PATRIOTS: Game Release (PDF) | Roster | Depth Chart | Stats
DOLPHINS: Roster | Depth Chart | Stats | Roster Flip Card (PDF)

The New England Patriots return to AFC East play this week when they travel to Miami to face the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. The Patriots will attempt to avenge a 15-10 loss to Miami at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 6 in the first meeting of the year between the two teams.

SERIES HISTORY

The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins will meet for the second of two meetings in 2024. Miami pulled out a 15-10 victory at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 6. Last season, Miami earned its 15th series sweep with a 24-17 win at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 17, 2023, and a 31-17 win at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 29, 2023.
New England has the advantage against Miami in home games, leading the series 38-21, including 17-6 at Gillette Stadium, but are 17-42 in road games against the Dolphins. The Patriots have lost their last four games played in Miami.

The Dolphins and Patriots met for the first time in 1966 and began playing twice a year during the 1967 regular season, except in 1982 during a players' strike.

The two teams have played three times in the postseason with New England holding a 2-1 advantage.

QUICK HITS

Since 2000, the Patriots are 105-46 (.695) against AFC East opponents. New England is 27-22 against the Dolphins over that span, 38-12 against the New York Jets and 37-11 against the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots were 3-1 against Indianapolis from 2000 through 2001 when they were in the AFC East.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

MIAMI 63, NEW ENGLAND 55
(Including New England 2, Miami 1 in Playoffs)

Record in New England: 38-21 (Incl. 1-0 in playoffs)

• Record in Foxborough: 36-19 (1-0)
• Record in Boston: 2-2

Record in Miami 17-42 (Incl. 1-1 in playoffs)

• Record at Dolphins / Hard Rock: 13-24
• Record at Orange Bowl: 3-18 (1-1)
• Record in Tampa:* 1-0

Season Sweeps: Patriots 10, Dolphins 15

Season Splits: 31 (Most recent 2022)

*A Miami home game was played in Tampa in 1969.

SCOUTING THE MATCHUPS

By Paul Perillo

When the Patriots run - Edge: Dolphins

The Patriots running game has been slightly improved over the past two weeks but still not anywhere near as productive as Alex Van Pelt would like. Rhamondre Stevenson was held below 4 yards per carry once again, finishing with 73 yards on 20 carries against a shaky Rams run defense. The offensive line has been in place for three straight weeks but still struggles to open up holes. Stevenson is met in the backfield as he receives the handoff frequently, making yards tough to come by. That doesn't figure to get much easier in South Florida where the Dolphins maligned defense has actually been rather stout against the run. Miami ranks ninth in the league, allowing 109 yards per game on the ground, and 14^th at 4.4 yards per carry. Miami's three-man front of Zach Sieler, Benito Jones and veteran Calais Campbell has held up well most of the season. The Patriots were able to gash the Dolphins on a couple of occasions in the first meeting back in Week 5. Stevenson (12 carries, 89 yards) and Antonio Gibson (6-52) both turned in big plays with carries of 33 and 24 yards, respectively. But the Patriots haven't approached that type of production on the ground since, and Miami is healthier up front than it was the first time around.

When the Patriots pass - Edge: Patriots

Drake Maye continues to be a revelation for the Patriots and he's coming off arguably his best game thus far in the loss to the Rams. He carved up L.A.'s secondary while dealing with the Rams formidable pass rush and had the Patriots in position to post the comeback. He continues to lean on tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, but against the Rams he got support from Kendrick Bourne and DeMario Douglas as well. Miami's pass defense has performed well, ranking 10^th in the league while allowing 199 yards per game, and ninth at 6.3 yards per pass. Maye will need to be aware of the dangerous Jalen Ramsey, who likes to bait quarterbacks into throws at times. He and fellow veteran Kendall Fuller (who missed the Raiders game with a concussion) and Kader Kohou man the corner spots with Jordan Poyer, Jevon Holland and Marcus Maye at safety. That group struggled with Raiders tight end Brock Bowers last week, allowing the rookie to catch 13 balls for 126 yards, but pretty much shut down the rest of the Vegas passing game. Unlike the Rams, Miami's pass rush has been virtually non-existent with the loss of edge rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, so Maye should get more time to dissect the Dolphins defense.

