On To New England: A Chance for Redemption?

On To New England: A Chance for Redemption?

Well, Dolphin fans, we’ve had almost a week to vent and lick our wounds after the beatdown from the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday. The national sports media were merciless with their criticism of the coaches and the team’s performance.

However, their low opinion and harsh commentary of the Dolphins was only surpassed by that of the fan base. Fans of the Miami Dolphins have not been shy about their opinions of what went wrong and who is to blame. However, that game is in the books, and it is on to the next game, the New England Patriots.

Here, the Dolphins have an excellent opportunity to turn the narrative around.

A win here will not be enough.

They have to dominate and show everyone, especially their fans, that week 1 was a fluke. This would restore at least some faith in the franchise.

This week’s situation is a bit different. Let’s remember that last week, the Colts inducted their late owner, Jim Irsay, into their Ring of Honor. The team had a lot of motivation to play hard and win, which they did, of course. Miami looked lost, and several writers who cover the team have said that this was not the team they have been seeing in practice and preseason.

There is an excellent chance here for redemption against a vulnerable New England team. I think the Dolphins have a pretty good chance of winning this game. They are right now a 1.5 favorite, which is pretty surprising after a 33-8 loss.

After a blowout loss, a good team will come out with guns blazing the following week.

We all remember the 2023 Dolphins humiliated the 0- 2 Denver Broncos with a crushing 70-20 win. The Broncos won the next week and were a completely different team after that game. They only won 8 games, but were competitive in most of them.

No NFL team wants to be the brunt of jokes from the national media (and there have been plenty of jokes from last weekend). A big win will definitely give them some respect. For now, at least.

The Patriots did have a good offseason.

Good draft picks and several solid signings in free agency. New Head Coach Mike Vrabel is a no-nonsense coach and was a great choice to run the franchise.

However, it is still a unit with many new players. In this situation, it usually takes a few games to solidify as a unit and be a competitor.