Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots Week 1 Is About Leadership

Football is back, well soon. This year it seems like the never-ending offseason but we’re finally getting to the regular season. Now that we’re getting back to football, let’s get back to a matchup fans have to usuall, wait unti midseason for, Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots. Sure the first matchup might come early but the Dolphisn typically take a while to get up to speed.

For some strange reason, this matchup is always a coin toss between these two teams. The AFC East will always be a headscratcher. Despite the Patriots dominating many years they often struggle with their divisional games and especially the Dolphins. Taking a look into week one, both teams went through a pretty hefty overhaul and without preseason, anything can happen.

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The Dolphins are welcoming Ryan Fitzpatrick back at quarterback while the Patriots are settling in with new QB Cam Newton. These two quarterbacks couldn’t be more different. Cam has spent the majority of his career with the Carolina Panthers. Journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick has played for eight times in his 16 year career.

Newton has seven playoff appearances, while Fitzpatrick has none. Fitz has never been the face of a franchise while Cam Newton has been many people’s favorite player. New England seems to be the team to beat every year, while the Dolphins have had two decades of mediocre football. Miami seems to be a team on the verge of breaking through, while the Patriots are thought to be on the decline. Newton has had his share of negativity throughout his career where Fitzpatrick has been through to be the constant professional.

All those things add up to an interesting matchup. Brian Flores is in his second year and with a whole batch of free agents and draft picks. Some of those key free agents came from that very same New England team. Flores and his former Pats players will be looking to put their stamp on this decade.

Bill Belichick on the other hand will have enough to prove as well. He needs to prove he can get it done without Brady. Cam Newton needs to prove he still has plenty of football left in him. Signing a one-year deal, he’ll be working to earn next year’s contract as well. Any of the remaining vets that have stuck with New England will be itching to prove they contributed to Brady’s success and he wasn’t the only factor.

Each team will have a lot to prove coming out of the gate. Week one might not determine their whole season, but it very well could be a precursor of things to come.