Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots – 9/13/20 NFL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots meet Sunday in NFL action from Gillette Stadium. 

The Dolphins are coming off another disappointing campaign in 2019, going 5-11 and finishing in the basement of the AFC East. Despite starting out 0-7, Miami was able to win five of their last nine games. As for the Patriots, they finished first in the division yet again with a 12-4 record, the 11th straight year New England has taken the AFC East. The Pats took a quick exit in the Wild Card Playoffs however, falling 20-13 to the Titans. Check back all season long for free NFL picks and NFL predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

Miami started out pretty dismally in 2019, but considering how the team was attempting to leverage for draft position, things worked out. The Dolphins unloaded a lot of notable names throughout the season, including Laremy Tunsil, Minka Fitzpatrick, Kenyan Drake and Ryan Tannehill. The good news is that the Dolphins ended the season on a pretty good run, even beating the Patriots at Gillette in Week 17. 

Things are looking up for Dolphins fans in 2020 in the second year of head coach Brian Flores. Miami got their potential quarterback of the future in Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa during the first round of the draft, also snagging OT Austin Jackson and CB Noah Igbinoghene in the first 30 picks. The Dolphins have an intriguing batch of skill players as well, including WR Lynn Bowden and RB Matt Breida. 

Over on the Patriots’ side, 2019 was another ho-hum dominant romp through the AFC East, but cracks in the team’s normally impenetrable armor began to show at times during the season. New England was carried by a skilled defense which put veteran QB Tom Brady in a great position on the other side of the ball. The 20-13 Wild Card Playoffs loss would be Brady’s last in a Pats uniform, however. 

This season a new-look New England team takes the field without Brady, but veteran QB Cam Newton was added to the roster in his place. Newton will have a strong Patriots defense to rely on as he gets acclimated, and the team boasts some nice pieces in Julian Edelman, Sony Michel, James White and N’Keal Harry. They’ll be a strong team once again. 

The Dolphins are 5-1 ATS in their last six games in Week 1 and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. Miami is 4-1 ATS in their last five games as an underdog and 4-1 ATS in their last five games versus the AFC East. 

Meanwhile, the Patriots are 1-3-1 ATS in their last five versus the AFC East and 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven games overall. New England is 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven versus the AFC and 0-4-1 ATS in their last five games as a home favorite. 

Pick: Still going Patriots. It was weird seeing this game open at less than a touchdown, as New England has been historically dominant in this matchup—and pretty much all AFC East matchups—over the past several years. Sure, Brady is gone, but the system and pieces are all still installed. When Newton is playing well, he’s not that much of a step down production-wise. Things will be more difficult than usual for the Pats this year, but I think they’ll take the division again.