Tua Time

The Miami Dolphins host the New England Patriots on Sunday, September 11th at 1:00 pm. Both of these teams played each other last year for the first game of their seasons. The Dolphins and Patriots faced off against each other twice last season, and the Dolphins won both games. Last season, the Patriots made the playoffs and the Dolphins just missed it. The odds for this game are currently set at -145 Tampa Bay, +122 Dallas, and the over/under is 50.5 according to Caesars Casino & Sportsbook. New users will receive a Risk-Free Bet of up to $1250 on their first wager. When you make your first bet, if it loses, it’s on the house as Caesars will refund any losing wagers in full (up to $1250 in the form of a single-use bonus credit Plus Caesar’s is adding 1,000 Reward Credits and 1,000 Tier Credits). You must make a deposit to get the bonus! Click the link to sign up or use Promo OSBETFULL. Claim your bonus here!

The New England Patriots head into this season without an offensive coordinator as their former OC, Josh McDaniels, left the team to go become the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders. This will be the second season that quarterback, Mac Jones, starts for the Patriots. Last year he was able to lead the team in passing yards with 3,801. He also had 22 passing touchdowns but threw for 13 interceptions. The Patriots and Dolphins traded earlier this offseason when Miami sent Devante Parker to New England. Parker will be a huge upgrade for the team at wide receiver and reports have come out of New England that he had a great offseason. Last year the Patriots’ defense ranked #4 in yards allowed per game. Their cornerback J.C. Jackson was second in the league in interceptions with 8. Unfortunately for them, Jackson joined the Los Angeles Chargers during the offseason. The patriots signed safety Jabrill Peppers and cornerback Malcolm Butler during the offseason in hopes of them filling the void. The Patriots seem to have a tough time playing against Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, as they are 0-3 against him. In this game, it will be interesting to see if coach Bill Belichick is able to orchestrate a game plan that has the Patriots winning. 

The Miami Dolphins head into this season with great optimism. They had one of the most ideal off-seasons a team could ask for. They got a new head coach in Mike McDaniel, who is considered to be an offensive genius, a wide receiver in Tyreek Hill, that is arguably top 5 in his position, and an offensive tackle in Terron Armstead, that like Hill, is one of the best at his position. The Dolphins have aspirations of making it to the playoffs and have assembled a roster that can make it happen. Last season, the Dolphins offensive line ranked as one of the worst in the league and can be attributed to having Tagovailoa get hurt and underperform. To top it off, reports came out that the former Dolphins head coach did not support Tagovailoa and that there was a disconnect between the two. After improving the offensive line, and bringing in a head coach that has a lot of faith and respect for Tagovailoa, it will be interesting to see what this Dolphins team can achieve. The Dolphins defense is strong as they had the 5th most sacks last season with 48. Now with an improved offense, this team will be able to play at a high level and may live up to their hype. They were 2-1 in the preseason and swept the season series against the Patriots last year. Expect head coach McDaniel to make a statement with his team’s play in this one.

I think this game will be a great coaching battle. The experience and the legendary career of Belichick vs the young, newly appointed, offensive genius McDaniel. The Dolphins have found great success against the Patriots in recent times and after an offseason of improvements, I expect them to continue. The last time these two matched up in Miami, the Dolphins won by a final score of 33-24. You want to buy the hook here in case we get a field goal game. 

For our expert Dolphins vs Patriots pick, buy half a point and get the Phins -3.