Preseason is officially behind us and what a fun one it was for the Miami Dolphins, capping it all off with a thrilling victory in Cincinnati that ended with a hail mary pass from QB Reid Sinnett to Chris Myarick that capped off a 29-26 win for Miami. We are now about a week away from the start of the 2021 NFL Season.
This past Tuesday the New England Patriots made a surprising cut from their final roster as quarterback Cam Newton was released from the team. Making rookie quarterback Mac Jones the starting QB for the Patriots’ Week 1 matchup against the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. This move came as quite a shock to fans across the league, but Dolphins fans sure are relieved that they will not have to deal with Newton’s run game ability during Week 1, which surely haunted the Dolphins in their season opener last season against New England.
CRUCIAL OPENING STRETCH FOR MIAMI AND TUA
Miami’s first two matchups of the 2021 season are exact repeats from the first two games last season. New England on the road and then Buffalo at home. The door is wide open for Miami to get themselves a comfortable season opening win on the road. New England will be without the services of CB Stephon Gilmore, and Mac Jones will have the daunting task of facing Miami’s defense in his NFL debut.
Although that shouldn’t divert us or the Dolphins away from what the Patriots can bring to the field at any given moment. We’d have to be kidding ourselves if we don’t think Bill Belichick has been game planning for this matchup ever since the schedule was released. A repeat start to the season from 2020 is something Miami needs to avoid at all costs.
Looking at the possibility of Miami not capitalizing on Week 1 and then having to go home to face the Bills shows just how important this first game can be early on for Tua and the Dolphins. With that being said, as fans we hope this is how our Dolphins are going to look at every single game this year, and we don’t have a reason to doubt their willingness to do so.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had himself a very encouraging preseason that got fans beyond excited to see what he will bring to the table for Miami in 2021. Tua ended the preseason throwing 282 yards on 24/34 attempts with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, utilizing his weapons very efficiently without Will Fuller and DeVante Parker, and looking so much more comfortable in the pocket compared to last season.
This is exactly the kind of progress fans wanted to see out of Tua and we have still yet to see him play with Fuller, Parker, and Waddle on the field at the same time.
Of course, the first two games of the season are only just the first two games and whatever happens will not be season ending, but if we look back to how insanely short Miami fell of playoff contention last year Miami needs to capitalize on every opportunity that falls in their favor and Week 1 is one of them. It is going to be one exciting game to start off a very exciting season for the Dolphins and Tua!
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