Miami Dolphins face familiar foe in Matt Patricia on Sunday
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are taking on a familiar foe with an unfamiliar Lions team on Sunday when the Dolphins face Matt Patricia’s Lions.
Earlier this season Miami Dolphins fans watched as the Matt Patricia led Detroit Lions beat the New England Patriots now the Dolphins are going to battle the familiar Patricia trying to avoid the same outcome.
Patricia began his career with the Patriots in 2004 as an offensive assistant but transitioned to the defensive side of the ball in 2006. In 2012 he was promoted to defensive coordinator where he held the position until after the 2017 season when he was hired by the Lions as their new head coach. Needless to say he is familiar with the Miami Dolphins, their staff, and most of their players.
Already having stopped Tom Brady, his task this week won’t nearly be as monumental but the Dolphins speedy talent on offensive will test the Lions defense. Even with Brock Osweiler behind center.
Through six games thus far in 2018 the Lions are 2-3 and are coming off their early season bye week. Last week the Dolphins faced the Chicago Bears who were coming off a bye week and beat them in the hot south Florida sun. They will try to do that again this week.
Detroit lost 48-17 to the Jets in their 2018 opener in week one and followed that with a 30-27 loss to the 49’ers before knocking off the AFC Champion Patriots 26-10 in week three. They followed that win with a loss to the Cowboys before beating the Packers two weeks ago 31-23.
The Lions defense is getting better but their key to winning is heavily reliant on the play of the offense and particularly quarterback Matt Stafford. Stafford’s receivers are solid and youngster Kenny Galloday has become a go-to threat and a deep threat. He will test the Dolphins secondary.
Detroit is very comfortable with their passing game but their running game is ranked 30th in the league. Miami has gotten a lot better at stopping the run but they have a problem covering running backs in the passing game. It should be expected to see this as a big part of the Lions offensive game plan on Sunday.
As for Patricia, he has the history against the Dolphins but he had the same history against the Jets in week one. How this game plays out will be determined by how well the Dolphins can run the ball against the 30th ranked run defense of the Lions. Kenyan Drake and Frank Gore should play a big role in keeping Stafford off the field.
Kick-off will be at 1:00 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium.