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Best Bet: New England at Miami
Weather: Partly Cloudy, low 90's but will feel lke 102+, winds ESE 8 mph - The Dolphins will start a completely different OL than what faced NE in their 24-20 victory LY. That doesn't bode well for a team that didn't show any spark of a ground game in the preseason. NE will also have Vince Wilfork & Jerod Mayo back & they were 8th with 1.72 pts per drive LY. To say they "upgraded at CB" by adding Revis is an understatement for LY's #18 pass def. Gronkowski is also back but don't be surprised to see him to be limited to 3rd Dns & red-zone situations here to avoid needless injuries. MIA has a very good looking secondary here as Brent Grimes is vastly underrated & Courtland Finnegan should bounce back. However, their LB situation is avg at best & nobody exploits another teams weaknesses like Belichick. The weather will be a factor but NE has it's own run game to wear down the MIA defense & look for them to come away with the road win.
Phil Steele Best Bet: Patriots 30 - Miami 13
+/- rating: NE by 4.6
Game Grade: EVEN
Computer Yards: NE 388-361
Computer Points: NE 26-19
Positional Edge: NE by 4.94 points