NFL Game Preview: Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots - Week 8

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Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots - Week 8

Game Preview Fantasy \| Game Notes \| Results & Schedule \| Injury Report \| Stat Comparisons \| Weather \| Team vs. Team History

CAR TB	31 13
Pre	Post

MIA NE	17 27
Pre	Post

BUF NO	17 35
Pre	Post

CLE KC	17 23
Pre	Post

DAL DET	30 31
Pre	Post

SF JAC	42 10
Pre	Post

NYG PHI	15 7
Pre	Post

PIT OAK	18 21
Pre	Post

NYJ CIN	9 49
Pre	Post

ATL ARI	13 27
Pre	Post

WAS DEN	21 45
Pre	Post

GB MIN	44 31
Pre	Post

SEA STL	14 9
Pre	Post

Week:	1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 \| 7 \| 8 \| 9 \| 10 \| 11 \| 12 \| 13 \| 14 \| 15 \| 16 \| 17
Playoffs:	Wild-Card \| Divisional Playoffs \| Conference Championships \| Super Bowl

Prediction: Patriots 24, Dolphins 17
by Mike Krueger | Follow @FF_Today

Player Rankings and Projections

Miami Dolphins
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 17	Ryan Tannehill	Pass: 240, 2 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 26	Lamar Miller	Rush: 50, 0 TD Rec: 1-10, 0
RB 38	Daniel Thomas	Rush: 40, 0 TD Rec: 0-0, 0
WR 22	Mike Wallace	Rec: 5-70, 0 TD
WR 32	Brian Hartline	Rec: 5-60, 0 TD
WR 46	Brandon Gibson	Rec: 3-40, 0 TD
TE 10	Charles Clay	Rec: 5-50, 1 TD
K 19	Caleb Sturgis	FG: 1/1 XP: 2/2
DEF 13	Defense / ST

View all Week 8 Rankings or Projections

New England Patriots
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 9	Tom Brady	Pass: 270, 2 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 8	Stevan Ridley	Rush: 90, 1 TD Rec: 3-20, 0
RB 43	Brandon Bolden	Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 2-20, 0
WR 26	Danny Amendola	Rec: 5-50, 0 TD
WR 31	Julian Edelman	Rec: 4-40, 0 TD
WR 33	Kenbrell Thompkins	Rec: 3-40, 0 TD
WR 58	Aaron Dobson	Rec: 2-20, 0 TD
TE 1	Rob Gronkowski	Rec: 8-80, 1 TD
K 6	Stephen Gostkowski	FG: 1/1 XP: 3/3
DEF 5	Defense / ST

Game Notes

Dolphins Club is 2-1 on road this season... QB Ryan Tannehill (4,871) needs 129 yards to reach 5,000 career. Had career-best 3 TD passes last week. Team is 8-1 when he has 90+ rating... Offense rushed for season-best 120 yards vs. Buf. last week...RB DANIELTHOMAS averaged season-best 5 yards per carry vs. Buf... WR Mike Wallace has 15 receptions for 206 yards (13.7 avg.) with 2 TDs in 2 career games vs. NE. 18 of WR Brandon Gibson's 29 catches this season have been for 1st downs. Gibson tied career-high with 2 TD receptions last week. 3 of WR Brian Hartline's 4 career games with 100+ receiving yards have been on road... TE Charles Clay aims for 4th straight game with TD catch... DE Cameron Wake has 5.5 sacks in 8 career games vs. NE. DT Randy Starks has 25 sacks with Mia., most by Dolphins DT... LB Olivier Vernon seeks 4th game in row with sack. LB Philip Wheeler leads team with 43 tackles... S Chris Clemons posted 1st INT of season last week.

