Nice to see Fletcher getting a shot on defense.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/nice-to-see-fletcher-getting-a-shot-on-defense/
I’ve been a long time Pats fan, but as happy as I am about the turn around in this game against Miami today and the win, I can’t help but be very worried and concerned about the rest of the season. There’s so many problems to overcome: key injuries, rookie players, Brady seeming off a lot of the time, not using the running game enough, O-Line issues….what are some things they can do in the rest of the season to try to overcome these weak points as much as they can and win in the Playoffs?
Perhaps more than any season, they just have to keep coming together. They’ll likely have one more game without Vereen and then the bye week. That should be a great time to get some quality work in. If they get fully healthy, they’re a pretty talented team and should make some noise down the stretch. Offensively, I feel like all the pieces are in place to really put it all together. Vereen, Amendola and Gronk are huge keys to that and all three of them must get back up to speed.
Issues like protection, lack of running attack, etc. can all be worked out and things like that are almost always figured out by mid-November.
Defensively, if you put Talib and Kelly back in the mix and I don’t see how this defense still isn’t better than anything the Pats have had the last three seasons, even without Mayo and Wilfork. For reals.
So I know it’s been sloppy and ugly, but if everyone can just hold on for a couple more weeks, that’s when the season actually starts. Let’s just be happy the Pats are already in a great position in the AFC and barring a huge meltdown, will be back in the playoffs once again.
And as we’ve seen from the average regular season teams that have won recent Super Bowls, it doesn’t matter how you looked in October when you’re playing in January.
In the first half, the Dolphins ran the ball 22 times for 103 yards. In the second half, they ran just nine times for 53 yards. They were actually more productive per carry, but they freaked out as soon as New England knotted the game at 17.
A fair point of criticism, but after three seasons of stout run defense and crappy pass defenseI’m all for a change of scenery. Armond Armstead might be able to help inside against the run as well.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/in-the-first-half-the-dolphins-ran-the-ball-22/
Chat: Chat with Tedy Bruschi – SportsNation – ESPN Boston
Chat: Chat with Tedy Bruschi – SportsNation – ESPN Boston
Jeremy (Boston) Hey Tedy. What was the locker room at halftime like in situations like yesterday when the team had a poor first half? Would Belichick and the coaching staff be all fire and brimstone, or would it be a more subdued atmosphere focusing on X’s O’s by position group?
Tedy (12:24 PM) Nine times out of 10, it was mostly subdued, focusing on adjustments and corrections. If anyone was going to go off the handle, it was going to be assistant coaches. Coach Belichick would mostly focus on the adjustments that needed to be made. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen him go off the handle too.
Knee Jerk Reactions to Week 8: Pats vs Dolphins Barstool Sports: Boston
Knee Jerk Reactions to Week 8: Pats vs Dolphins Barstool Sports: Boston
Nodding…
Far be it for me to criticize Belichick’s disciplinary methods. But if he’s benching Ryan for grabbing his nuts on a Pick 6 or Ridley for supposedly high-stepping into the endzone against the Jets, even my Belichick Infallibility Doctrine reaches its limits. I get that he’s from a family of football lifers and was raised to respect the game. But you can’t respect the game more than it respects itself. As long as the league promotes itself with exactly the kind of highlight reel shenanigans he can’t tolerate, he’s got to learn to just let it go. He can yell at guys. Fine them. Make them run laps. But when you take snaps away from the guys who actually get in the endzone, you’re not saving the world; your saving your opponents. End of rant. (Now there’s a muscle I don’t use too oftent. I’ll be sore tomorrow.)
Bill Belichick Conference Call Transcript
Bill Belichick Conference Call Transcript
Q: Would you agree with the assessment that the blitz was a greater part of the defensive plan in this game than we’ve seen in the first seven games of the season?
BB: I think it kind of worked out that way yesterday. Part of it was, I think the conditions played a little bit of a part in that but also the game plan. It looked like Miami was having more success throwing the ball in the inside part of the field on shorter throws. When we were able to pressure with a middle of the field safety then more of those throws went to the perimeter, which were harder. Alfonzo [Dennard] and Logan [Ryan] and Devin [McCourty] and Kyle [Arrington] all made real good plays or were right there on the coverage on the sideline. It just seemed more evident as the game went on that when we pressured and gave that look that [Ryan] Tannehill was going to try to get the ball there as opposed to on the inside part of the field and it was just tougher to throw and our guys were doing a good job defending it. Logan broke up the route to [Charles] Clay there before the half going down the sideline and Kyle had one right in front of our bench and Logan had one to [Mike] Wallace there right in front of their bench and Alfonzo was right there on a couple back-shoulder throws. I think as we had some success with it and it became apparent kind of what they were going to do with it or it looked like what their plan on it was, we felt like that was a good option for us. A couple times we got pressure and he had to hold the ball for a second and we were able to hit him so that helped it out too.
Patriots pressure saves the day (and maybe the season)
The New England Patriots were two yards away from almost assuredly being blown out, something that has rarely happened under Bill Belichick. The lifeless Pats were down 17-3 as the Miami Dolphins facing a second-and-two at the Patriots 19-yard line.
With another field goal the Dolphins would take a three-score lead, and after an ugly day from Tom Brady and the Pats’ offense, there was no reason to think the Pats would mount much of a comeback. Another touchdown and the game was likely over, as the Dolphins snapped the ball inside the Patriot red zone.
An incompletion later and it was third-and-two, a huge moment, that in retrospect might be a turning point in the 2013 season. That’s when Rob Ninkovich and Dont’a Hightower delivered. The Patriots brought the blitz and Hightower finished it off, sacking Ryan Tannehill for a loss of nine yards and forcing the Dolphins into a long field goal attempt in a brisk wind.
It was the first sack of the day for the Patriots, but it would open the floodgates and perhaps might’ve even saved the Patriots’ season. Yes, a loss would’ve only dropped the Pats to 5-3, but until that point, New England looked like a team that couldn’t do anything on either side of the ball.
On the next play, Dolphin kicker Caleb Sturgis missed the 46-yard field goal and the Patriots offense took over. Five plays later the Pats would get their first third-quarter touchdown of the year and the comeback was on.
When Miami got the ball back, needing to answer and stop any Patriot momentum, the Pats’ defense came with pressure again, and again it delivered as Logan Ryan forced Tannehill to fumble, setting the Pats’ offense up on the Miami 23-yard line.
The Patriots would tie the game on Brandon Bolden’s two-yard touchdown just three plays later.
Two big sacks in an nine-play span and the complexion of the game had completely changed and it was because Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia finally decided to send the blitz after Tannehill.
New England has traditionally preferred a read-and-react style of defense, but on this day it was the attacking style that turned things around. Injuries have left the Pats vulnerable in certain areas and by taking away Tannehill’s time in the pocket, the blitz forced him into bad throws.
The sacks might’ve not only saved this game, but given the Pats a blueprint for how they can succeed going forward. Their problems on third-down continued in this one, but nothing gets you off the field like an unstoppable pass rush.