lot of excitement around their team these days last week when they beat the Los Angeles Chargers in a typically high scoring clash. Scoring is very much the aim of the game in this league these days and for Miamito come out on top in a shootout straight away bodes we’ll because you sense there will be plenty more of those to come between now and the rest of the season. They’ll be looking to build on that win with another here and go 2-0 for the year.
The big positive for the Dolphins last week was that passing game, which had all the tools lined up to be the best in the league and performed to that level in Los Angeles. Even if teams do the seemingly impossible and stop Tyreeq Hill, Jaylen Waddle will get you. Miami will want to be better defensively but that may not happen until Jalen Ramsey is fit and shutting down a corner. Even then, to be fair to the Fins’ D, they won’t be facing many offenses as powerful as the Chargers one over the course of the season. If they are solid on defence they have the offensive artillery to get this one done.
Betting
We know that Bill Belichick looks to shut down the big threat of the opposition but with so many cogs to stop the best way might be not to let them have much of the ball. To do that he will need to utilise his run game, which as luck would have it is coming up against a defence which went for more than 200 yards on the ground in Los Angeles last week. That makes me think that Rhamondre Stevenson could be in for a big evening.
The Patriots o-line is bashed up so you would imagine the majority of the New England offense will come on the ground anyway to slow down a pass rush which must see the green light throughout this game. Stevenson didn’t really get going last week but New England were down by 16 points early and the rushing game had to get torn up. This Miami defence will give the Patriots chances so I’m not convinced the Dolphins will get out in front enough to stop Stevenson having an impact. Two Chargers running backs went for over 100 yards last week. I expect Stevenson to cover 51.5 yards.
Tips
Back R.Stevenson – Over 51.5 rushing yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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