The Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots are set to face off on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium for their 2022 regular season opener.
Both teams have undergone a fair amount of change this offseason and are looking to fight their way into a playoff spot in an AFC that will be extremely tough to compete in, evidenced by the Buffalo Bills’ impressive performance on Thursday Night Football.
Here are some things to know about the Patriots and Dolphins before they meet this weekend.
Players and coaches have experience playing/coaching for the other.
From Miami’s side, they have four players on their active roster that are former Patriots – Trey Flowers, Elandon Roberts, Justin Bethel and Eric Rowe.
On their coaching staff, defensive coordinator Josh Boyer was with New England from 2006-18, wide receivers coach Wes Welker played there from 2007-12 and outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie also played there from 2009-10.
The Patriots’ active roster has three former Dolphins – DeVante Parker, Davon Godchaux and Raekwon McMillan. They also have Lynn Bowden Jr. on their practice squad.
On their coaching staff, offensive assistant Billy Yates played in Miami in 2003.
Head-to-head record in the Bill Belichick era
Miami is 18-26 against New England since Belichick took over the Patriots back in 2000. However, the Dolphins are 13-9 against them at Hard Rock Stadium.
With Tua Tagovailoa under center, the Dolphins are 3-0 against the Patriots.
Belichick has a stellar record against rookie head coaches.
During Belichick’s time with the Patriots, he has been solid when it comes to handling new head coaches. Against full-time rookie head coaches, he’s 46-15 in the regular season. However, three of those losses came at the hands of Nick Saban, Tony Sparano and Brian Flores all in their first years with the Dolphins.
Changes in coaching staffs for both teams
The Dolphins moved on from head coach Brian Flores this offseason after three seasons and have hired Mike McDaniel. Flores’ level of involvement in the defensive play-calling has been questioned with no real answers, but now defensive coordinator Josh Boyer won’t have Flores as a resource to lean on anymore. That’s leading some to question whether they can perform at the same level as they did down the stretch in 2021.
For New England, long-time offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left this offseason to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. This has left the offensive play-calling duties in the hands of Matt Patricia, who has mostly handled defensive responsibilities throughout his career. Patricia is also coaching the team’s offensive line.
The Patriots also have former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, who was mostly a special teams coach before, working with their quarterbacks.
