Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier said the league has a “Patriots problem,” a tip of the hat to the New England dynasty. Not surprisingly, Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who has to face New England twice a season, disagrees.
“No, I do not agree,” Suh said, chuckling, during an appearance on ESPN on Monday. “I think the Patriots are definitely beatable. It’s just a matter of playing a good game, almost a perfect game in a lot of ways because they’ve got great coaching and obviously great players and talent on their side of the ball. So you’ve got to be going on all cylinders. Without question, I have a ton of respect for them, but without question, they’re definitely beatable as everybody is in the league.”
It’s a popular refrain for Suh this offseason as just two weeks ago he said the Dolphins have “never been scared” of the Patriots.
The up-and-coming Dolphins are trying hard to convince themselves they can win the AFC East, a division the Patriots have owned in the Tom Brady era. The Patriots have won the past eight division titles and 13 of the past 14. The Dolphins won it in 2008 when Brady tore his ACL in New England’s season opener.
The Patriots swept the season series against the Dolphins last season and have won four of five and 11 of the last 14. They again are heavy favorites to win the AFC East.
So if the Dolphins are going to unseat the Patriots, they know what they have to do. The Dolphins get the Patriots in two of their last six games, coming off a bye when they travel to New England on Nov. 26 and in a Monday night home game on Dec. 11 following a home game the previous week.
“[Making the Patriots the division favorite] is an easy thing to do, and it’s a great opportunity to create conversation,” Suh said. “What we do as the Dolphins, we put our downs head and we go to work. We’ve beaten them before. We’ve had success against them and really look forward to repeating that as we go out there in this upcoming 2017 season.”