As we move on into the Week 8 of the NFL regular season we have a real interesting game in store for this coming Thursday Night NFL Football as the AFC East rivals New England play at the Miami Dolphins with the game being played at the Gillette Stadium. in Foxboro, Massachusetts with kick-off scheduled for 8:30 PM ET and seen on CBS TV.
The early Vegas odds for those that Bet on NFL have the Patriots of New England favored at -7 ½ with the Over/under at 51, while the underdog Dolphins of Miami are +7 ½ with no early Money Line available.
This past Sunday the Patriots remained undefeated with a tough victory over the Jets of New York. The reigning Super Bowl Champions will seek to continue with their winning streak on Thursday as the play the comeback Dolphins.
If you’re a fan of the 3-3 Dolphins of Miami your team now has won 2 consecutive games under their new Coach D. Campbell and in the last win it was an impressive bashing of the Texans of Houston 44-26, and during the game at one time they actually led the game 41-0. Now they seek to continue winning and gain a playoff spot, which would be a 1st since back in 2008.
Their new Coach Campbell deserves a lot of praise the way he has turned the Dolphins team around and won his 1st 2 games in the league. That win against the Texans was the 1st time in the last 8 games that the Dolphins won. The star in the game was QB R. Tannehill whom in the 1st 15 minutes of the game passed for 4 touchdowns in a start of a rout of the Texans, and he then finished the game passing for 285 yards and had a 158.2 QB rating. Plus he set a record with 25 consecutive pass completions for the 2 game win streaks.
Beside their QB Tannehill, big contributors to their win were WR J. Landry who had 5 receptions for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns, while RB L. Miller carried the ball 14 times for 176 yards and scored 1 TD. But now the Dolphins who have struggled lately on their road game no face the undefeated Patriots on their home field, and there the Dolphins have lost their last 6 games.
For the Dolphins to win in this game and end their losing streak at Gillette Stadium, they will need to find a way defensively to shut down the Patriots incredible hot offense. The Patriots have been averaging some 411 yards each game this season, but that may not affect the Miami defense who lately have only allowed in their last 2 games just 18 points each game and an average of 311 yards with Coach Campbell at the helm. In their ultimate 10 road games the Dolphins are with 6 wins and 4 losses straight up.
For the fans of the 6-0 Patriots of New England the team edged past the Jets of New York this past Sunday 30-23, their 3rd straight win against the Jets and with that win they moved to 6 wins and 0 losses which is the 1st time for the team since back in the 2007 season.
The Patriots key to victories this 2015 season has been their incredible hard to stop and defend offense that has averaged some 35.5 points each game in this 2015 season. That just happens to be the highest scoring average in the NFL to date. This last game was not much different than their previous 5 games as their QB T. Brady in the win over the Jets passed for 2 touchdowns as he completed 34 of his 54 pass attempts and for 356 yards. In the last quarter of the game he completed 13 of his 16 pass attempts for 136 yards and that brought the Patriots back from a 20-16 deficit to win the game.
As usual QB Brady’s prime target was TE R. Gronkowski who caught 11 receptions for 110 yards a 1 TD, while WR D. Amendola had 87 yards in receptions and 1 TD. To date the Patriots and QB Brady and his receiving corps have compiled 16 touchdowns via the passing game which is tops in the NFL this season.
In this game against the Dolphins the Patriots receiving corps must again have a top performance if they want to continue their unbeaten status. The New England team has averaged 328 yard passing in each game, and that ranks 2nd in the NFL, and will be happy to face the Dolphins secondary that has allowed their opponents some 241 yards each game this season via the air ways, and that has a ranking of 14th in the NFL this 2015 season to date. In their ultimate 10 home games the Patriots are with 9 wins and 1 loss straight up.
The sports betting prediction for this rivalry AFC East game will see the Patriots of New England squeak by the Dolphins of Miami with a TD advantage 31-24!