Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots Prediction & Picks - NFL

Prediction published on 1/4/26, 12:33 PM  by Bill Christy in NFL Picks

The New England Patriots (13-3) will host the Miami Dolphins (7-9) in a divisional game to wrap the regular season. While Miami has already been eliminated from the playoffs, it will have a chance to play spoiler and prevent the Patriots from having any shot at the #1 overall seed for the AFC.

It has been another injury-ridden and underachieving year for Mike McDaniel’s Miami Dolphins. They lost Tyreek Hill relatively early in the season, and the team fell to 1-6 through their 1st 7 games of the season. But credit must be given to them and McDaniel, as they were able to put together 5 wins over their next 6 games and fought to get back in a position where the playoffs were a possibility. However, back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati closed the door on their chances. They are coming off a 20-17 win over Tampa Bay, which proved they have not completely packed it in just yet.

New England has certainly been the biggest surprise team of the season. Sure, many thought they would contend for the division, but no one saw 13 and possibly 14 wins coming from this team. Now, they have their eyes set on a potential 1 seed and a deep run at yet another Super Bowl. Drake Maye has been playing at an MVP caliber and just tossed 5 touchdowns last week against the Jets.

The Patriots are riding high, as they should be, but they can not afford to take this Miami team lightly if they want to keep their hopes of the 1 seed alive.