RADIO
What a difference two weeks can make.
Looking dead in the water after three straight losses and a 1-3 start, the Miami Dolphins fired head coach Joe Philbin and promoted Dan Campbell who has rejuvenated a hungry roster. Since Campbell's promotion, the Dolphins have walloped their past two opponents—a 38-10 win against Tennessee and a 44-26 win against Houston.
Along with the team becoming relevant, so has Miami's fantasy outlook. However, the quality of opponent jumps the ladder on Thursday Night Football this week when they travel to Foxborough to face the defending champion New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Dolphins @ Patriots - Thursday Night Analysis
Lamar Miller: In one of the most difficult tests of patience in fantasy this season, Lamar Miller is finally having performances that warranted his third-round average draft position. After four single-digit performances that never saw him have more than 13 rushing attempts, Miller has rushed for 288 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns since the bye week.
Miller went from borderline unplayable to RB1 status in a flash, and should be in all lineups against the Patriots. It's not a plus matchup for Miller this week with New England's top-10 rush defense, but riding his hot hand is a no brainer.
Jarvis Landry: Even with Philbin calling plays, Landry found room to shine in an overall disappointing offense. Landry hasn't had more opportunities with the coaching change, with games of three targets and five targets - but when he has the ball with space to operate, there aren't many wide receivers with his playmaking ability (his 50-yard touchdown reception against Houston is a must-see clip).
With the addition of returning punts, Landry is a must start against a suspect New England secondary that has given up the fifth most points to wide receivers thus far.
Rishard Matthews: Matthews has been a pleasant surprise in the Dolphins offense throughout the season, catching six passes in three of the team's six games. With two 100+ yard receiving games and four touchdowns on the season, Matthews is a staple in the offense and gets some better matchups against lower-tier secondary players with Landry drawing much of the attention.
As the Jets receivers showed last week, there are plays to be made against the New England secondary and Matthews is a legitimate WR3 option.
Ryan Tannehill: Our fourth Dolphins player that is a must-play. Imagine that. Anyways, Tannehill has 12 touchdowns thrown in his past five games and has a streak of five straight games with at least two touchdowns.
He's been absolutely dealing the last two weeks, having a stretch where he completed 26 straight passes (completed 18 straight to start game against Houston) and has surpassed big names (in my opinion) like Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and even Andrew Luck.
The Patriots: No one needs to be told why to start Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, but the Patriots backfield remains it's predictable cloudiness with Dion Lewis dealing with an abdomen injury. The success of the Patriots rushing attack is dependent on the game plan created by head coach Bill Belichick, who decided to throw the ball nearly every damn play against New York last Sunday (LeGarrette Blount owners weep).
If Lewis is playing, I'm starting him. If he's out, I'm not sure I'm trusting James White or Blount after barely being used last week—although that probably means Blount will find the end zone twice on Thursday Night.
NFL & Fantasy Football Chat Room
[iflychat_embed id="c-0" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]
