Dave Portnoy: Patriots season on the line vs. Dolphins

When the Patriots look this bad in Miami, a halftime video from El Presidente is coming. Today it got the word Emergency in the title.

Dave Portnoy

@stoolpresidente

Emergency Halftime Update - Season may be on the line in the 2nd half here

The panic is fair. The Patriots came into Week 8 at 4-3 and as favorites against a Miami team that had won 1 game all year. Then the first half went sideways right away. Early in the 1st quarter, Jacob Rodriguez punched the ball out of Efton Chism III's arms and Miami took over at the New England 19. That was the Patriots' 15th turnover of the season. Drake Maye got sacked on third down by Josh Uche and was under pressure all half, and 3 points was all the offense managed.

Part of that is who wasn't out there. A.J. Brown missed the game with a knee injury and TreVeyon Henderson was ruled out with an illness, so Maye was throwing to a thin receiver room against a defense that had suddenly come alive. And this Dolphins team was supposed to be easy. Here's how the betting world talked about Miami a week and a half ago:

VSiN

@UCTZVetvz6GVreC_N4fp92VA

“We have the two worst coaching staffs in the NFL in this game. We have the worst team in the NFL in the Miami Dolphins.”

0:44

That 'worst team in the NFL' then beat the Jets 28-25 for its first win, and now it's up 10 on the Patriots at halftime. Miami isn't just holding onto a lead here. It's the second straight week the Dolphins have looked like a real offense in a first half.

Warren Sharp

@UC5Me5Jw0nSj1qF6ZfibrFMw

“The Dolphins in the first half against the Jets were converting 95% of their first downs into another series.”

0:44

Then there's the setting. The Patriots are 18-43 all-time in Miami, and they're 1-3 on the road this year after going 9-0 away from home last season. Losing to a 1-win Dolphins team would drop them to 4-4, and that's why Dave is calling it a season-on-the-line half. Last year this team couldn't lose on the road. This year it can't get through a half in the heat without giving the ball away.

So the next 30 minutes decide it. If Maye and a short-handed offense come back from 10 down, the video gets laughed off as classic Dave overreaction. If they don't, they're.500 at the midpoint, the turnover count keeps growing, and next week's update probably won't say Emergency. It'll say something worse.