After last week’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the New England Patriots will try and avoid the dreaded 0-2 start this week when they host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football. Despite the progress the Patriots appeared to show last week, it’s dwarfed by the Dolphins’ massive offensive output.

In their 36-34 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Dolphins boasted 536 yards of total offense, including 466 from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. This was despite star wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both having a usage rate of under 70 percent for the game.

READ MORE:

—Week 1 Patriots Ups & Downs
— Mac Jones was ‘outrageously’ hard on himself after Sunday’s loss
— Ranking the top 23 games of Tom Brady’s career

The Dolphins offense is red hot coming into a matchup its fared well in in recent years. Tagovailoa is 4-0 in starts against the Patriots since being drafted in the first round by the Dolphins in 2020.

What can the Patriots do to slow this offense down? And what other questions surround the team heading into a crucial Week 2 matchup? Let’s get to your questions…

To the first part of this question – I’ll get into the coverage matchups I’m expecting in this game on Friday in my weekly ‘What To Watch For,’ but I’ll drop a bit of a spoiler here and say the Patriots should be relying on Jonathan Jones to have the same kind of success against Hill that he was had in the past.

As for that 25 point line, even with the Dolphins’ explosive offense, holding them below that isn’t an unrealistic expectation. Although Tagovailoa is 4-0 against the Patriots in his career, the Dolphins have reached scoring totals of 22, 17, 33, and 20 in those games. That 20 point performance came with both Hill and Waddle on the roster, and also included a defensive touchdown by Miami. So although the Patriots have struggled against the Dolphins in recent years, it’s been the offense holding the short end of the stick more often than the defense.

• 🕸️Phil and his musings: 🕸️ 🏪 on Twitter: "What the heck happened with the Chargers D last week that's what I want to know. Hill and Waddle shouldn't be surprising anybody at this point. / Twitter"

  What the heck happened with the Chargers D last week that's what I want to know. Hill and Waddle shouldn't be surprising anybody at this point.

  Brandon Staley happened. Despite being a defensive coach, Staley’s Chargers have allowed 25.1 points per game since he took over in Los Angeles before the 2021 season. That ranks outside of the top 20 in the league. Despite their immense talent level, they’ve struggled to put it together on that side of the ball – which points to a schematic or philosophical issue.

• Beantown Bastard on Twitter: "Do you think Gesicki can have a good game against his old team? I believe he will do well in the middle of the field and may get his first NE TD vs Miami. I think he brings the energy knowing he's playing against the Dolphins. / Twitter"

  Do you think Gesicki can have a good game against his old team? I believe he will do well in the middle of the field and may get his first NE TD vs Miami. I think he brings the energy knowing he's playing against the Dolphins.

  Throughout the week, Patriots players have talked about how Mike Gesicki’s familiarity with the Dolphins’ defense has been important. On top of that, this is a defense that struggled to cover tight ends a year ago. In 2022, tight ends against the Dolphins caught 98 passes (third-most allowed by a team in the NFL) for 954 yards (eighth-most) and 10 touchdowns (fourth most). Things did look a little better for the Dolphins defense in that regard to start 2022, with Chargers’ tight ends Gerald Everett and Donald Parham combined for five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown last week.

• Most Hated on Twitter: "If DP plays how many snaps are we expecting? / Twitter"

  If DP plays how many snaps are we expecting?

  It’s tough to project DeVante Parker‘s usage without knowing his exact injury, but I will say this – the Patriots kept JuJu Smith-Schuster, arguably their biggest offseason acquisition, to a 53.8 percent usage rate in Week 1 amid reports he’s dealing with knee issues. Even though Parker is the team’s projected top ‘X’ wide receiver and just got a three-year contract extension, the Patriots still may not give him a full workload if they don’t feel he’s up to it.

• Joseph carlson on Twitter: "How did the rookie lineman play last week? / Twitter"

  How did the rookie lineman play last week?

