There’s no such thing as an actual “must-win” game in Week 2, but the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins can badly use a victory this Sunday.
The AFC East adversaries are each looking to enter the win column after a Week 1 loss. New England stumbled against the Las Vegas Raiders in Mike Vrabel’s Patriots coaching debut, and the Indianapolis Colts obliterated the Dolphins in a game that quickly raised alarm in South Beach.
A win would certainly ease anxiety in Foxborough, but ESPN insider Dan Graziano believes that Miami is facing an even more dire situation.
“I’m not sure there’s a team that needs a Week 2 win more than Miami,” Graziano wrote. “After visiting its training camp, I was sort of buying the idea that this season was going to be a bit of a cultural reset and that things might not be as awful as feared. But the Dolphins looked disastrously dreadful on both sides of the ball against the Colts, and suddenly there was a whole bunch of fresh evidence suggesting they could be the league’s worst team this season. If Week 1 was a true representation of how Miami’s season will go, things could get really ugly quickly. And that could mean big changes.”
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler questioned Miami’s leadership when saying the team “looked uninspired and inexplicably flat” in Week 1. A high-octane offense generated just 211 yards with three turnovers, and Daniel Jones gashed the defense for 9.4 yards per pass and two rushing touchdowns.
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The Dolphins made the playoffs in each of Mike McDaniel’s first two seasons as head coach. They led the NFL in total offense during the 2023 campaign and seemed poised to capture their first division crown since 2008 before dropping their final three games.
Miami regressed considerably last season, finishing 8-9 with a No. 18 offense that stumbled in six games without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins didn’t improve their roster during a peculiar offseason that saw them trade All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and bring tight end Darren Waller out of retirement.
Heading on the road to face the Buffalo Bills next Thursday night could make the Dolphins even more desperate to defeat the Patriots in their home opener. Sunday’s Week 2 showdown starts at 1 p.m. ET.
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