Patriots Dominate Second Half, Get Much Needed Win in Rout of Dolphins
by Greg Knopping on Oct 5, 2010 12:44 AM EDT
in Patriots Game Reports
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PrintWell, I think that was the win that all Patriots fans were looking for.
Heading into this week, I don't think that we knew a lot about this Patriots team. With their 41-14 rout of the Dolphins, the Patriots answered a lot of questions.
The Dolphins began the first half moving the ball well. While their first drive stalled, they forced the Patriots to a 3-and-out and marched right down the field. The drive was capped off on a 19-yard catch-and-run by Davone Bess, a play that had Patrick Chung in coverage. By this point, everybody was probably thinking the same thing: not again.
When the Patriots got the ball back, they couldn't get moving again. The Dolphins took over, and began marching down the field, before Chad Henne made one of his many mistakes. Henne looked for Brandon Marshall over the middle, but outside linebacker Ron Ninkovich read the play, stayed with Marshall in coverage, and made an impressive interception.
The Pats followed the drive up with a physical 16 play drive that took over nine minutes off the clock. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was solid on the ground and Tom Brady took what was given to him. Nonetheless, the drive ended with a field goal after Cameron Wake came up with a big sack on first down and goal to go.
On the Dolphins' next drive, they began moving the ball again. While it was frustrating to watch at times, the defense ultimately came up with another big play. Rob Ninkovich came up with his second interception in as many drives, reading a Chad Henne check-down intended for Patrick Cobbs, coming up with a diving interception. With under three minutes to go in the half, Tom Brady took the Patriots down the field again, but with just seconds left on the clock, had to settle for a field goal to make the score 7-6 at halftime.
Recap of the Patriots' dominating second half after the jump!
The second half started with a bang. On the opening kickoff, receiver Brandon Tate cut to the right, and burst up the field for a 103 yard touchdown return. He was sprung by a tremendous Sammy Morris block. 13-7 Patriots.
With the Dolphins down six, the Dolphins took over but were held to a three and out by the Patriots defense. The twist: the punt. The Patriots ran a stunt while trying to block the kick. Safety Patrick Chung broke through the line and blocked the Brandon Fields punt, which was recovered by Brandon Spikes. Two plays and two BenJarvus Green-Ellis runs later: touchdown. 20-7 Patriots.
The Dolphins did respond well. Well, sort of. They took the ball and drove down the field on an 8-play, 80 yard drive that was capped off by a well timed Ricky Williams screen pass that he took and ran 28 yards into the endzone. From then on, it was all Patriots.
The Pats took back the ball, and went to the no huddle offense to move the ball down the field, working out of the shotgun the majority of the time. Running back/receiver Danny Woodhead had an excellent drive, carrying the ball five times for 25 yards and capping the drive off with a twelve yard touchdown reception; a play in which every Patriots receiver aside from Woodhead was blanketed, with Woodhead shaking Karlos Dansby over the middle then making the catch and run for the score.
While the Dolphins were able to counter with a solid drive, the Patriots defense stiffened, and forced the Dolphins to kick a 53 yard field goal. The result: another blocked kick by Pat Chung. This time however, the kick was picked up by Kyle Arrington who had an open lane to the endzone. Score: 34-14.
And when you thought things couldn't get much worse for the Dolphins, two drives later, Chad Henne threw a pick-six to Patrick Chung. Brandon Marshall was working on a crossing route, but seemed to stop mid-route. Chad Henne threw the ball to Pat Chung, who was sitting on the route and took it back to the house to finish the scoring at 41-14.
There's really not any way that I can overplay the importance of this game for the Patriots. Going into the game, there were serious questions about the young defense, the team's ability to win on the road, and the team's ability to out-perform other teams in the second half. After tonight's game, I believe the Patriots have provided positive answers to all three of those question marks.
I also think we learned a lot about the Patriots' defense tonight. While the bend-but-don't-break defense can be frustrating at times, it can also pay off big. We saw that with the four interceptions tonight. The interceptions were due largely in part to the newfound speed of this defense. We also saw the Patriots shut down Ronnie Brown on the ground (11 for 27), and also get great pressure on Chad Henne. Jermaine Cunningham, Rob Ninkovich, and Tully Banta-Cain all had great games rushing the passer. Devin McCourty, aside from his one pass interference penalty, had a great game in coverage. We'll get more into who played well tomorrow.
