Ah, late October, a New England Patriots visit to Miami.

Huh? What’s wrong with this picture?

The Patriots should be in South Beach or vicinity thereof in the chill of December, not on Halloween Weekend. That almost feels like tradition.

But not in this weird year when we’re talking about firing Bill Belichick, moving on from Mac Jones, and if you ask the Patriot fans, there is no good time for their team to go up against Tua Tagovailoa.

It will be interesting to see how things go, because the trade deadline is late Tuesday afternoon, just before the Trick or Treaters head out.

What will they do? Remember, this is still Belichick’s show, and the guess here is it will be through the off season.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of factors involved with players contracts,” Belichick said this week when asked about those being a factor. “Everyone’s different, so I don’t thnk there’s any specific rule.”

Here’s the rule: find takers for some of the dead wood on this team (yes, JuJu Smith Schuster, we’re sure thinking of you) and a few others.

But, of course,it’s Belichick making those decisions, which makes many cringe. Wonder what breaking news we’ll here today, right?

The breaking news here is we stunk last week, 2-5. That will change this week:

DOLPHINS 27, PATRIOTS 17

Yes, the Patriots played much better last week and we’re no big fan of the Miami defense. But you also go with trends, andTua doesn’t lose-a to New England, period.

JAGS 33, STEELERS 14

We don’t think this will be close. Jacksonville seems to be in a groove, having won three straight. Doug Pederson doesn’t get anough credit for what he’s done with them, while Mike Tomlin often gets too much credit in Pittsburgh. Let’s face it, the Steeler offense stinks.

CHIEFS 24, BRONCOS 13

Yeah, we know, a softball, but believe it or not, we’ve just listed the only all-AFC games of the week, even though there are no byes right before the trade deadline. No explanation necessary.

VIKINGS 27, PACKERS 17

Kirk Cousins has convinced us. He probably kept his job in Minnesota rather than getting dealt out of town, because you can bet the Vikes’ phone is ringing. No one’s calling the Packers for Jordan Love, however.

COWBOYS 30, RAMS 27

Should be a good one. The Rams aren’t close to their Super status of two years ago, and of course Dallas is always overrated. But tough to see L.A.winning in Big D. Or, actuall, Big A.

JETS 14, GIANTS 3

Yeah, both QBs, Jet Zach Wilson and Giant Tyrod Taylor are far from elite. What’s elite is the Jet defense, and that makes all the difference. The Patriots will find that out when they face Gang Green on the final day of the regular season in early January.

NINERS 24, BENGALS 21

Best matchup of the weekend, should have been NBC’s game tonight instead of Chargers-Bears (zzzzz). Niners should have beaten Cleveland; Minnesota looked like it was on a mission. Joe Burrow is up against it, still not quite right and then has Buffalo at home next week. That San Francisco defene does the job late.

LAST WEEK: 2-5

SEASON RECORD: 30-19

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on Twitter (@Telegraph_TomK).

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