Sunday, December 20, 2020, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, 1 p.m. ET
Patriots at Dolphins Betting Preview: Patriots (+2/-112), Dolphins (-2/-109)
New England Patriots
The Patriots (6-7) bid for a sweep of the Dolphins on Sunday after failing to take out the brooms in their games against the SoFi Stadium tenants over the last two weeks. Cam Newton, who rushed for a season-high 75 yards and two touchdowns in New England’s 21-11 win over Miami on Sept. 13, found the end zone in a 45-0 win over the Chargers on Dec. 6 before finding the pine in a 24-3 loss to the Rams on Thursday.
Damien Harris leads the team in carries (137), yards (691) and yards per carry (5.0) despite missing the first three games of the season following surgery on his pinkie finger. Fellow running back Sony Michel has rushed 17 times for 57 yards since returning to the lineup, although he has rushed for a touchdown in each of his last three meetings with Miami.
Damiere Byrd has 21 catches over his last five weeks to boost his season total to 42, matching Jakobi Meyers for the team lead. N’Keal Harry led the Patriots with 49 receiving yards last week versus the Rams and tied Julian Edelman with a team-best five catches in the season opener against the Dolphins.
Miami Dolphins
Rookie Tua Tagovailoa looks to build off his season-high 316-yard passing performance in Miami’s 33-27 loss to Kansas City when he faces the Patriots for the first time in his career. The fifth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft also rushed for a touchdown last week, a promising sight considering the Dolphins’ backfield is in disarray.
Mike Gesicki reeled in two touchdown passes last week and boasts 602 receiving yards on the season, which ranks third best among AFC tight ends. Gesicki (shoulder), however, joins wideouts DeVante Parker (hamstring) and Jakeem Grant (hamstring) as well as running back Salvon Ahmed (shoulder) with injury concerns.
With running back Myles Gaskin on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Miami (8-5) likely will look for DeAndre Washington to handle the rushing duties against New England. Xavien Howard has reeled in an interception in five straight games to boost his career-high total to an NFL-best nine on the season.
Patriots at Dolphins Betting Pick for Week 15
The Patriots rushed at will against the Dolphins in the season opener, doing so to the tune of 42 carries for 217 yards. While New England boasts the NFL’s No. 5 rushing attack (147.5 yards per game), its 26th-ranked scoring (21.3 points), 24th-ranked total offense (332.9 yards) and 29th-ranked passing (185.4 yards) outputs leave plenty to be desired.
The bet is the Patriots can run the ball on Sunday. If not, it will be another long day for Bill Belichick’s crew.
Patriots at Dolphins Betting Pick:
Patriots 21, Dolphins 16
Patriots at Dolphins Best Bet for Week 15
The Patriots are trending toward missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season. With that said, they’ll do their part to make sure the Dolphins don’t improve their stock at their expense.
Patriots at Dolphins Best Bet: UNDER 42 total points (-109)