Big road win, big division win. The Patriots outplayed the Dolphins on offense, defense, and special teams. They outcoached the Dolphins. And for once, they showed the energy that we're used to seeing from the Patriots, but haven't seen in quite some time. That's one hell of a way to head into the bye week, don't you think?
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maybe we can have more 2nd half performances this season
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
A great, great game. Some observations.
A huge, huge breakout game for Patrick Chung. Looking more and more like the stud safety that we all thought he could be. It remains to be seen if he can have the same impact on games on a consistent basis, but so far, he’s been a huge factor in 3 of the 4 games this year. That, imho, is a trend that will put him in the elite class of Safeties if it continues.
Rob Ninkovitch gets the other game ball. After a very early mistake, he more than atoned for it with 3 huge plays (2 INTs & a Sack) and a bunch of really good ones. A very smartly played game by Mr. N.
Special Teams in general. It would be too easy to call out certain individuals like Tate, Chung, Spikes & Arrington. But really, it was a team effort, from Sammy Morris’ and Alge Crumpler both laying down huge crushing blocks to spring Tate to the perfectly executed stunts to free a path for Chung on both blocks. Just a great, great performance by everyone on the ST units.
Oh yeah, and Gostkowski. Wow. Those kickoffs were absolutely brutal. Folks should not underestimate just how powerful that was that each time we scored – especially after the big returns – those touchbacks definitely put the kibosh on any thoughts of a quick response.
Deception and dupes. On the Danny Woodhead TD reception, BOTH Welker and Moss were both double-covered. That’s 4 (count ’em, FOUR) defensive backs taken away from the middle of the field by two recievers. That left us with 3 recieving options underneath all in single coverage. All three were open but, of course, Woodhead was ridiculously open and that was just a beautifully thrown pass to catch him in stride. Once again a great TEAM play.
Moss was double-covered all day. Nothing wrong with that. I was glad to see Brady spreading the ball to all the other weapons that were benefiting from the safety leaning over Randy’s side of the field.
I listened to the game on the radio for the 2nd & 3rd periods as I was in transit. When you listen on radio, the play-by-play guy obviously calls out the names of players more so you get peppered with the names of those defensive players who are actually in on the stop (unlike on TV where you are often struggling to spot numbers on the replay because the analysts are busy yakking about other stuff). During the 2nd and 3rd periods, it was very noticeable how often Jermaine Cunningham’s name was called out as being part of a stop. That kid is for real.
Two plays made this game look closer than it really was: Matt Light’s holding call that wiped out Hernandez’ big reception. There is a very good chance the Patriot’s would have scored on that drive without that mistake. Next, Devan McCourtey’s ill-timed pass interference on 3rd down that kept a Dolphin’s drive alive – yes, that got snuffed by Ninkovitch’s interception so that Miami didn’t actually score. But if that drive had been stopped at the 3rd down attempt, then the Patriot’s would have had a lot more time and better field position with which to score a TD before the half instead of settling for the FG. So those two plays cost us 7-10 pts. Without just those two Patriot mistakes, the score could have been 48-14 or more.
Fortunately, those were, as I said, Patriot mistakes and thus areas for improvement …
by mmmmm on Oct 5, 2010 2:03 AM EDT reply actions 7 recs
Very good summation
Ninkovich is great in obvious passing downs and is good enough against the run he can be counted on to stop runs on 3rd-and-long and the like. But he’s not fast/solid enough to set the edge on runs around the outside – he either gets washed out in blocks by long-armed TEs and Ts, or he’s outrun by FBs like Polite around the outside.
Cunningham impressed. He was physical in pushing the pocket when he jagged in, looked fairly quick around the outside, and showed quite a bit of agility on a couple of stunts.
