The New England Patriots might be banged up, but the thought of the Miami Dolphins playing without their starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, has shifted the sports betting line in favor of the home team.
Tipico Sportsbook currently has the Patriots pegged as three-point favorites in a rematch of the regular season opener. New England actually put up a better fight than the 20-7 score indicates in the first meeting, particularly when the Dolphins’ only offensive touchdown in the game came on a busted passing play that went for 42 yards to Jaylen Waddle.
Miami will be rolling out Teddy Bridgewater as the starting quarterback on Sunday with Tagovailoa currently in concussion protocol.
Granted, that’s a major advantage for the Patriots. However, Bridgewater is a great backup quarterback with more than enough weapons to challenge the vaunted Patriots defense. Waddle and Tyreek Hill facing a defensive backfield that could be without Jalen Mills, Marcus Jones and Jack Jones could be a big problem.
The continued question marks surrounding New England’s offense will also ensure that Miami has a fighting chance.
This will be a must-win game for the Patriots as far as the playoffs are concerned. If they win, they’ll still control their own postseason destiny. But a loss would effectively eliminate them from contention.
It’s do-or-die at this point.
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