The New England Patriots took care of business in Week 1. Now, they’ll travel to a place that’s been a house of horrors throughout the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady era.
For whatever reason, New England has played some of its worst football in Miami over the past two decades. Even when they manage to put together a solid performance, something inexplicable often arises and troubles the Patriots against the Dolphins. It ended up not paying major dividends last season, but the “Miami Miracle” doomed the Pats’ chances of securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
New England is the heavy favorite heading into Week 2, and rightly so. The Patriots looked borderline frightening in their rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Dolphins fell in embarrassing fashion. Still, Brady by no means is viewing this divisional clash as a cakewalk, and he’s not going to let his teammates forget about the past shortcomings in South Beach.
“This current team was focused on what we had to do to get to 1-0,” Brady said Monday on “The Greg Hill Show,” as transcribed by WEEI. “It was a long week of practice. There was a lot to prep for, but we played a solid game. A pretty clean game with not a lot of penalties, not a lot of turnovers. It always feels good to start the season on a good note. 1-0 is a good place to be and now we have to get back to work right away and try and go down and beat Miami and play in a place where we haven’t had the most success. That will be a big point of urgency for us this week.”
Another point of emphasis for the Patriots likely will be ingratiating Antonio Brown, who officially joined the team’s 53-man roster Monday. After serving as a spectator for New England’s season opener, Brown, a Miami native, is eligible to play Sunday. It’s tough to imagine Brown will have a big role in his Patriots debut, but it’s safe to assume he and Brady will be working around the clock to build a rapport.