Patriots Aim for 14th straight win vs. AFC East at home... Seek 5th straight win at home vs. Mia... Since '10, Patriots are 24-3 (.889) at home... QB Tom Brady (342) needs TD pass to surpass HOFer FRAN TARKENTON (342) for 4th-most in NFL history. In past 6 wins vs. Mia., Brady has passed for 1,695 yards with 11 TDs vs. 2 INTs & 102.4 rating. Passed for career-best 517 yards vs. Dolphins on 9/12/11... RB Stevan Ridley has 3 rush TDs in past 2 games vs. Mia. RB Brandon Bolden posted 1st rush TD of season last week... TE Rob Gronkowski (114) registered 10th 100-yard receiving game of career last week, most by TE in franchise history. Gronkowski (195) needs 5 catches to reach 200 career. Has 3 TD receptions in past 4 vs. Mia. Since 2011, Gronkowski has 28 TD rec., most among NFL TEs... WR-PR Julian Edelman has career-best in catches (46) & rec. yards (455) in' 13. Edelman had 94-yard PR-TD vs. Mia. on 1/2/11... Defense has forced turnover in 34 consecutive games, longest active streak in NFL... DE Chandler Jones has career-best 6.5 sacks in 2013... Rookie DT CHRIS JONES had career-high 2 sacks last week. Ranks 1st among NFL rookies with 3.5 sacks... S Steve Gregory had INT in last game vs. Mia... Rookie CB Logan Ryan had 79-yard INT-return TD last week.

Results and Schedule

Miami Dolphins
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2013-09-08	CLE	A	W 23-10	+13
2	2013-09-15	IND	A	W 24-20	+4
3	2013-09-22	ATL	H	W 27-23	+4
4	2013-09-30	NO	A	L 17-38	-21
5	2013-10-06	BAL	H	L 23-26	-3
6		Bye
7	2013-10-20	BUF	H	L 21-23	-2
8	2013-10-27	NE	A
9	2013-10-31	CIN	H
10	2013-11-11	TB	A
11	2013-11-17	SD	H
12	2013-11-24	CAR	H
13	2013-12-01	NYJ	A
14	2013-12-08	PIT	A
15	2013-12-15	NE	H
16	2013-12-22	BUF	A
17	2013-12-29	NYJ	H

New England Patriots
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2013-09-08	BUF	A	W 23-21	+2
2	2013-09-12	NYJ	H	W 13-10	+3
3	2013-09-22	TB	H	W 23-3	+20
4	2013-09-29	ATL	A	W 30-23	+7
5	2013-10-06	CIN	A	L 6-13	-7
6	2013-10-13	NO	H	W 30-27	+3
7	2013-10-20	NYJ	A	L 27-30	-3
8	2013-10-27	MIA	H
9	2013-11-03	PIT	H
10		Bye
11	2013-11-18	CAR	A
12	2013-11-24	DEN	H
13	2013-12-01	HOU	A
14	2013-12-08	CLE	H
15	2013-12-15	MIA	A
16	2013-12-22	BAL	A
17	2013-12-29	BUF	H

Injury Report

Miami Dolphins
Probable	MLB Dannell Ellerbe (shoulder) WR Brandon Gibson (shoulder) CB Brent Grimes (back) WLB Koa Misi (knee) CB Dimitri Patterson (groin) QB Ryan Tannehill (shoulder) DE Cameron Wake (knee)
IR	TE Dustin Keller (knee, 8/20/2013) DT Vaughn Martin (undisclosed, 9/24/2013)

New England Patriots
Out	DT Tommy Kelly (knee) RB Leon Washington (ankle)
Questionable	WR Danny Amendola (concussion) RB Brandon Bolden (knee) WR Julian Edelman (thigh) TE Michael Hoomanawanui (knee) CB Aqib Talib (hip) FS Tavon Wilson (hamstring)
Probable	CB Kyle Arrington (groin) QB Tom Brady (shoulder) TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm) FS Devin McCourty (shoulder) DE Rob Ninkovich (groin) WR Matt Slater (wrist)
IR	WLB Jerod Mayo (shoulder, 10/16/2013) RB Shane Vereen (wrist, 9/10/2013) DT Vince Wilfork (achilles-tendon, 10/3/2013) SS Adrian Wilson (hamstring, 8/31/2013)

