The last time the Miami Dolphins locked horns with the New England Patriots, the Dolphins saw their 2020 season open with a 21-11 loss. And it wasn’t just that Miami wasn’t able to secure a win against a division rival that hurt to see, it was the manner in which the Patriots won the game that stung the most. Miami saw several key drives killed with poor decisions from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick — but the most painful part of the contest came with Miami’s defense on the field.
We know now, of course, that the Dolphins defense is one of the better units in the league. They’re opportunistic, they’re stingy in the red zone and they get opposing offenses off the field on third down.
But in Week 1 against the Patriots, Miami yielded 217 rushing yards and nearly 30 first downs. It was a disaster.
To prevent a repeat in Week 15, the Dolphins must find better stopping power against the run. And, fortunately for them, Miami has seen someone step up to manning the middle and provide the Dolphins with plenty of quality play throughout the back-half of their season:
Rookie defensive tackle Raekwon Davis.
Davis, who was a 2nd-round pick out of Alabama, played 27 snaps against the Patriots in Week 1 and his impact was negligible. And through Miami’s early season gauntlet before the bye, he only saw his role dwindle from there. But after the Dolphins’ Week 7 bye, Davis has been a completely different player. He’s playing more snaps and is finding success mauling opposing centers on a weekly basis. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s been one of the NFL’s 20-best scoring defensive tackles since Week 7.
That powerful presence in the middle will need to be operating at a high level for the Dolphins to offset the Patriots’ rushing attack. New England is a team that prefers to take the air out of the football — so if Miami can jump ahead early and force New England to try to throw, or can alternatively get New England into third and long by stuffing up the early downs, it will go a long way in Miami finding redemption and victory in Week 15.
Look for Davis to be a key player in this weekend’s critical matchup for the Dolphins.