Dolphins Game Preview: Week Four vs. Patriots

The Miami Dolphins will try and keep their perfect season alive when they visit the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The Dolphins are 3-0 on the year and will now be facing their toughest challenge thus far. New England is 1-2, but both of those losses came on the road. The Patriots are coming off a win against Houston and still have Tom Brady at quarterback.

Miami nearly fell to the 0-3 Oakland Raiders a week ago at home and it will need to play better ball on Sunday. While the Raiders are susceptible to mistakes, the Patriots play disciplined football each week. The results have not been there thus far, but the Patriots will likely put it all together soon enough.

New England has been vulnerable defensively this season and is playing a man down in this game. The Patriots placed Ja'Whaun Bentley on injured reserve this week and he had been one of the team's better performers. The Patriots are giving up yards in the air and on the ground.

Kenyan Drake and Frank Gore combined for 15 yards in last week's win over Oakland and could be better in this game. If Miami continues to rely on Ryan Tannehill's arm, the team may run into trouble sooner rather than later. Tannehill has been great thus far, but he needs some help around him to sustain it. The veteran quarterback has seven touchdowns in 74 pass attempts so far.

The Patriots have not been producing much offense this season, but that can change in a hurry. The Dolphins have had excellent pass-defense in 2018, but they have not faced a QB at Brady's level as of yet. Even at 41, Brady is still capable of running a Super Bowl contending offense. The QB has six touchdowns and two interceptions this season.

Miami will be without Andre Branch, Chase Allen and A.J. Derby in this game. DeVante Parker is listed as questionable with a quad injury, after returning to the field last week. Parker was only targeted three times in last week's win and came down with two receptions.