I can already picture it. Drake Maye throws for 300 yards. The Patriots score a pile of points. Miami looks like a team that's been waiting all season for somebody to put it out of its misery. By Sunday night, everybody's talking about how New England is back on track.
Maybe they will be. They should be.
But can we hold the parade until they beat somebody who scares us?
New England visits the 1–5 Dolphins on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. The Patriots are 4–3, coming off a 30–24 loss in Chicago that offered another uncomfortable reminder: having a talented quarterback and playing a complete football game are not the same thing.
This matchup should favor New England. Here is why.
The numbers are not subtle. Miami averages 16.3 points, 30th in the NFL, and 293.5 offensive yards, 27th. Its passing attack averages 162 yards per game, also 30th. New England allows 20.4 points and ranks eighth in rushing defense at 95.3 yards allowed per game.
The Dolphins' offense has allowed 16 sacks in six games. The Patriots have made 17 in seven. If there's a week for the defense to get after someone, this is it.
I'm looking directly at Milton Williams. Through seven games, the man has one sack. One. It's fair to say his quickness can affect plays that don't end in a sack; interior disruption doesn't always fit neatly on a leaderboard. But that can't become a permanent escape hatch for someone paid to change games. Against Chicago, the Patriots' own film breakdown credited him with a single quarterback pressure and a tackle for loss. We need more than the occasional flash.
Meanwhile, Elijah Ponder leads the team with 5½ sacks, and Christian Barmore has three. The pass rush isn't completely absent. It's just not consistently being driven by the names you'd expect.
Then there's Christian Gonzalez, still without an interception this season. An elite corner can play excellent coverage without collecting picks; I understand that. But watch the details. Chicago connected on two 21-yard throws to Rome Odunze against his coverage in the fourth quarter, one helped by too much cushion and the other by an offensive alignment that created a free release. These are the snaps that separate good talent from game-changing execution.
Miami's receivers, including Malik Washington and Caleb Douglas, should give Gonzalez and the secondary opportunities to communicate cleanly, contest throws and get off the field. Nobody can promise interceptions. We can demand that the coverage looks organized and that the ball gets challenged.
Don't mistake Malik Willis for a stationary target
Miami isn't dangerous in the traditional way, but Malik Willis can punish undisciplined pressure. He has 223 rushing yards this season, and running back Ollie Gordon II has 339. In Miami's first win last weekend, 28–25 over the Jets, Willis completed 14 of 21 passes, averaged 9.9 yards per attempt and accounted for three touchdowns. That's a real warning against charging blindly upfield and handing him an empty lane.
Keep rush-lane integrity. Make him throw on schedule. Tackle the catch. Those shouldn't be heroic achievements for a defense with this much investment.
New England failed at too many of those basics in Chicago. The Bears' creativity created problems, yes, but missed tackles, coverage communication and open running lanes were New England's responsibility. Mike Vrabel talks about effort, details and finishing. Sunday is a chance to put actual evidence behind those words.
And I haven't forgotten Maye. His 1,784 yards and 13 touchdown passes through seven games are impressive. His eight interceptions matter, too. He was largely excellent against the Bears, throwing for 321 yards and accounting for three touchdowns, but his red-zone interception was costly. You can admire the talent and still want cleaner football in the moments that decide the game.
For the record, Maye has beaten a good quarterback. The Patriots beat Josh Allen's Bills 29–26 in Buffalo on October 4. I won't pretend that win doesn't count just to make a tougher headline. But Seattle, Jacksonville and Chicago showed how quickly things unravel when the Patriots meet resistance and don't execute across all three phases.
After Miami come Green Bay on November 8 and Detroit in Munich on November 15. That's when a polished Sunday afternoon starts to mean something.
I want the Patriots to win comfortably. Not because Miami has no right to play, and not because a close victory would literally count as a loss. Because an aspiring contender shouldn't need another last-minute rescue against a team that's spent most of this season searching for an identity.
Beat Miami. Get the sacks. Create the takeaways. Protect the football. Finish drives.
Then let's see what you've got when the other quarterback can answer back.