Patriots vs. Dolphins: Week 1 Preview

Well, it's that time of year again Patriots fans. The beginning of another season. The beginning of (hopefully) another Super Bowl run. It all starts with Week 1, and this Week 1 is on the national stage. Monday Night Football versus one of our bigger rivals, the Miami Dolphins. All I've been hearing from Dolphins fans is complete nonsense. "Chad Henne is going to be a star QB" "Reggie Bush is a stud runningback" "Brandon Marshall is the best receiver in the NFL" Um, no, no, and no. Henne is just bad. You keep saying he's "improved" when all he's done in his career is digress instead of progress. Reggie Bush has been a 3rd down 'back all of his NFL career, he's proven squat. Marshall is good, I'll give them that, but he's definitely not the best. He also needs someone to throw him the ball. Whether it's Henne all year or Moore half way through (maybe even sooner pending how bad Henne plays). I'll get back to the offense in a moment. I want to focus on what worries me the most, the defense. The 'Fins defense is very good. Ranked 6th in the league last year. There are tons of game breakers, some of which include: Cameron Wake, Vontae Davis, and Darnell Dockett to name a few. Then again the Patriots are fielding 2010s unanimous MVP, Tom Brady. Anytime Tom Brady is on the field you can guarantee the Patriots will put up points, and in bunches. Though I don't expect them to win like they did last year on Monday Night. It will be much closer, but I still expect to win. Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are very good corners, yes, but Ochocinco and Branch are very good receivers. When you do cover them, what about Welker? What about Gronkowski? What about Hernandez? You can double cover Welker, sure, then you leave either a safety or linebacker on the two tight ends. Which is exactly what Belichick wants, you bring a safeties on them, they throw it down the sidelines with no safety help. You put a linebacker on them, Hernandez is too fast for them and Hernandez is too big for them. They are match-up nightmares. The run game is much improved. Green-Ellis got 1,000 yards last year, Woodhead gets a full year to learn the playbook, Stevan Ridley looked tremendous in pre-season, and Vereen could be another Woodhead but bigger and stronger. Lets go look at the new defense. The new additions include Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter and oh yeah a very motivated Albert Haynesworth. Remember the last time Haynesworth was motivated? Oh yeah, he had 8.5 sacks and was an All-Pro. Yikes. This time he has the best nose tackle in football, Vince Wilfork, to help him. This is another thing I love about this defense. If you double team Haynesworth or Wilfork then the other is single teamed which is dangerous and then Shaun Ellis and Andre Carter are on their own as well is pretty bad too. The linebackers are solid. Captain Jerod Mayo led the NFL in tackles last year. Brandon Spikes showed flashes last year and Gary Guyton/Rob Ninkovich are solid. The secondary is where people are most concerned but, I think it's just Free Safety. Devin McCourty had 7 INTs last year as a rookie and looks like a shutdown corner in the making, Leigh Bodden is coming back from injury who had 5 INTs in 2009 with the Patriots, Kyle Arrington can finally be a slot corner like he should be, Ras-I Dowling will be very good but it will take time. Pat Chung is a very good Strong Safety. That about covers the Patriots' defense. They greatly improved the pass rush which should help the pas defense as a whole. Getting Bodden back also helps. Back to the Dolphins offense. They lost RBs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and replaced them with Reggie Bush, Daniel Thomas, and Larry Johnson. Rookie Thomas is going to be out for the game so it'll be Bush and Johnson carrying the load. Johnson is just flat out old. Does he have enough left to be a feature 'back because Lord knows Bush isn't a feature NFL 'back. Receivers Brandon Marshall and Davone Bess are good but then you have the QB, Chad Henne. This is what ticks me off most about 'Fins fans. They constantly say Henne will lead them to a playoff berth or even a Super Bowl. As Chad Ochocinco would say, child please! Chad Henne is just bad. I would start Matt Moore over him but I guess you have to give him one last look. He is the big downfall for them and I expect him to be the downfall on Monday too. I've covered basically everything. I expect a win on Monday night but I wouldn't be shocked if we lost a close one, but I doubt it. Go Patriots!