The Patriots and Dolphins are both struggling to score, so doesn’t something have to give on Sunday?

Stunningly, the Dolphins are 32nd in the NFL in points per game (11.3), the only team worse than the Patriots.

Welcome to Season 13, Episode 5 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious yet lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup . . .

Four games — and just one win apiece — into the season, the Patriots and Dolphins are tangled up in two similar battles: with attrition, and the failing pursuit of a productive offense.

The Patriots’ struggles to score — they rank 31st in the NFL at 13 points per game — aren’t a major surprise given that journeyman Jacoby Brissett is their starter at quarterback and they are still short on quality skill players.

But the attrition — which has decimated the already undermanned offensive line — has enhanced an already high degree of difficulty of reaching the end zone. And now the defense — with Ja’Whaun Bentley out of the year and his replacement as a defensive captain, safety Kyle Dugger, banged up this week — is taking too many hits.

Under normal circumstances, the Dolphins should be able to brag of one of the most productive offenses in the league. After all, they were second in the NFL at 29.2 points per game last year.

But after getting through last season unscathed, another concussion sidelined quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in Week 2 this season.

Inept quarterback play in his absence — where is Don Strock when you need him? — has not allowed the Dolphins to utilize high-end talents such as Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane.

Stunningly, the Dolphins are 32nd in the league in points per game (11.3), the only team worse than the Patriots.

Kick it off, Slye, and let’s get this thing started . . .

Three players worth watching other than the quarterbacks

Antonio Gibson: When asked this past week if Rhamondre Stevenson’s 1:1 games-to-fumbles ratio might lead to a change in starter at running back, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said it is “definitely under consideration.”

Whether Stevenson starts Sunday’s first possession on the bench, this much is certain: Gibson needs to be more involved on Sunday.

Gibson doesn’t run with Stevenson’s power, but he’s one of few players on the Patriots’ 32nd-ranked offense (288 yards per game) who can make something out of very little, which is a necessity given the sad state of the offensive line.

The 26-year-old former 1,000-yard rusher for the Commanders has carried the ball 29 times this season for 155 yards, a 5.3-yard average. That includes a 45-yard burst in the Week 2 overtime loss to the Seahawks, when he ran for 96 yards on just 11 carries.

The Dolphins’ defense — which lost star pass rusher Jaelan Phillips for the season with a knee injury — has been better against the pass (162.5 yards per game, fifth) than the run (119.5, 16th).

Gibson has been effective in limited use in the passing game, with seven receptions for 82 yards, including a 50-yarder last Sunday against the 49ers, one of his three grabs for 67 yards in the game.

Stevenson (267 rushing yards, but just 66 in the last two weeks) won’t be benched for anything resembling the long term, if he is benched at all. He is the Patriots’ most talented offensive player.

But Gibson, who overcame fumbling problems of his own in the past, has helped, and he can help more with increased usage — he’s had just 71 snaps all season.

Keion White: To paraphrase the great philosopher Rasheed Wallace’s famous line “Ball don’t lie!” about basketball and the truths it tells, we bring to you the football version: Film don’t lie.

And the film after the Patriots’ 30-13 loss to the 49ers did no favors for White, the talented second-year lineman who very clearly has become sack-happy at the expense of — what’s that old phrase they used to throw around in Foxborough? — doing his job.

Or at least an important part of his job. White has essentially been the Patriots’ entire pass rush this season. He’s tied with four other players, among them Browns star Myles Garrett, for fifth in the NFL with four sacks. As a team, the Patriots have just nine. And he’s tied for fourth in quarterback hits, with nine, including at least two in every game.

So, that part is good. But the quest to get to the quarterback has clearly gotten in the way of accomplishing some of his less-glamorous duties. Both White and Joshua Uche failed in setting the edge on multiple occasions against the 49ers, an essential obligation given Brock Purdy’s scrambling ability and Kyle Shanahan’s willingness to call wide runs again and again and again until a defense proves repeatedly it has the discipline and wherewithal to stop them.

When Davon Godchaux called out unnamed teammates for “selfish” play after Sunday’s loss — which apparently reiterated something Mayo had said to the team — it was not difficult to figure out their identities. White is a terrific young player, but the film told a truth he needs to hear.

