Players will have to deal with a much improved Patriots team

The New England Patriots are much improved since Week One, which is when the Miami Dolphins defeated them. During their preparation for the Patriots this week, the coaches and players have noticed several things that are different about them but have pointed to confidence and their rising offense as two of the biggest things.

“I think they’re playing with more confidence," Joe Philbin said. "Sometimes, it takes a while. Different teams get out of the gate at different paces and a different speed. They’re certainly playing well on defense. Certainly, they played well the other night, out in San Diego. It’s a well-coached team. They don’t give you a lot of easy plays. They’re going to crowd the line of scrimmage and they’re going to be a lot of guys near the ball. It’s a good defensive team and I think they’ve got better, certainly since we opened the  season with them.”
 
Reshad Jones followed up by saying that they are just playing their type of football while getting better each week. 

"They have a great leader in Tom Brady. He gets those guys going. He distributes the ball very well to his teammates. Like I said, we’re going to have our hands full, it’s going to be a tough challenge. But I think we’re going to be ready for the challenge," he said. "I think coach (Kevin) Coyle has a great game plan dialed up for these guys. First time, we played them we played pretty well. Like I said, it’s going to be more about us. It’s the month of December, a division game, it’s going to be a tough game for us. We just have to go out and play our game.” 


Cameron Wake said they need to hit Brady the entire day and if they don't, they're going to be in a lot of trouble. Philbin said that no matter who's on the field for them, they're a good football team and well-coached on both sides of the ball. 

“They’ve got good players really at every level of the defense. (Jamie) Collins is a player, he really seems to start coming into his own at the linebacker position. They’re getting good production out of their D-line (defensive line) as well.”

The Dolphins will certainly have their fair share of challenges on Sunday. We'll see how they respond in just a few days.

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