3 Reasons the Miami Dolphins will win Sunday night and 2 reasons why the Patriots will

The first AFC East showdown of the 2023 season will take place in Foxboro Sunday night when the Miami Dolphins face the Patriots.
Sep 10, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel walks on the field
Sep 10, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel walks on the field / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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The New England Patriots running game is another reason why the Miami Dolphins could lose on Sunday.

The Patriots will try and keep Miami's offense off the field. That is a given. The success of their running game will dictate that and take pressure off of Mac Jones.

Play action is going to be the Dolphins archenemy this week as the front defensive line will have to fill gaps. I expect a couple of delayed hand offs but I also suspect the Patriots will use their rushing attack if successful to set up dump passes to RBs out of the backfield.

Bill O'Brien will get creative this week and the Chargers were able to expose weaknesses in the Dolphins defense. We can expect the Patriots to attack those same weaknesses on Sunday night.

For the Dolphins, stopping this comes down to their edge guys. Last week, Bradley Chubb made a play late in the game but overall, he was handled quite easily by Rashawn Slater who is a fantastic left tackle.

This week, Chubb needs to have a good game and he needs to impact that game. The Patriots offensive line has their issues and Miami needs to exploit those weaknesses. While the Patriots try to control the game on the ground, the Dolphins need to do the same by stopping it.