McCourty’s pass intereference call wasn’t anywhere near as egregious as a couple of the Butler plays; it’s a learning experience and he did pretty well to limit Marshall to 5 catches and 50 yards. He’s a keeper.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
McCourty was really excellent sticking tackles
In the first half the dolphins were passing for 5 yards on third and long and getting YACs. In the second half, the tackling was REALLY sharp and we snuffed out anything caught before the first down marker – and McCourty was right there in the thick of it on a couple of plays.
It's no coincidence that it was McCourty who snuffed out the 4th down conversion attempt
He looks like he’s actually enthusiastic about getting a shoulder on someone and then wrapping up. It’s a pleasure watching him hit and stick on tackles.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
That was a wicked cool hit.
He and Chung, man – they bring it when they hit.
I’m having flashbacks to guys like Harrison, Ronnie Lott, Kenny Easley … hard-hitting defensive backs that intimidated the hell out of people. Ty Law used to lay some serious ‘hit’ on folks too.
Hopefully we’ll never hear anybody whining again about the glory days of Samuel and Hobbs …
Yes - McCourty, Chung, Arrington and even Wilhite ALL were very good at preventing YAC
in this game. Other than the big Ricky Williams catch-&-run, most of the time once the catch was made by a ’Phin, the reciever was immediately hit and put on the ground. That was a big difference over the last couple of games.
yes, it was nice to see the wrap-up tackling
take over for the one-armed slaps. It seemed like everyone was consciously trying to contribute and didn’t want to be left out of the fun.
Keep the faith!
i think he is fast but doesn't have the strength to set the edge
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
True
It’s more that he’s not quite one or the other. If he was super-fast, healthy-Shawn-Merriman-fast, he could flat out run around blockers and get to the ball-carrier, and if he were bigger, Mike Vrabel-style, he could set the edge by physically combating blockers. He’s not quite either, though.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Yes - I didn't mean to pick on McCourty's PI as being exceptionally bad or anything.
It was just an ill-timed mistake. He’s a rook. He’s allowed one or two. Outside of that mistake, I thought McCourty played an awesome game.
I’m just pointing out that it was one of OUR mistakes that kept things closer than they really were.
Without those two mistakes, we probably would have gone into the locker up 17-7, instead of down 6-7.
I've seen games where that wouldn't have been called.
Sometimes the flags stay in the pocket, and sometimes they litter the ground. He took a shot and got caught. No harm in that foul.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
what did you think of the offensive PI that was later called on Marshall?
Gruden was poo-poohing it that it shouldn’t have been called.
I thought it was correctly called because he blatantly grabbed the defender by the shoulder pads and hurled him to the ground!
He grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
If you do that on defense, it’s a PI as well.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions
He whined about it like a kid whines about getting punished by a parent
Billy: “Buy Sally always does that, and SHE never gets in trouble!!!! Why do I get yelled at and she never does?”
Dad: “Billy, I don’t care what Sally does. It was wrong and you’re in trouble.”
Billy: “But, but…”
Dad: “Go to your room.”
Billy: “I hate you.”
Dad: “You were a mistake.”
by nbradley07 on Oct 5, 2010 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Rec for that chuckle.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Was it just me or did anyone else have
Mike Vrable flashbacks with Rob Ninkovich proudly repping the #50 and making big plays all over the field :D
Chung is probably going to get most of the attention – and deservedly so, he was AWESOME. But Ninkovich kept us alive – the Fins were moving the ball on us and the score would’ve been a lot worse if he didn’t end their drives (our 2 FGs also came off the 2 INTs as well). BIG UPS to Ninko
Nink's great when the play suits him
He’s still not Vrabel-like in setting the edge against the run – you only had to see the first? second? play where the ‘Phins RB ran out wide and had Ninkovich pursuing pretty lamely. He’s too short in comparison to Vrabel to set the edge and fight off TEs and OTs – he’s two inches shorter and suffers in leverage.
He is, however, a very good player in passing downs.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Overall, our defense is soft on the edges, period.
Its the one area that BB has NOT tried to upgrade (yet). But that’s okay. You can’t be perfect at everything all at once. If you have to have a weak point, being soft on the edges is okay because plays to the edge, while frustrating to watch as a fan, because they result consistently in 5-6 yrds at a time, do not usually result in big plays.
