The New England Patriots open up the 2022 campaign in Miami, Florida when they take on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium. The start of a new season breeds hopes within the fanbase as the Patriots continue their search for their league-leading seventh Lombardi Trophy. Led by 2nd-year quarterback Mac Jones, the Patriots will showcase a new offensive scheme that they hope will open up more opportunities for their running game to shine. The game will serve as a significant test and one that could very well determine how the rest of the season is going to shape out.
There’s just one glaring problem.
The game is in Miami. In September.
It is known within Pats Nation that the team has notoriously struggled when they take on the Dolphins in Miami. Regardless of Miami’s record, or the time of year for that matter, the Dolphins have always found a way to give New England trouble at Hard Rock, even when the stadium is half-filled with Patriots fans. An early season game of this nature always brings trouble for the Patriots, and nature itself plays a large part in it. For most of the year, it’s scorching in Miami. When the Dolphins wear their white uniforms, it forces the Patriots to wear their dark navy-blue uniforms. That obviously works in the favor of a team that’s more adjusted to the climate of Miami than a team that plays most of their home games in poor weather conditions each season.
Bill Belichick-led Patriots teams are 9-13 in games in Miami dating back to his first season in 2000. The Patriots are 2-2 in games in Miami in September. Oddly enough, the team seems to fare worse in games played in the “winter months” of December and January at a 2-9 record. This is mainly because the Patriots struggle to adjust to a warmer climate when they are so used to playing games in colder temperatures.
Sure there are plenty of occasions over the years where the Patriots should’ve beaten the Dolphins in Miami but just couldn’t escape Hard Rock with a hard-earned victory. The most notable of games happens to be the 2018 matchup between the two. The Dolphins won the contest on a last-second lateral play. The Dolphins were not the better team that day. They just happened to catch the Patriots off-guard at the worst possible time, and it cost the Pats. You could also look at the game in the 2015 season as well. All the Patriots had to do was win the game against the 5-10 Miami Dolphins and they would’ve clinched home-field advantage in the AFC Playoffs. They couldn’t do it. They lost home field, and they would eventually lose the AFC Championship that year to Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos squad in Denver.
In order for the 2022 Patriots to remain competitive in the stacked AFC, they have to be able to beat teams in their division. It starts with Miami this upcoming Sunday. Beating them on the road and starting the season with a massive win will be an enormous boost of morale for the team and the fanbase. Lose the game, and not only do you start the season off on a bad mark like you did last year, but it also comes with having to once again wonder why you can’t beat Miami on the road.
The Dolphins open up as 3-point favorites ahead of Sunday’s clash. (Caeser’s Sportsbook)
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4 Comments
Squish the Fish, baby !!!!
On the road to Superbowl 20 in January 1986 !!!!!!
I’ve always felt like the Patriots threw the 2015 game in Miami
Which cleared the path for Peyton Manning to win the Super Bowl in his last year
Seemed kind of strange how that whole season ended
Seemed kinda “fishy”
Owners of a 3-7 record over their last 10 trips to Miami, the New England Patriots have decided to change things up a bit ahead of this year’s regular season opener against the Dolphins. Instead of flying to Florida on the day before the game, as is tradition, they are traveling on Tuesday 9/6/22 — five days before the contest.