New England PatriotsThe Patriots come into this season highly regarded yet again. They will constantly be bet as a heavy favorite and for good reason. Brady is healthy and has a bevy of talent at his disposal. Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski will be Brady's favorite targets in my opinion.
Many will assume that Chad Johnson will be the second coming of Randy Moss in New England. However, this is not the case. The two have not been very effective in the preseason and Johnson is aging and definitely past his prime.
In the backfield, New England will rely on an combination of Benjarvis Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead and Steven Ridley. Ridley looks to be a solid player out of LSU and should see some work.
On defense, the Patriots are more than vulnerable especially in the secondary. Jerod Mayo is a stud and Vince Wilfork is a beast to move in the middle. I don't see this affecting the Dolphins as much as they will utilize their run game through the passing game with dump offs to Bush and Thomas. Outside of McCourty, the Pats are very thin in the secondary and they will be exposed against Brandon Marshall.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins come into this season with a lot of questions. Henne is under considerable pressure to perform. Brandon Marshall is entering his second season as a Fin and the backfield is brand new with Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas.
The defense is by far and away the strength of the Dolphins. They have two of the most underrated cover corners in the game in Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. The Dolphins also have the best OLB in the AFC not named James Harrison in Cameron Wake. The guy is a beast and will be at Brady all night long.
Henne and Marshall have developed some pretty good chemistry thus far in the preseason. Marshall is finally healthy, more in tune with offense after his first full season and loves to show up on Primetime.
Also, look for Sparano to use Bush in variety of ways tonight. He will line him up at split end as well as constant dump offs and screens out of the backfield.
Reggie Bush is an intriguing player to watch tonight. Essentially got dumped from the Saints this past offseason. The former top draft pick has by all accounts been a bust thus far in his career. Look for him to come out on a mission tonight and really play well catching the rock out of the backfield.
Overall, should be a great game. Pats will probably win the game however, the Dolphins have a great shot at pulling out a W in this one.
Dolphins +7 (-110) 2** Play
Dolphins ML +280
GL