BB has always put his priority in a) stopping the run up the middle and b) preventing big plays down field. He’s always willing to give up yardage between the 20s, but he does not want to give up big scoring plays and he doesn’t want them to be able to punch it in once the field shrinks (which is where the DBs suddenly can help with edge containment).
So we have the triangle of Wilfork, Mayo and Spikes in the middle. And we have upgraded our defensive backs and edge pass rushers to prevent the big plays down field.
What we don’t have are edge pass rushers who are also good at run containment (yet). That will have to wait for next year’s round of acquisitions …
we were joking last night
that the defensive plan was “bend, bend, bend, interception” for most of the night. I’ll take it. I’ll take whatever stops the opponents’ drives, puts Brady back on the field and wins the game.
Keep the faith!
I think Cunningham is an improvement on the edge...
…since most of the Dolphins runs were either to the outside against Ninkovich, or in the middle against Wright and Warren. They didn’t run the ball towards Cunningham or Wilfork (he played a lot of end).
Any news on Crable?
He’s got ideal size to be an edge-setter and free off from blocks; I found it particularly interesting he was deactivated. Fletcher came up and was on the special teams units (and they did pretty well), so maybe that was the difference, but I figured this was an ideal time to see whether Crable could set the edge. Either Crable’s (ugh) hurt or Hoodie disagrees.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Crazy good
Wish I could have been on here during the game with all of you, but it was just unbelievable how the Patriots responded to all the critics out there. Near the end, when the Dolphins had that 4th and 2, Jaws or Gruden mentioned something about how of course they’d go for it because the last thing the Dolphins needed was their punting unit on the field. Just a crazy 2nd half. I’m really proud of how they fought through their football demons and played their hearts out.
Keep the faith!
I'm watching the replay now
That 2 minutes at the start of the second half was some of the most dominant football I’ve seen by anyone, including the 2007 blowouts.
Complete dominance on STs – Tate’s KR, devastating blocking by Morris, Gronk and Ninkovich, great punt-block scheme with Chung’s perfectly timed dive and Spikes diving on the loose ball.
Compete dominance on Offence – two runs by BJGE, great blocking by Gronk on the TD run to take out three defensive players.
Complete dominance on D – Stuffed run for only 2 yards, pass broken up by McCourty, good coverage and pursuit by Wilhite and Spikes.
Notice the names?
Wilhite and BJGE are from the 2008 draft year.
Tate and Chung are from the 2009 draft year.
Gronkowski, Spikes and McCourty are from the 2010 draft year.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
no love for mayo in 08?
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
Mayo didn't get in on any of those plays that I saw
Although I guess he might’ve been in the scrum on the 2 yard run – I thought it was the D-line that snuffed that out, though.
Mayo gets his props in a game with 16 tackles, but not for that particular 2 minute stretch.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Not to pat myself on the back....oh what the hey!
One thing I will be focused on is Special Teams
We need to be in favorable field position to start drives. Last week on kickoff returns, they weren’t exceptional. If drives start at or near the 30, it makes it that much easier for the offense to get points up.
Also, defending kickoffs, they need to stay in their lanes and make the tackles. That didn’t happen last week, mostly thanks to CJ Spiller. As young as this defense is, drives for the Dolphins starting at or near the 20 makes it easier, since they have to work with a longer field.
Lastly, I’d really like to see Zoltan up his game.
The first two objectives were pretty much accomplished: the Dolphins rarely started in great field position and the Patriots benefited from some of it (or all of it if you count the Tate TD). Zoltan was so/so punting, but really did a good job of holding the ball for FGs and PATs…all that can be asked as a rookie.
I don't think so. Homey don't play dat.
Most of those snaps were high and behind him, yet he grabbed them and got them down for the FG.
Zoltan did good.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, Mesko definitely deserves some cred for composure on those snaps.
His job is obviously more than just punting.
I’m curious, though – by using the punter to hold on kicks, that changes somewhat what you can do on fakes (not that the Patriots fake many FGs) and bad snaps. This job is usually the job of the backup QB. This implies to me that Mesko must have demonstrated the ability to throw for the coaches. You need the holder to be able to make some throws if not for fakes then also for busted plays due to a bad snap.
