NFL schedule 2018: Each team’s biggest game
Miami Dolphins: vs. New England Patriots
Miami’s clear highlight from the 2017 season was a 27-20 win over the Patriots on Monday Night Football in Week 14, as South Beach continues to be a hurdle for Tom Brady more often than not (7-9 career record, four losses in the last five road games in Miami).
Tom Brady continues to struggle mightily in Miami pic.twitter.com/0H0lBBNnAC
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 12, 2017
Of course the Dolphins promptly lost their final three games last season, to the Buffalo Bills twice and the Kansas City Chiefs in between, as their faint playoff hopes fully evaporated into a 6-10 cloud and a top-11 pick in next week’s draft.
The Dolphins won 10 games and made the playoffs in head coach Adam Gase’s first season, before falling off big last year. His calling card is offense, so the league’s 28th-ranked scoring offense last year (17.6 points per game) needs to improve or hot seat talk will start in earnest.
The home game against the Patriots is essentially the Dolphins’ Super Bowl each year at this point, and 2018 will be no different. The bigger question will be if they can win enough other games to be a real factor in the AFC playoff picture.