Offense Stats Comparison

	MIA Offense	NE Offense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points for	22.7	23.3	23.0	NE
Rushing yards	102.0	111.3	109.1	NE
Rushing yards per attempt	4.62	4.07	4.09	MIA
Completion %	60.2%	55.4%	61.1%	MIA
Passing yards	227.7	205.0	242.9	MIA
Passing yards per completion	10.58	10.09	11.03	MIA
Passing yards per attempt	6.37	5.59	6.74	MIA
Interceptions	1.0	0.8	0.9	NE
Fumbles lost	1.0	0.0	0.7	NE
Sacks allowed	4.7	3.0	2.7	NE
3rd down conversions	34.4%	28.2%	37.8%	MIA
4th down conversions	33.3%	42.9%	43.4%	NE
Time of possession	26:40	28:29	48:41	NE

Defense Stats Comparison

	MIA Defense	NE Defense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points against	24.0	18.3	23.0	NE
Rushing yards	118.7	129.8	109.1	MIA
Rushing yards per attempt	3.80	4.05	4.09	MIA
Completion %	64.1%	54.0%	61.1%	NE
Passing yards	265.7	212.8	242.9	NE
Passing yards per completion	11.63	11.71	11.03	MIA
Passing yards per attempt	7.46	6.32	6.74	NE
INT return	1.0	1.0	0.9	-
Fumble recoveries	0.7	0.5	0.7	MIA
Sacks	2.3	3.3	2.7	NE
3rd down conversions	44.6%	40.6%	37.8%	NE
4th down conversions	0.0%	14.3%	43.4%	MIA
Time of possession	33:20	31:30	48:41	NE

Special Teams Stats Comparison

	MIA	NE	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Yards per punt return	4.5	11.7	9.0	NE
Yards per kick return	27.0	24.1	24.2	MIA
Yards allowed per punt return	9.1	8.2	9.0	NE
Yards allowed per kick return	26.8	21.3	24.2	NE

Misc Stats Comparison

	MIA	NE	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Penalties	3.3	5.0	6.4	MIA
Penalty yards	23.3	51.5	55.8	MIA

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 2 to 7 of the 2013 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt, 3rd and 4th down conversions, special teams and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 2 to 7 with no adjustment.

Weather

Team vs. Team History

Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2000	4	2000-09-24	NE	MIA	3-10	MIA
2000	17	2000-12-24	MIA	NE	27-24	MIA
2001	4	2001-10-07	NE	MIA	10-30	MIA
2001	15	2001-12-22	MIA	NE	13-20	NE
2002	5	2002-10-06	NE	MIA	13-26	MIA
2002	17	2002-12-29	MIA	NE	24-27	NE
2003	7	2003-10-19	NE	MIA	19-13	NE
2003	14	2003-12-07	MIA	NE	0-12	NE
2004	5	2004-10-10	MIA	NE	10-24	NE
2004	15	2004-12-20	NE	MIA	28-29	MIA
2005	10	2005-11-13	NE	MIA	23-16	NE
2005	17	2006-01-01	MIA	NE	28-26	MIA
2006	5	2006-10-08	MIA	NE	10-20	NE
2006	14	2006-12-10	NE	MIA	0-21	MIA
2007	7	2007-10-21	NE	MIA	49-28	NE
2007	16	2007-12-23	MIA	NE	7-28	NE
2008	3	2008-09-21	MIA	NE	38-13	MIA
2008	12	2008-11-23	NE	MIA	48-28	NE
2009	9	2009-11-08	MIA	NE	17-27	NE
2009	13	2009-12-06	NE	MIA	21-22	MIA
2010	4	2010-10-04	NE	MIA	41-14	NE
2010	17	2011-01-02	MIA	NE	7-38	NE
2011	1	2011-09-12	NE	MIA	38-24	NE
2011	16	2011-12-24	MIA	NE	24-27	NE
2012	13	2012-12-02	NE	MIA	23-16	NE
2012	17	2012-12-30	MIA	NE	0-28	NE

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2010 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.