Of course, he is a big beast. Maybe they expect him to just run with it behind his Imperial Guard?
Mesko threw on a fake in college if I remember correctly.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions
yep...i also remember a fake run too
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
Zoltan was a good enough thrower they gave him the QB playbook in college
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
This game is proof positive that this season is going to be a long one.
As good as the Pats were last night, as opportunistic as they were – it’s still only game 4 for a young defense.
It is absolutely a TERRIFIC game to have heading into a bye week, but just like the previous 3 weeks there is no reason to expect the same performance from this D moving forward just yet.
To me this was a great glimpse of what the D can be capable – when you think about who was on the field, who was making plays, the amount of rotation the Pats were able to use on D.
Fresh and fast legs, sure tacklers, like Chung and Brady said in the post game, it’s really exciting to think about where this team could be.
Did anyone else see Brady as he was coming off the field in the 4th Q? He was so pumped, that was like 2001 Tommy.
I think it just makes it a bit harder for other teams to plan against them
A lot of people thought the games would need to ride on Brady’s arm until the defense matured, hopefully in a hurry. This game was so completely unexpected, with a lot of no-names coming up big.
The last thing other teams want to see is this defense building confidence in their abilities and trusting in the coaches’ plans (nixing the free-lancing ideas for good.) A little pride (instead of entitlement) means no more rolling over in the second half or feeling defeated before they even set foot in another team’s stadium. Once they all come together, winning in any way possible, they’ll at least give every team they play a run for their money.
Keep the faith!
Great to see the Defense bail the Offense out for a change.
The offense didn’t necessarily have a bad night, but it wasn’t the prettiest of performances. Too many three-and-outs put the defense squarely on the hot seat, but boy did they respond. After the Pats went three-and-out on their first series (barf), the Phins seemed to roll over a gassed defense. I thought we were in for a long night. But the offense held onto the ball long enough to keep the guys on the other side reasonably well rested, and they delivered. They played as a complete team, and that’s what’s been missing in New England for the past few years. Let’s see if they can carry this momentum into their “defining” stretch of the season.
it seemed that the Fins D in the 1st half had the same identical game plan the saints ran against us
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
The beatifule thing was that the Pats actually ADJUSTED.
Makes all the difference in the world when you stop doing what doesn’t work.
i liked the run calls in the 2nd half...close to 5 yards per carry
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
BJGE was running hard.
He’d get hit after 2 yards, but still manage to get 5 by churning his legs and pushing the pile. That’s the sort of hard-nosed running we never saw from Maroney.
Not ready to join in on the fun.
Special Teams scores are pennies from heaven, but you can’t count on them week in and week out.
The Pats stopped the Dolphins twice. Henne gave the game away with three terrible throws. Otherwise, they walked all over our defense. We couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down (phins were 10-15 — totally unacceptable). The Phins were a combined 31-45 passing, and rushed for almost 5 yards per carry.
Our offense showed a disturbing propensity for shooting itself in the foot with dumb penalties and mental mistakes. Both of our tackles got abused by a young speed-rusher. And we had yet another one of those disturbing fourth-quarter 3-and-outs that haunted us both of the past two years.
Everyone here (and in the press) seems to be making the same mistake this week as they did last week: allowing a gaudy scoreboard to blind them to reality. The Patriots defense is not as bad as it played in giving up 23 to the Bills. It is certainly not as good as it played in giving up only 14 to the Dolphins. They were gifted a lot last night by a quarterback well off of his game.
And we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that our vaunted offense was forced to punt three times, had only one sustained drive for touchdown and failed to punch it in twice inside the redzone.
Fundamentally, the Patriots were mediocre last night. Thankfully, Henne was abysmal and so were the Dolphins “special” units. Unless we improve significantly over the bye week, we’re all in for a wake-up against Baltimore.
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
Not so much blinded as enjoying the highs before we have to again suffer the lows.
It’s part of the enjoyment of being a fan, and I aim to take full advantage of it.
I’m not expecting perfect football from this very young team. I want to see them grow and come together. They did that. Here is what I’m celebrating:
- Not the blocked punt, but the three and out that spawned it. It’s a start and hasn’t been seen in awhile.