  For what the situation was, Atonio Mafi and Sidy Sow were…fine. There were no glaring mistakes over the course of 80 snaps. At the same time, they were hardly perfect. Mafi allowed seven pressures, and Sow allowed five over the course of 60 pass-blocking snaps (each). At certain points of the game, it looked like the Patriots were calling plays that didn’t require as much impact up the middle of the field, which would likely be to compensate for the rookies.

  The bigger issue though was in the run game. There was little push up the middle, and the Patriots ran for just 17 yards on 13 carries – or 1.3 yards per carry – between the tackles. That number needs to improve for the Patriots to opperate their offense to its fullest extent, and it should once Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu come back.

• ashley1992 on Twitter: "Hi Alex, White looked great on Sunday. Do you think his snaps increase this week and if so, who's playing time decreases? / Twitter"

  Hi Alex, White looked great on Sunday. Do you think his snaps increase this week and if so, who's playing time decreases?

  Keion White was excellent on Sunday. He was a big part of the Patriots’ rush plan to knock Jalen Hurts off his spot without blowing contain, and did exactly that.

  It wasn’t surprising to see White play well – before the season I predicted his role will grow significantly as the season goes on. The thing is, White is positionally and formationally versatile. So his increase in snaps could be less of a one-for-one swap, and more him taking a few snaps from multiple players.

• DPogue on Twitter: "What's happening with the O-Line this week? / Twitter"

  What's happening with the O-Line this week?

  Well, it’s not looking good based off of Wednesday’s injury report. Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu could still return, but it would be surprising to see Trent Brown or Sidy Sow just a week after suffering a concussion. So, assuming those two are out, here’s what the offensive line could look like…

  With Strange & Onwenu:

  LT: Calvin Anderson
  LG: Cole Strange
  C: David Andrews
  RG: Mike Onwenu
  RT: Vederian Lowe

  Without Strange & Onwenu:

  LT: Calvin Anderson
  LG: James Ferentz (practice squad elevation)
  C: David Andrews
  RG: Atonio Mafi
  RT: Vederian Lowe

  (If only one of Strange or Onwenu is out, Mafi likely takes the other guard spot with Ferentz still elevated as a backup.)

• thanasis on Twitter: "What is your overall sentiment of the team and how similar was last week's game to the Ravens last year ? / Twitter"

  What is your overall sentiment of the team and how similar was last week's game to the Ravens last year ?

  This was the thesis behind my postgame column on Sunday – that game was whatever anybody wanted it to be. Want proof that the Patriots haven’t changed post-Patricia and are still good-but-not-good-enough? It was there. Want to point to the fact that it’s a new coaching staff and many of these mistakes – although they were ones the Patriots made for 17 weeks last season – can be corrected? There’s certainly evidence there as well.

  It basically all comes down to whether or not you believe the Patriots deserve the benefit of the doubt that they can overcome and correct early-season mistakes after struggling to do so in each of the last three seasons. In a bubble, it was an encouraging first week, even with the loss. And this is probably the best coaching staff the Patriots have had in the post-Brady era. But if the game just looked too familiar to get beyond the last few years, that’s understandable.

• John Gabriel on Twitter: "Sunday was our first time seeing our offense in a real full game. Did you see any plays or formations where you think Tyquan can exceed at? I think that 3rd down where Mac had to thread the needle to KB if Tyquan is running the crosser from the left it can take that safety out! / Twitter"

  Sunday was our first time seeing our offense in a real full game. Did you see any plays or formations where you think Tyquan can exceed at? I think that 3rd down where Mac had to thread the needle to KB if Tyquan is running the crosser from the left it can take that safety out!

  Interesting question here John. I think the last point is the key here. A lot of what the Patriots did this past Sunday was stretching the field horizontally – a staple of Bill O’Brien’s offense. Thornton should help them stretch the field vertically, but he’ll need to prove he can get open deep and catch the ball for defenses to really stay honest with him on the field.

• Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at [email protected].

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