The first step to having a successful season in the standings of any sport is to win within your division. By routinely being better than the teams you’ll face the most, logically you will set yourself up for success if you can find ways to translate that divisional success into even .500 play outside the division. For the Miami Dolphins, divisional successes have been a mixed bag for the past several years.
Miami has routinely bucked logic and found modest success against the AFC East giant New England Patriots. Miami is 4-6 against the Patriots since the 2015 season — an impressive feat considering the Dolphins’ ineffective status as NFL contenders versus the long-standing Patriots dynasty. Relative to the rest of the AFC East, Miami ought to be considered the Patriots’ fiercest division rival.
But where will the Dolphins struggle the most against these Patriots in 2020? Where do the Dolphins have the biggest match-up issue at hand?
The issue appears to be on the defensive interior. The Dolphins sport a formidable interior trio of DTs Christian Wilkins & Davon Godchaux along with ILB Raekwon McMillan. But the Patriots’ interior offensive line is perhaps the best in all of football. The Patriots sport OGs Joe Thuney & Shaq Mason along with a returning center David Andrews in 2020 — and without Tom Brady in the fray the Patriots will assuredly be returning to their roots under Bill Belichick as a ground and pound offensive attack.
The Dolphins surprised a bit this offseason by foregoing adding a true nose tackle to the roster — so their ability to lock horns with New England’s ground game is going to have to result in bigger performances from McMillan and company; and also perhaps in shifting the team’s defensive front to help keep the interior gaps plugged up for the run fits. This will be an enjoyable game of cat and mouse between Brian Flores and Bill Belichick this fall. And if the Dolphins can steal a win against New England along the way, the team will be well positioned for a successful 2020 AFC East campaign.