- Not the offensive fireworks, but the fact they came in the second half, when they usually sputter.
- A bunch of guys taking a step toward finding their niche.
- Energy from one phase of the game carrying over to all three.
It’s like watching your baby take it’s first step. Yeah, he’s not running a marathon yet, but I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world.
Look, this may be all the excitement we get from the team this year. I’ll let Belichick worry about Chung’s blown tackle that allowed Bess to score. It enjoy the blocked punts and the pick six. He could have crawled into a hole and died after blowing coverage. Instead, he stepped up and had a great night. It’s a step in the right direction, and I’m proud of him.
Don’t call me a homer. I’m more like a proud papa. Sniff, that’s my boys….
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions
I mean...
…I’ll celebrated the blocked punt AND the 3 and out that spawned it lol.
I think the thing I love about this game was that we came out and DOMINATED to start the second half.
The first half was a but of a struggle, but we played well enough to keep the game close, 7-6. We played well enough when we needed to.
Than a kickoff return for a TD, 3 and out, blocked punt, BJGE TD, defensive stop, blocked FGA returned for a TD…. That’s a dominating stretch to start a second half.
Also this was a divisional game. Normally divisional games are dogfights. Even when one team is the class of the NFL and the other is a doormat. If it’s divisional, both teams know each other and play incredibly well. To win a divisional game, on the road, in dominating fashion in the second half is good news.
by UtopianAverage on Oct 5, 2010 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah
With everything prior to the game being focused on second half let-downs, it was nice to see things stepped up in that half instead of the other way around. Adjustments are paramount, especially when things aren’t quite working out. Nothing quite perfect, but just enough.
I don't think so. Homey don't play dat.
that Chung Tackle
he should have gone outside since he had a CB covering the inside area….i’m sure he’ll watch it on wed and correct it.
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
Funny how Jarrad Page has been on the field for maybe a dozen snaps total
And has had more big plays thus far than Sanders, while not blowing any textbook plays.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
The D did give up some yards.
They didn’t play a flawless game by any means. But they generally tightened up in the Red Zone. The Offense, albeit struggling twice in the Red Zone, ate up a lot of time off the clock on a lot of drives. And one of the times they settled for a FG was at the very end of the half.
ST are “pennies from heaven” and “can’t be counted on” so obviously we completely discount ST play from any honest analysis of any football game ? BS. Granted I do not expect the Pats ST to play NEAR this well ANY time soon, you gotta give them credit for what they did !
And those miserable Henne throws ? The D was in position to make a play.
You’re right in that the Dolphins made a lot of mistakes last night. But the Pats capitalized on those mistakes. The Pats, in my opinion, played very very well. They played a complete game, they played well on O, well on D, and dominated on ST.
by UtopianAverage on Oct 5, 2010 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions
The special teams plays weren't flukes
What they accomplished in Miami won’t be seen any time again soon, but Scott O’Brien was able to convince his units of opportunities available for big plays if they took advantage. They did and it was successful which is a powerful teaching tool for the future.
The image of Meriweather and Butler freelancing last week was disturbing because it implies distrust of their coaches. Even with the mistakes made on defense (and offense), last night’s success was good for the players and the team. Getting a more unified group that’s invested in the team and buying what Belichick and the assistants are selling is the huge upside. The other mistakes – mental and technique related – are in my opinion, more easily fixable.
Keep the faith!
by Marima on Oct 5, 2010 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
^ This
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed, but
there is something to be said for the energy and confidence this win gives the team, going forward. While I agree that the offense struggled more than most are willing to admit and the defense benefited from throws that 25 other QBs in this league wouldn’t have made, the team played with tremendous energy, the second half playcalling was MUCH better (not perfect, but markedly improved) and some of the young guys looked downright great. Pat Chung and Devin McCourty each had stellar nights covering some of the toughest receivers out there in Marshall and Bess. The Pats also showed that, when used correctly, their defense can get very good pressure on the quarterback, even against elite linemen like Jake Long.
It wasn’t a perfect game, and you’re right to point out that the offense only scored 20 points, with only 7 of those coming from “real” drives, but it’s still a heck of a win that’ll go a long way toward helping these guys believe they can compete with the best in the NFL.
