Jarvis Landry: Dolphins will sweep Patriots in 2017

Jarvis Landry has never been one to shy away from being bold, brash, and fiery. This week, on an NFL trip over to the United Kingdom, that attitude followed the Miami Dolphins wide receiver. All over the NFL news yesterday was Landry taking direct aim at the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Telling The Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King that the Dolphins would sweep the Patriots in 2017, Landry explained the “bravado,” telling King, “If you’re a competitor, that’s the way you should feel, and I don’t mind saying it. It’s time for a change. I have all the respect in the world for the Patriots, and I respect Tom Brady tremendously. But they’re not our big brother anymore.”

The fact that it is Landry coming out and saying something bold should surprise no Dolphins fans. He is not just emotional, he is the emotions for this team. He is the spark that gets the team going each week, and he is the player you want with the ball in his hands two yards short of the goal line and three people trying to tackle him - he is going to somehow get across the goal line. Landry is the Miami Dolphins, and putting out a challenge to the team to sweep the only AFC East team to beat them in 2016 is exactly what he should be doing.

And, to be fair, Landry is not trashing New England. He is not saying they are on the down hill side of their domination of the division. Instead, Landry is pointing to the confidence he has in the Dolphins, and in particular, head coach Adam Gase.

“He’s flipped the switch with us,” Landry told King of Gase and his impact in one year with the Dolphins. “New England’s won the division 14 of the last 16 years, something like that? It’s ridiculous. It’s a problem. We cannot let that happen anymore. What I’ve seen is, when we play that game, sometimes we focus on the guys on the other side of the line instead of just focusing on us. And I want to be part of that change. I want to go into the games against New England expecting to win—that’s something we need to do.”

Miami split the season series with the Patriots each year from 2013 through 2015, but lost both games last season. New England beat Miami 31-24 in Week 2 last year, then backed it up with a 35-14 win in Week 17.

Landry caught 94 passes for 1,136 yards with four touchdowns in 2016, a year after setting the Dolphins’ single-season receptions record with 110 for 1,157 yards with four touchdowns in 2015. He also set the Dolphins’ rookie-season receptions record in 2014 with 84 catches for 758 yards and five touchdowns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl after 2015 and 2016 seasons, and is tied for the most receptions in a player’s first three seasons in NFL history.

“I love playing in Miami,” Landry continued when talking to King. “I want to play my career there. When I was eight-, nine-years old, playing with 14-, 14-year olds, I didn’t care how old they were, I just grew to hate second place. Losing, sometimes I need to just get lost after a game because it hurts so much. I just live for winning. If we sat down right now and played Connect Four, I’d be pissed off if you beat me. It’s in me. It’s still a hill to climb with New England, but we need to expect to win. That’s it.”

Landry is exactly right. Miami has to expect to beat the Patriots twice in 2017. Just like they need to expect to sweep the New York Jets (again) and the Buffalo Bills (again). They need to expect to win 16 games next regular season. The team has to expect to win.

As Landry said - that’s it.