The New England Patriots will host the Miami Dolphins on NFL Thursday Night Football tonight, and it will take a massive shock for the Dolphins to hand the Patriots their first loss of the season. Tom Brady will be expected to lead New England to their seventh straight win of the season tonight in front of a packed house at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The game has a start time of 8.25 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS or NFL Networks. The game can also be watched online through live stream via the link below.
Just a few months ago, the Patriots were expected to struggle through the opening quarter of the season, as star quarterback Tom Brady was handed a four game suspension in the wake of Deflategate. But a successful appeal at the last moment allowed him to take to the field for Game 1 and he and New England have not looked back.
They have stormed to 6-0 and look a good bet to retain their Super Bowl title this season.
The Dolphins meanwhile have been blowing hot and cold so far this season, and have not been able to play with the consistency that they would have liked. At 3-3 their season could still go either way, but they have an immense challenge in going on the road to New England for today's nationally televised game, and most see today's game as very much a trip to the lions' den.
Miami though have managed to straighten a lot of things out, and they come into today's game on the back of two straight wins and if they can continue to build on the good work of previous weeks they could give the reigning NFL champs a good run for their money.
After winning their season opener 17-10 over the Washington Redskins, Miami proceeded to suffer three straight defeats; 20-23 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 14-41 to the Buffalo Bills, and 14-27 to the New York Jets.
But a Bye Week in Week 5 allowed them to regroup and they have comeback looking like a team on the up. A 38-10 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 6 showed that they were turning things around, and last week's 44-26 win confirmed those suspicions.
A win today would see the Dolphins move to 3-0 under interim coach Dan Campbell, however, his two previous wins were at home. To get a win today Campbell will have to snap the team's six game losing streak on the road.
Campbell has been a revelation for the Dolphins since taking over after Joe Philbin's firing. The interim coach expressed that he believing Miami had enough talent to turn things around, and so far he has proven himself right, winning his two games in charge by a combined score of 82-36.
Campbell has the players behind him too; linebacker Kelvin Sheppard has said, "With the changes that happened, we honestly feel like it was a new season. That's from the top down. That's what our head man stands before us and says. We've all bought into that, and that's truly what we believe."
Tonight's big NFL Thursday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins has a scheduled start time of 8.25 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS and NFL Networks, or online through live stream by clicking here.
