Why the Patriots will be Playing for a Whole Lot More than the Dolphins

Why the Patriots will be Playing for a Whole Lot More than the Dolphins

At first glance, it might seem as if both the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots will have nothing to play for when they meet for their season finales on Jan. 4. After all, the Dolphins have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs already, while the Patriots clinched the AFC East division with a win and a Buffalo Bills loss on Sunday.

But in reality, the Patriots will still have plenty at stake when they take on the Dolphins. New England is tied with the Denver Broncos for the No. 1 seed in the AFC but doesn’t hold the tiebreaker over Denver, meaning it needs to beat the Dolphins and see Denver lose to the Los Angeles Chargers to secure the top seed and a first-round bye.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Dolphins played spoiler against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just recently and picked up a win against a more talented team, and they will look to do the same to wrap up their season. Though Ewers is certainly no Drake Maye (who most likely will be crowned league MVP soon), he has done a solid job leading Miami’s offense ever since he took the starting job in place of signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa. Versus Tampa Bay, he threw for two touchdowns without throwing a single interception and also completed 63.6 percent of his passing attempts.

Even if a win over the Patriots wouldn’t mean anything for the Dolphins’ playoff hopes, capping off the season in such a way would give fans reason to be optimistic that the team will fare better in the 2026 season. Dolphins fans are in desperate need of something to smile about with how this season has turned out, and hopefully Miami can give them just that with an impressive victory over a Patriots team that could win the Super Bowl.