Patriots vs. Dolphins preview: These key matchups will decide outcome

Patriots vs. Dolphins preview: These key matchups will decide outcome originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

FOXBORO — Late in the week, a line from team reporter Evan Lazar on the Catch-22 podcast caught fire. The Patriots are “teetering on a mutiny,” Lazar said, after back-to-back ugly losses.

Lazar later went on 98.5 The Sports Hub to say he’d erred in his use of the word “mutiny.” Players pushed back strongly against that idea in the locker room, too. Buy-in for Jerod Mayo isn’t at this point a concern for the head coach, he said on Friday.

But that doesn’t mean things are picturesque for a team that has struggled both offensively and defensively lately.

“It’s always frustrating when you’re not winning,” Mayo said. “The guys put a lot of work in, and everyone wants to try to find a solution right now while we’re going through this transition. People are definitely frustrated, and that’s a normal human response. I feel pretty good about the way that we’re going.

“I used an analogy this morning. It’s almost like flying through the clouds, but you have to use the instruments until you get to clear skies. When I took this job, I knew the lumps would come. It’s part of the transition.”

This week’s game against the scuffling Tua Tagovailoa-less Dolphins represents the ultimate “get-right” opportunity. Take care of business, and discussions of buy-in, culture and “mutiny” get put on hold. Don’t? Questions will linger.

Let’s get to the matchups that will matter most on Sunday at Gillette Stadium…

Matchup that will determine the outcome

Patriots offensive line vs. Dolphins front-four

It’s unclear who the Patriots are going to have available to them to play in the trenches on Sunday. Bad as it has been for them up front — they’re last in the league with a quarterback pressure rate of 47.4 percent, and they’re 30th with a time-to-pressure figure of 2.42 seconds — it could conceivably get worse.

David Andrews is out, but his primary backup Nick Leverett is questionable with…

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Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-10-04 21:23:13

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