Patriots vs. Dolphins 2014 game preview: Tom Brady and revamped offense go to work

Miami wants to topple the beast of the East this season and has a huge opportunity out of the gate.

Sep 7, 2014, 3:45 PM UTC

Jeff Zelevansky

On Sunday, Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins begin a quest for their first playoff appearance since the Chad Pennington era. Miami's easiest road to the postseason is an AFC East title, something that means going through their Week 1 opponent, the New England Patriots.

The Patriots have been winning the AFC East like it's going out of style, taking the division every year since Tom Brady has been the starting quarterback outside of 2002 and 2008. New England figures to be the same power it usually is, with Brady and head coach Bill Belichick flanked by some new, exciting talent on both sides of the ball.

Meet the Patriots

Last season, New England advanced to the AFC Championship before falling to the Denver Broncos. The offseason started slowly, with the Patriots losing corner Aqib Talib to Denver. Then, the Patriots responded by making a flurry of moves, including the acquisitions of corners Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, and receiver Brandon LaFell. However, a curious move was made before the fourth preseason game when six-time Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins was dealt to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for tight end Tim Wright and a fourth-round draft pick.

With LaFell and the return of oft-injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, Brady has a bevy of receiving options including receivers Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman. Last year, Brady struggled mightily by his standards, completing 60.5 percent of his passes, the lowest mark for Brady since 2003. The two-time Super Bowl MVP also threw only 25 touchdowns against 11 touchdowns, his worst ratio since 2006.

Meet the Dolphins

Miami had a chance to make the postseason in 2013 but fell short in consecutive games at the end of the regular season, losing to the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets. In the offseason, major shakeups occurred with the firing of long-time general manager Jeff Ireland and the hiring of his replacement, Dennis Hickey. Hickey immediately addressed the offensive line, which had allowed a league-high 58 sacks, by signing Branden Albert and Shelley Smith, and drafting Ju'Wuan James in the first round.

On defense, Hickey signed corner Brent Grimes to a long-term deal. However, not much was done to fortify the rest of the group, leaving some questions on that side of the ball. Cornerback Cortland Finnegan and safety Louis Delmas were signed, but both have major question marks in terms of ability and durability, respectively. The linebackers are also unproven with Koa Misi, Philip Wheeler and Dannell Ellerbe as the notables.

Injuries

Tom Brady is listed as questionable with a calf injury, which is just funny at this point. Brady was a limited participant in practice, but there’s no way he misses this game unless he sustains some other unrelated injury. Both defensive tackle Christopher Jones and defensive end Michael Buchanan are listed as out with ankle injuries. Tight end Rob Gronkowski is officially questionable with a knee injury.

There’s 12 players on Miami’s injury report, with three players declared out. Those players are all significant, with Philip Wheeler dealing with a thumb injury, Jordan Tripp dealing with a chest injury and defensive end Terence Fede dealing with a knee injury.