Examination of Miami's offensive stats Monday night

I’d say the last 2 possessions were the only “garbage” possessions. A 14 point game with 9 minutes to go is not a game over scenario. New England wasn’t in prevent. Heck, for most teams, a 14 point game with over 3 minutes to go is not an automatic victory so you could argue Miami had 1 garbage possession. Being that it is darn near impossible to beat New England when down by 2 scores with less than 4 minutes left, I will give that one.

But I don’t even think Brady or Belichick would admit the game was over when they had a 14 point lead with 9 to go. Especially when Miami had a first and goal trailing by 14 with over 6 minutes left.

Let’s hope the Pats don’t become that complacent. As a Fin fan that witnessed Dave Wannstedt’s complacent views of thinking a 14 point lead in the 4th was insurmountable, I’ve witnessed plenty of teams make those comebacks. New England’s offense and defense will be sorely disappointed at times if they become that complacent and will lose games.

Man, I swear, the local media and hard-to-please incorrigible Pats fans won’t be happy until the final tallies of the games are in the ballpark of 70-0, each time around.

What is a good defense, truly? A lot of people are looking at Miami’s 24 pts. and Henne’s passing yards as the indicators of a poor performance, but I don’t think that really tells the story. What impressed me most about this defense—and something I see improving even moreso seeing as this was the first game of the season with a totally revamped and re-philosophized DL—was how they stepped up during important, game-changing scenarios. The goal line stand. The incredible 2-14 (!) 3rd down conversions by Miami. The constant pressure from a rotating D-Line.

It wasn’t perfect, by any means. There’s obviously a ton of room for improvement, but you can simply chalk a lot of that up to Miami’s terrific play. Devin McCourty couldn’t have covered Brandon Marshall any better on a few of those completions, but those are the breaks. That won’t happen each week.

The Pats will never have a shutdown-type defense, but the important thing to remember is they don’t really need one thanks to the domination and consistency of the offense. They score at will. I’m blown away by the possibilities of the defense of this year when comparing it to last year’s. I know a lot of you were cringing at seeing shades of last year’s prevent -style collapse and the 4th qtr. pile-on, but I am more intrigued by the new DL completely neutralizing run games, making opposing offenses one-dimensional, and letting Dowling bloom alongside the talents of McCourty and Bodden. You will see better performances, this was just a preview.

They threw Dowling and Barrett to the wolves and they held up fine. Maybe the Chargers try to pick on them. Maybe they have success. I’d be wary of throwing too many Ras-I’s way, he’s got some ball skills.

I have issues with the Pats 4th Q offense, which I posted separately. Relating to this post I’ll simply say the Pats D was on the field nearly twice as long as the Pats O, 9:22 to 5:38, and that’s WAY too long when you are up by two possessions.

Prior to the 4th the Pats D had given up 17 points with 7 of those points coming on a very short field. That’s a pretty good night in my book. Issues here or there but overall a good night.

To be on the field for nearly 10 minutes of the 4th Q though, in a hot, humid game off a short off-season – that’s a lot to ask any D to maintain an effective level.

Pats need to run more, kill the clock & save the D