Aren't all INTs considered "terrible" throws? lol We just capitalized on them.
We also kept Brown in check, and that long run by williams boosted his Yards per Carry average.
I thought we did very good on offense, for the limited time the were on the field(because of the two special teams scores). Who knows? If we didn’t score on those special teams, would the offense still drive down the field? With how they were performing in the second half, I wouldn’t have much doubt. Our offense in the second half were destroying the phins D.
Our D did what we wanted them too, and that was capitalize on the opponents mistakes. We kept Marshall our of the game, and Bess was eventually silenced(a lot more silenced than in the 1st half) in the second half(where our defense somehow performed a lot better than in the 1st half). We also kept Brown out, and despite the long ricky brown screen, we kept him out too.
Henne only had Bess to pass it too, and eventually we slowed him down A LOT more than in the second half than in the 1st half.
Realistically, every team will commit one or two penalties a game. As long as we don’t commit several, I’m fine.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
These players, a lot of other people didn't believe in them, but they believe in themselves. And that is all that matters."- Bill Belichick
I'm also a Raider Fan dammit!!! RAIDER NATION!!!!
This.
Belichick’s defense is about execution and making the plays when you have the opportunity. It’s not about limiting the opposition to 2.1 yards per carry. It’s about stopping them when it matters – on 4th & 1. It’s not about making sure Davon Bess doesn’t have any catches. It’s about making sure that when one of those throws is off the mark, the defender is in the proper position to make a play on the ball.
Belichick’s scheme is one of realism. The other team is going to score. Your offense isn’t going to score on every single possession. Do you expect to have a good series? Of course. But you realize that it’s not always going to happen, and you make the plays when you have the chance. After losses, when he says, “The other team just executed better,” he’s not just saying that to dodge questions – he means it, because that’s what his bottom line is. He gives players the mental tools to make plays, but they have to make them. Last night, they made plays, and it’s silly for us to say that the win should somehow count less because they made so many “fluke” plays. Heck, last year’s Super Bowl Champions won not because they had a stalwart defense, but because it made plays when it could. If they can keep this up, they’ll be in every game they play.
Can we please have your ST coach?
I’m on the side of true love…and a good running game.
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. -- Col. Flagg
Sure.
Just give me Brandon Marshall, and Cameron Wake, and Ronnie Brown, and Vontae Davis. And you can have Scott O’Brien. While you’re at it take Billy O’Brien too.
by UtopianAverage on Oct 5, 2010 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Aren't the O'Briens a matched set?
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Just kidding.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 5, 2010 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions
From the comments on the Phinsider
it seems he’d been a problem for you guys already. Think they’ll bring in anyone else during the season to replace him?
Keep the faith!
You sure got that right. Bonemega's gone now.
Ass’t ST Coach Darren Rizzi’s in.
I’m on the side of true love…and a good running game.
Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion. -- Col. Flagg
Does anyone here remember.....
…the last time the Patriots blocked a punt or a field goal? As I was watching the game I kept asking my friends that question and we couldn’t come up with an answer. Thought it was unusual that they even attempted to try for a block on special teams! That is just one of those things that they very rarely do.
It was a 53 yard FG attempt.
Of course they will go for the block. With the punt, I don’t think they went all out punt block. They just ran some stunts as far as I could tell.
it was a stunt...3 on 2 stunt
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
It was the same move on the punt block...
that the Jets pulled last week, successfully, except on the opposite side of the line.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
I might be wrong, but
when a FG attempt is that long, the kickers usually back up an extra step so they can gain a little more momentum when setting up to make the kick. This means that potential blockers have a fraction of a second longer to get back there. Not sure it made a difference, though, as Chung just blew right through the line, untouched. He did the same on the punt.
Anyway, I’m sure it wasn’t just random that they went for the block on either occasion. Gruden commented that the Phins’ ST blocking has been poor all season – I’m sure that’s something the Patriots noticed and intentionally tried to exploit.
richard seymour bears 06 FG block; Dancing Kelly blocked punt jets 2nd game 2007
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
Kelley Washington blocked a punt in 2007 a bit closer to the opposition goalline
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
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