Jaylen Waddle: The Dolphins’ quarterback situation is in disarray even beyond Tagovailoa’s status. Backup Skylar Thompson was injured in Week 3, Tim Boyle — who threw one touchdown pass and 13 interceptions during his three seasons at UConn — is on the roster for some unknown reason, and the starter for now is Tyler Huntley, Lamar Jackson’s former stunt double with the Ravens.

Huntley threw for just 96 yards in Miami’s 19-point loss to Tennessee on Monday, so the Patriots should be able to thwart the Dolphins’ passing offense.

And yet . . .

. . . the Dolphins’ do feature Hill, who is sure to draw the attention of top cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Hill has just 87 receiving yards in the last three games, and Gonzalez fared well against him in Week 2 last season.

Which leaves Waddle, who led the Dolphins with all of 36 receiving yards last week. He has fared well against the Patriots — in six career games against New England, he has 27 catches for 416 yards and 4 touchdowns.

The Patriots were prone to allowing big plays against the 49ers, including of 53, 45, and 38 yards. If the Dolphins muster anything in the passing game, Waddle, rather than Hill, could be the reason why.

The flashback

It’s kind of wild that, even after the Patriots’ 20-year dynasty, the Dolphins still have a winning record head to head, 62-55.

For the record, the Boston Patriots won the first of those 117 matchups (playoffs included), beating the host Dolphins, 20-14, on Nov. 27, 1966. Jim Nance said “goodbye, friends” to the Miami defense, running for a 27-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 20-0 lead.

And Gino Cappelletti (who belongs in the Hall of Fame) hit a pair of field goals, including a 49-yarder.

Grievance of the week

There is no logical reason for wanting the Patriots to turn to Drake Maye now. None. Not one.

I’ll grant you that there is an emotional, aesthetic reason. You’re super-duper bored watching Brissett run for his life and miss the occasional open receiver. This is hard to watch, and it’s not getting better.

But that’s it. And that is not logical. It’s detrimental.

Logic, common sense, our eyes (when they aren’t averted), and every assessment of the current state of the roster tell us that this is not the time to put in a 21-year-old rookie quarterback with a lot of talent, a lot to improve upon, and absolutely no hope of finding success given the quality of the other 10 players that would share his huddle.

The Patriots have two threads running through all four of their games. They’ve started a different left tackle in each, and their most talented offensive player has fumbled the football in each.

Last week, they lost their anchor and on-field nerve center of the whole offensive operation when David Andrews was lost for the season with a shoulder injury.

Maye’s task with him would have been extremely difficult. With backup Nick Leverett or undrafted free agent Bryan Hudson at center, it would be hopeless.

The Patriots do not have the infrastructure for Maye to have a chance. This isn’t a rebuild; it’s a full build, up from the ashes of the Mac Jones/Matt Patricia debacle two years ago.

It’s going to take multiple years and excellent drafts, plural. I don’t want to give credit where it might not be due, but I’m starting to wonder if Mayo and Eliot Wolf are being far more rational and realistic about this than most fans and media are.

Back in training camp, Mayo did say, in one of his moments of candor that has not turned out to be misguided, that one of the main goals for this year is to find building blocks for future successful Patriots teams.

But recognizing that this is a long, multiyear process to return to consistent competence, is clear-eyed thinking. The Patriots’ poor play is not a surprise; they are not built to be better, not yet.

I’m a believer in Maye. I’m glad they took him No. 3 overall, because if you have a high pick, need a quarterback, and find a prospect you believe in, you take him, even if the infrastructure of the rest of the team isn’t ready for him yet.

But putting Maye in now would be malpractice. He can’t cure this — he was swimming against the tide in garbage time against the Jets, nearly throwing an interception on his first pass and getting sacked twice in 12 dropbacks. And you simply cannot endanger the best asset you have behind a tattered line in a predictably hopeless situation.

Maye is not ready. And the Patriots are nowhere near ready for him.

Prediction, or Storm Duck might be the best name in the history of mankind . . .

If the Patriots were reasonably healthy, it would be tempting to wonder if they could win two of the next three games. After hosting the Dolphins, they host the Texans next week, before taking on the Jaguars in London in Week 7. But it feels like the Andrews injury is the tipping point. The Dolphins are beat up and struggling too, but Mike McDaniel — the more experienced head coach — has talent on offense the Patriots should envy. Dolphins 19, Patriots 13.