When the Dolphins run - Edge: Dolphins

Mike McDaniel is cut from the same cloth as Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay and all three like to run the ball to set up their creative passing schemes. When healthy, the Dolphins have been able to do so effectively at times this season. That was certainly the case in Week 5 when Miami racked up 193 yards on the ground despite missing top back De'Von Achane from most of the game and playing without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Raheem Mostert and rookie Jaylen Wright did the damage in Foxborough, and with Achane back look for McDaniel to grind it out again. The Patriots front has struggled most of the season in that department, and last week had a tough time containing the Rams Kyren Williams, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Davon Godchaux, Jeremiah Pharms and Daniel Ekuale got some help with the return of Christian Barmore, but after missing the season while dealing with blood clots the talented pass rusher was limited to just 21 snaps in his season debut. That group will need to be more stout in Miami to prevent the Dolphins from controlling the ball, which they did effectively against the Raiders with four scoring drives that featured double-digit plays.

When the Dolphins pass - Edge: Dolphins

The difference with and without Tagovailoa for the Dolphins offense is staggering. Miami never scored more than 15 points in any of the four games he missed while averaging 28 points per game in the four since he returned. Obviously, that's resulted in a huge boost to the passing game as receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have started to resemble their normal selves during that time as well. Tagovailoa is coming off a game in which he completed 28 of 36 for 288 yards with three touchdowns, and no picks and Hill has now found the end zone in each of the last two games after not scoring since the opener. The Patriots secondary is coming off a rough outing against Matthew Stafford and the Rams as both Puka Nucua and Cooper Kupp topped the 100-yard mark while combining for three touchdowns. Christian Gonzalez didn't match up man-to-man often in that game and it will be interesting to see if DeMarcus Covington changes that approach this week in South Florida. In addition to Hill and Waddle, former Patriot Jonnu Smith is enjoying a solid season in Miami with 39 catches for 448 yards and three touchdowns, including a 57-yarder last week against the Raiders. This will be another tall task for the Patriots back end.

Special Teams - Edge: Dolphins

The Patriots continue to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to consistency on special teams. Mistakes cost the team once again in the loss to the Rams as Joey Slye had a PAT blocked and on the ensuing kickoff the cover team allowed L.A. a 34-yard return to give the Rams good field position. Aside from the dangerous Marcus Jones, who averages 15.6 yards per punt return, the Patriots haven't been able to generate much positive momentum. Miami is solid in the kicking department with kicker Jason Sanders and punter Jake Bailey. Sanders is perfect on 16 PATs while also sporting a solid 19 of 23 mark on field goals with two of the misses coming from beyond 50 and all four from beyond 45. Bailey has just two touchbacks all season and averages 46.6 yards per punt. The Dolphins return game has been quiet since losing Braxton Berrios to injury, but Malik Washington did have a 19-yard punt return earlier in the season and Dee Eskridge averages 30 yards per kickoff return in limited action. Miami's punt coverage has been shaky at times so perhaps Jones can exploit that with a big play, but the Patriots need to find a way to avoid the self-inflicted wounds that have plagued them most of the season.

TALE OF THE TAPE

CONNECTIONS

FORMER PATRIOTS

• LS Tucker Addington, 2022, 2024
• P Jake Bailey, 2019-22
• WR Braxton Berrios, 2018
• DE William Bradley-King, 2023
• GM Chris Grier 1994 (Intern), 1995-99 (Regional Scout)
• OL Chasen Hines, 2022-23
• TE Jonnu Smith, 2021-22
• WR Coach Wes Welker, 2007-12
• OL Isaiah Wynn, 2020-22

FORMER DOLPHINS

• DL Davon Godchaux, 2017-20
• Asst. WR Coach Tiquan Underwood, 2019
• QB Jacoby Brissett, 2021

PATRIOTS TO WATCH

• CB Christian Gonzalez recorded both his first and second-career interceptions against Miami. If Gonzalez gets a pick at Miami this week, he will be the first player with an interception in his first three games against the same opponent since CB Trevon Diggs of Dallas had an interception in his first three games against Philadelphia (2020-21). The only Patriots player to record his first three interceptions against a single opponent was Gino Cappelletti with 3 interceptions in a game at Oakland on Oct. 16, 1960.

