In The Red Zone – Dolphins (1-13) @ Patriots (14-0) Preview – Week 16

This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East rival Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.  This is the final game of a three game homestand for New England.  It is the final home game of the regular season.

The Patriots beat the Dolphins in Week 7 in Miami, 49-28.   In that game Tom Brady threw six TD passes including two leaping TD passes to a double covered Randy Moss.

The Patriots are 7-0 at the Razor this season, 5-0 against the AFC East and 11-0 in the AFC. The Dolphins are 0-7 on the road, 0-5 against the AFC East and 1-9 in the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Dolphins and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -22.  The over/under is 45.

My prediction is Patriots 42, Dolphins, 14 . Give the points and take the over. I am 9-5 against the spread and have called the over/under eleven out of fourteen times in 2007.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out.  It is the 147th consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. 

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game to most of the nation and the play-by-play duties will be handled by Jim Nantz with Phil Simms doing game analysis. You can check here to see if you are getting the game from CBS and look for your local CBS Station.

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak, Pete Brock and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 120, the Dolphins radio call is available on Channel 119.

The game can be heard nationally on Westwood One. Bill Rosinski and Dan Reeves will call the game.

Last Week

The Patriots beat the Jets 20-10 at home to go to 14-0.  The Dolphins won their first game of the year at home 22-16 over the Ravens in OT to go to 1-13. 

History

For all the Patriots fans dreaming of an unbeaten season just remember this. The last three times these teams have played in December and January the Dolphins have won the game.  This includes last season when New England lost to the Dolphins, 21-0.  It was the last regular season loss the Patriots have suffered. 

This is the 85th meeting all-time between the teams.  Miami leads the series 48-36 including playoffs. 

The Patriots have won 7 of the last 10 games between the teams but the teams have split the last 6 meetings.

Connections

• Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker was acquired from Miami on March 5, 2007, for draft picks in the second and seventh rounds of the 2007 NFL Draft.
• Patriots linebacker Junior Seau was traded to Miami by the San Diego Chargers in 2003. Seau signed with the Patriots as a free agent on August 18, 2006.
• Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo originally signed with the Dolphins as a rookie free agent following the 1996 NFL Draft. 
• Patriots fullback Heath Evans played in the first six games of the 2005 season for the Dolphins and earned two starts. He was signed by the Patriots on Nov. 1, 2005. Evans is a native of West Palm Beach, FL. 
• Patriots guard Billy Yates was originally signed by the Dolphins as a rookie free agent in 2003. He was waived by Miami in September 2004 and signed to the Patriots active roster on Feb. 4, 2005.
• Dolphins Guard/Center Gene Mruczkowski was claimed off waivers from the Patriots on September 2, 2007. 
• Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs is the nephew of former Dolphins defensive lineman William Gaines. 
• Patriots wide receiver Donte Stallworth, wide receiver Kelley Washington and safety Rashad Baker played at Tennessee in 2001 with Dolphins cornerback Jason Allen. 
• Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork was a teammate of Dolphins tackle Vernon Carey at the University of Miami from 2002-03.
• Patriots cornerback Randall Gay and defensive lineman Jarvis Green were on the same Louisiana State defense as Dolphins cornerback Travis Daniels in 2001.
• Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Dolphins kicker Jay Feely were Michigan’s primary scorers from 1997-98.
• Patriots wide receiver Jabar Gaffney is from Jacksonville, Fla. and attended the University of Florida.
  Patriots rookie defensive back Brandon Meriweather, a Florida native, is an alumnus of the University of Miami and attended Apopka High School in Apopka, FL. (near Orlando).
• Patriots safety Mel Mitchell is from Rockledge, FL, near Cape Canaveral.
• Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel is an alumnus of Central Florida and hails from Lauderdale Lakes, FL.
• Dolphins Director of College Scouting Chris Grier’s is the son of Bobby Grier, the former Vice President of Player Personnel for New England.
   

Other News

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Dolphins. You can also see what Miami Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.

This is Tom Brady’s 109th consecutive start. It is the third longest streak among NFL quarterbacks behind only Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. He is 84-24 in his career during the regular season.

Here is the injury list for the game.

This game marks the largest win/loss differential (13) between two opponents in NFL history. 

The Patriots are looking to finish the season perfect against the AFC East for the first time in team history.  Five times they have had one division loss.

The Patriots are 14-0 for the first time in franchise history. They have won 17 consecutive regular season games dating back to last season.  With a win on Sunday the Patriots would tie the NFL record streak of 18 consecutive games the club set in 2003 and 2004. That was part of an overall 21 game win streak that set an all-time pro football record.

The Patriots are 43-9 at Gillette Stadium.  In their last 20 games when it’s 34 degrees or colder at kickoff they are 18-2 and 16-1 in their last 17 games when it’s 30 degrees or colder at kickoff.

Tom Brady has 45 TD passes just 4 from Peyton Manning’s record of 49.

Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss has 19 TD’s this year which gives him the single season franchise record.  He is 3 TD’s shy of Jerry Rice’ NFL mark by a wide receiver of 22 in a season.

New England’s +19 in turnovers after 14 games leads the NFL. 

The Patriots need just 3 touchdowns to tie the NFL record for most TD’s in a season with 70.  They need 34 points to set the all-time record for most points in a season. 

Since Belichick became coach in 2000 the Patriots are 26-6 in December. They have won 12 of the last 13 games they have played in December.

Belichick is 8-9 all-time vs. the Dolphins (8-7 with New England; 0-2 with Cleveland).

Brady is 8-5 all-time as a starter against Miami.

The Pro Bowl players were announced and the Patriots had 8 players named to the squad.

News from this weeks opponent:

The Dolphins made a big splash this week when they hired former Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells as their Vice President of Football Operations. 

Some media outlets are reporting that Dolphins DE Jason Taylor will miss the game due to injury.

The Dolphins are 16-24 all-time in Foxboro vs. the Patriots. 

Head coach Cam Cameron is 0-1 vs. New England.  This is his first season as a NFL head coach. 

This will be Cleo Lemon’s second career start vs. New England.  Earlier this season he was 24 of 37 for 236 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT in the Week 7 loss. 

The Dolphins are -11 in turnover differential.

Miami’s defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks 34 times this season for a total of 242 lost yards.

The Dolphins offense is ranked 28th in the NFL and their defense is ranked 21st.

The Dolphins are trying to avoid their first season sweep at the hands of the Patriots since 2003. 

Next Week

The Patriots finish the regular season on the road against the New York Giants on Saturday night at 8 p.m. at Giants Stadium.