The Miami Dolphins will host Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on Sunday, in a battle of teams that are on the opposite ends of the AFC East standings. The future Hall of Fame coach just nabbed the 300th win of his career last week, but he’ll have a hard time getting to 301 in Week 8, especially if a particular trend continues.
Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa Is 5-0 In Career Against Belichick
Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa vs. New England Patriots and Bill Belichick
5-0
69 percent
975 yards
7 total TD
89.5 rating
7.1 yards per attempt pic.twitter.com/rjsW6Ki7s4— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 28, 2023
Tua Tagovailoa entered the NFL in 2020, an arrival to the Dolphins that coincided with the start of the fall of the Patriots dynasty. New England had been a thorn in the side for Miami for the better part of two decades, and while it wasn’t exactly one-sided, the Dolphins needed to find an upper hand in the rivalry.
That hand was apparently Tagovailoa’s. Since being drafted, Tua has never lost to Bill Belichick and the Patriots, sporting a perfect 5-0 record in the games that he’s played against arguably the greatest coach of all time.
The Dolphins as a team have fallen to New England somewhat recently. On January 1st of this very year, the Patriots were able to defeat the Dolphins 23-21 in a Week 17 matchup, but the game was missed by Tagovailoa as he was out for the year with concussion issues.
Dolphins Are 9.5 Point Favorites
Bill Belichick is still making history as a head coach in year 23 😤 pic.twitter.com/HLJP0EVYx3
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 22, 2023
Can Tagovailoa make it 6 in a row and keep his record perfect against New England? The oddsmakers believe they will, as Miami is favored by 9.5 points entering Sunday morning.
The two teams met already this season, back in Week 3. Miami was able to come away with a victory, but one of the stories of the game was the Patriots’ ability to somewhat limit the Dolphins’ high-flying offensive attack. They’ll have to do the same in Week 8 if they have any hopes of overcoming their underdog status and pulling off an upset.
The Dolphins are looking for a bounce back win after last week’s Sunday Night Football loss to the Eagles. The Bills were victorious on Thursday, meaning that Miami needs a win to stay a full game ahead of Buffalo in the standings in the AFC East.
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