New England Patriots - NESN.com
New England Patriots fans who believe in jinxes may want to look away from the NFL.com editors crew’s Week 2 game picks.
All five of the members are predicting that the Patriots will defeat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in a battle of winless teams, though each voter is expecting a close game.
The group includes Ali Bhanpuri, Brooke Cersosimo, Dan Parr, Gennaro Filice and Tom Blair. They all chose New England to move to 1-1, though every final score prediction saw an eight-point margin or less, with three of the quartet seeing the result being decided by a field goal.
“It’s worth noting the Patriots have been horrible during their visits to South Beach this decade. New England has dropped its last five in Miami, losing by an average of 13 points in those games. Yet, I can’t overlook what former Giants castoff Daniel Jones and the Colts did to the Dolphins last week, making Mike McDaniel’s crew look like it didn’t belong on the same field,” Parr wrote, in explaining his pick. “Obviously, the Pats have their own issues to address, particularly on offense, but if Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels can’t put together a plan that allows them to be the aggressors against a team that’s clearly on the ropes, the problems in New England are larger than I imagined.”
For what it’s worth, four of the five editors correctly picked the Las Vegas Raiders to beat the Patriots in Week 1 and each of them were accurate in saying it’d be a close game. Filice was the lone New England backer ahead of the season-opener, predicting a 17-13 Patriots triumph.
Behind a stellar performance from quarterback Geno Smith, the Raiders defeated the Patriots on the road, 20-13.
Injuries could be a factor in South Beach on Sunday, as both Miami and New England are missing multiple key contributors at practice this week.
The Dolphins and Patriots kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
