Dolphins equipped to topple Patriots
In the 1985 cult classic movie The Last Dragon a young martial arts student named Leroy Green searches for the “master” to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as “the glow.”
Along his quest he learns about himself, and discovers “the glow” was always in him, and uses it to defeat his nemesis and neighborhood bully Sho’nuff.
Ryan Tannehill is on a similar coming of age journey to Leroy’s because of his sevenyear quest to become an upper-echelon NFL quarterback, one capable of dethroning a healthy Tom Brady and the New England Patriots as AFC East champions.
Tannehill, who owns a 40-40 career record as an NFL starter heading into Sunday’s game against New England, has beaten Brady three times during the five seasons he’s played New England. But Tannehill and his team have never won in Foxborough.
This Sunday will be the game Tannehill finally gets “the glow,” becoming the playmaker Miami needs to end Brady and Bill Belichick’s era of dominance.
A Dolphins team (3-0) has never been more equipped, or better prepared to beat the Patriots (1-2) in Foxborough than this one.
Pulling off the upset won’t be easy because the Patriots’ record at home over the past decade is the stuff legends, or what dynasties are made of.
Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, the Patriots have the NFL’s best record at home (108-21) in the regular season. The Seattle Seahawks have the second best at 100-40.
But the Dolphins have spent the past decade trying to build a team that can beat New England, the reigning AFC East champions for the last nine seasons — and Miami might finally have the coaching staff, roster and quarterback capable of doing it.
Based on what we’ve seen in the first three games this season, the Dolphins are led by Tannehill’s efficient play, which has
him ranked as the fourth-best quarterback in the NFL with a 121.8 passer rating. They have two talented tailbacks, a reliable offensive line, and the offense features multiple schemes and packages that can keep any defense off-balanced.
Miami also had a forceful defensive front before last Sunday’s injuries to William Hayes and Andre Branch, and possess the third-best red-zone defense in the NFL. The Dolphins have been stopping the run (allowing 3.3 yards per attempt) fairly well, and have created eight turnovers.
That’s not everything a team needs to stop the Patriots since Miami hasn’t yet proven they can stop tight end Rob Gronkowski, or apply consistent pressure to Brady. But the team coach Adam Gase takes into Foxborough for Sunday’s game is the best the Dolphins have had since Miami pulled off that 2008 wildcat-assisted win during Tony Sparano’s first year as coach.
It has taken two-plus years, but this team has grown into Gase’s offense, which features plenty of deception and misdirection. That’s exactly what’s needed to keep Belichick on his toes.
Belichick’s greatness as a coach is to take away his opponent’s strengths on offense, and attack their weaknesses on defense. However, this season the Dolphins seem well rounded on offense, and are versatile enough on defense to counter Belichick.
Tannehill isn’t leaning heavily on Charles Clay or Jarvis Landry like in past years, which encouraged Belichick to create a game plan forcing Tannehill to go elsewhere. Five skill players have caught between eight to 11 passes this season for the Dolphins, and the only reason DeVante Parker isn’t in that mix is because he’s missed the first two games because of a broken finger.
New England’s secondary is struggling, allowing opposing quarterbacks to throw seven touchdowns this season and produce a 93.9 passer rating.
The Patriots offense is struggling too, starting games slow (only seven points in the first quarter of the past three games), and New England’s converting just 28.6 percent of third downs, which ranks Brady’s unit 29th in the NFL.
On the flip side, the Dolphins possess one of the NFL’s top secondarys considering the unit is holding opposing quarterbacks to a cumulative passer rating of 65.6, which leads the NFL.
The last time New England lost three straight was in 2002. That was the second year of Brady’s reign at the top of the NFL’s hierarchy as the Patriots starting quarterback.
Sunday will be Tannehill’s time to show he deserves more than the AFC East’s leftovers, and show the nation he’s ready to change the narrative on his career, going from student the master.