Monday Night – New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

Welcome to the ultimate trap game. The Patriots lost this matchup last year when everyone expected them to steamroll Miami. This game has that exact same feel and you can bet the Dolphins will be looking to catch them by surprise once again. Miami is a little better than they get credit for and they proved that at the end of last season when they started  putting things together. We’ll see what happens when these two meet under the Monday night lights.

Keys to the Game

Patriots

Don’t fall asleep at the wheel. New England got caught in this late-season meeting last year and ended up losing the game. Luckily for them, they’d already locked up the AFC by that point. I can guarantee Belichick wasn’t happy, though. The most important thing for New England is going to be protecting Tom Brady. The Dolphins have a sickeningly good defensive line that can pulverize quarterbacks at will. This team will fall apart if they lose Brady, so they’ve got to keep him upright and healthy at all costs. If they’re able to do that, Tom Terrific should take care of the rest and lead his team to a win in the Miami heat.

Dolphins

No matter who you are, the key to beating New England is getting to Brady. The entire game is going to be won in the trenches when the Pats are on offense. Miami will need both Ndamukong Suh and Cam Wake to be at their best for this one so that they can disrupt the New England offense. You can bet that Brady will be ready with quick passes to counteract their rush, so strong tackling on the backend will be a must as well. It’s a tall task for Miami, but let’s not forget that they pulled it off last year. Jay Ajayi can help out by extending drives with his running and keeping the New England offense on the sideline.