• QB Drake Maye is averaging 9.3-yards per rush with 28 rushing attempts for 260 yards. The highest rushing average for an NFL quarterback in a single season is 8.5 by Michael Vick in 2006 when he had 123 rushing attempts for 1,039 rushing yards with Atlanta.

• TE Hunter Henry enters this week's game at Miami with a team-leading 46 receptions for 491 yards. He is on pace to finish the season with 71 receptions for 759 yards, which would be career-high marks. While with the Chargers, he had a season-high 60 receptions (2020) and 652 receiving yards (2019). Henry is fifth in receptions and sixth in receiving yards among tight ends in 2024.
• Henry has two games with 8 receptions in 2024 – vs. Seattle (9/15) and at Jacksonville (10/20). If he records 8 or more receptions against the Dolphins, he will be the first New England tight end since TE Rob Gronkowski in 2017 with at least three 8-plus reception games.
• Henry enters this week ranked sixth among New England tight ends with 179 receptions. He needs 6 receptions this week at Miami to move past TE Ben Watson into fifth place on New England's all-time list among tight ends.

RB Rhamondre Stevenson enters this week in 11th place in team history with 2,850 rushing yards and needs 68 yards this week against the Dolphins to move past RB LeGarrette Blount (2,917) into 10th place on New England's all-time list.

• DE Keion White has had at least 1 quarterback hit in all but two games in 2024 with a team-leading 15 quarterback hits. He is on pace to finish the year with 23 quarterback hits and become the eighth Patriots player to finish the season with at least 20 quarterback hits, joining Matthew Judon (28 in 2022 and 25 in 2021), Rosevelt Colvin (27 in 2006), Trey Flowers (24 in 2017 and 20 in 2018), Chandler Jones (23 in 2013) and Andre Carter (23 in 2011).

• CB Marcus Jones is first in the NFL with a 15.6-yard punt return average (20 returns for 311 yards). The last Patriots player to lead the NFL in punt return average was Gunner Olszewski in 2020 with a team-record 17.3-yard average.
• Jones had a 62-yard punt return in the third quarter vs. the N.Y. Jets (10/27) to help get the Patriots in position for a touchdown. It was his second-career punt return of over 60 yards. He had a career-best 84-yard punt return for a touchdown vs. the Jets on Nov. 20, 2022. If he registers a punt return of at least 60 yards this week at the Dolphins, he will tie Troy Brown with three-career punt returns of over 60 yards as a Patriot, behind only the four by WR Julian Edelman (since 1980).
• In addition, if Jones registers a 60-yard punt return this week against the Dolphins, he will be just the fourth Patriots player with two punt returns of at least 60 yards in the same season and the first since 2020 when WR Gunner Olszewski had two 60-yard punt returns: a 61-yard return and a 70-yard touchdown run at the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 6, 2020. The other Patriots to accomplish the feat in a single season were Troy Brown (2001) and Irving Fryar (1985).
• Jones played his first snaps on offense in 2024 last week vs. the LA Rams and had his first career rush with a 5-yard gain in the third quarter. Jones scored on a 48-yard touchdown reception vs. Buffalo on Dec. 1, 2022. If he scores on offense in 2024, he will join LB Mike Vrabel (8 touchdown receptions) as the only defensive player with more than 1 touchdown on offense in team history.

BROADCAST INFO

TELEVISION: This week's game will be broadcast by CBS and can be seen locally on WBZ-TV Channel 4. Spero Dedes will handle play-by-play duties with Adam Archuleta as the color analyst. Aditi Kinkhabwala will provide analysis from the sidelines. The game will be produced by Jason Ross and directed by Mark Grant.

LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 33 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello.

For information on how to stream the game please visit our Ways to Watch guide.