3 Keys the Miami Dolphins must use if they want to beat the Patriots

The Miami Dolphins will face the New England Patriots at home for a “what could have been” game but instead, well, it’s a game.

You may be wondering why would anyone be writing any type of preview article about a team that is out of playoff contention. Why oh why would anyone feel like putting any amount of time and energy into something that pretty much means nothing? Why after the Miami Dolphins essentially ripped our hearts out of our chests and showed it to us Sub-Zero style would anyone want to keep spewing out words about them? Could it be for money? I assure you it’s not that. Is it because of some sort of obligation that I have? Nope, I could very much as easily not write and the world would keep turning just the same.

The reason is that the Miami Dolphins for better or worst, and it’s nearly strictly worse, are my team and I love them. If I haven’t given up on them yet, after a few decades and with all the nonsense they’d put me and all of us through, I’m not going to turn my back on them now.

I may not be jumping out of my seat on Sunday when they make a good play or curse them out when they do something ridiculous. Instead, I’ll be treating this first-ever week 19 game as a celebration of life. Like those folks who tell everyone to be happy during their wake and funeral, I’m going to be jovial and pleasant throughout the game. No matter what happens, I’m going to enjoy it. If the Dolphins play well and put one on the Patriots, I’ll be pleased. If they go out there and look like a JV team again, I’m going to laugh. I don’t think there’s a healthier way to go about it.

I’m not 100% sure who will and will not be playing for the Patriots. It’s possible, even though they’re playing for seeding, that Mac Jones and others might only get a few series. It’s also possible that the hooded one may not want Tua Tagovailoa to have a 3-0 record against him so he may go all out against the Dolphins.

The last game of the regular season is always a tough one for us fans because it almost always means the end of the season which means it’s the last time we’ll see some players in a Miami uniform.

The most noteworthy potential casualty is Tua Tagovailoa. I think his time is up and he’ll be elsewhere next year. I wish that didn’t have to be the case but I think he sealed his fate last week. I’m sure he’s a real nice guy and he’ll have other chances in this league because pretty much everybody gets a second chance. I wish he was the guy but, to me, he isn’t. The Dolphins have a win-now defense and in order to fully unleash that defense, it needs an offense that can do its part. The Dolphin’s offense though made up of mostly backups at best players(see the offensive line), needs a quarterback that can hide the errors made by Flores and Grier. It may not be fair to Tua but thus is life.

The Miami Dolphins are still going to go out and try and win this game. Winning eight of their last nine games and going 4-2 in the division is nothing to sneeze at and this group has shown that they have a lot of pride. To beat the Patriots, whatever version of them we see, these three keys need to be used.