5 players the Patriots need to play well to beat the Dolphins

Damien Harris

You could throw in James White here as well, but Damien Harris will be the one getting the ball the majority of the time out of the backfield.

The Patriots need to establish a run game. The problem last year was that they relied too much on Newton to be their run game- they don’t have to do that, nor can they do that, with Jones. They will really need to give their offense some balance in order to succeed.

New England can’t ask a rookie in his first start to throw the ball 40 times. If Harris starts getting in a groove of sorts, that will take pressure off Jones and the offense as a whole. If they can sustain drives and have Jones throw the ball fewer than 30 times, that’s a big win for the offense.

Attacking the middle of the defense, winning between the trenches, and helping the offense set up the intermediate passing game will be a key factor in New England’s offensive success.