New England Patriots links 9/12/22 - Defense a bright spot, offense needs to tighten up

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Patriots at Dolphins: Belichick enters 23rd season as Patriots head coach; Mac Jones moves into Top 10 on Patriots all-time passing list. Patriots defense held the Dolphins to a 2.8-yard rushing average; More.
• Evan Lazar’s Game Observations: Ten takeaways as the Patriots stumble out of the gate. “If you’re looking for a silver lining, this game ultimately came down to two critical plays: a 42-yard touchdown by Jaylen Waddle before the half and a defensive touchdown on a strip-sack fumble recovery by Dolphins linebacker Melvin Ingram.”
• Mike Dussault pinpoints 4 keys from the season-opening loss. 1. Mistakes dig an early deficit. “Protection issues were a problem for much of the summer and they carried over into the season, putting New England into an early double-digit hole.”
• Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Dolphins.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick - Matthew Judon - David Andrews - Devin McCourty.

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian points out the play of the Patriots defense as one of few positives from Sunday’s loss.
• Kevin Tame, Jr. (Patriots Country) Kyle Dugger was flying around with noticeable speed all game long.
• Mark Daniels recaps how Jones & Co. laid an egg in Week 1 against a division rival and it falls on Bill Belichick to clean it up; Plus, why isn’t receiver Kendrick Bourne playing more?
• Mike D’Abate (Patriots Country) Week 1 postgame notebook: ‘Pretty even game’ - Bill Belichick on Patriots loss; Despite some positive moments, New England fell victim to an abundance of self-inflicted miscues.
• Clare Cooper (PatsPropaganda) Miami Vice…? Once again the Patriots can’t pull off a win in the Miami heat. A bit of bad luck, a few good drives, but a lot of concerns, as the Patriots lose 7 to 20.
• Geoff Magliocchetti (Patriots Country) Patriots offense sputters in Week 1 loss at Dolphins: Mac Jones struggled to generate offensive momentum.
• Nick Goss gives us his Patriots-Dolphins takeaways: Not much to show from a week in Miami. /Pats didn’t lose because they were gassed from the heat.
• Mark Daniels talks about the turnovers that plagued the Pats’ offense yesterday.
• Zack Cox details how two ‘bad plays’ doomed Patriots in Week 1 loss.
• Mike Kadlick offers five takeaways from Sunday’s loss. 5. If they don’t make an adjustment, the offense is going to struggle all season long.
• Matt Dolloff takes a closer look at the Week 1 performance of the Patriots’ wide receiver group.
• Alex Barth relays Bill Belichick and Kendrick Bourne offering explanations for the WR’s limited role against Miami.
• Karen Guregian imagines what Bill Belichick was feeling after the loss and says it’s not too soon to put the blame on his shoulders.
• Tom E. Curran tries to make sense of Bill Belichick being ‘oddly optimistic’ after that poor performance.
• Matt Dolloff picks his Patriots ups & downs to see who showed up in the Pats’ season opener.
• Andy Hart offers his Pats-Fins thumbs up, thumbs down: Mac Jones’ turnovers ruin opening day.
• Mike Reiss reports Mac Jones suffered a back injury Sunday requiring X-rays on it after the game.
• Dakota Randall notes Kyle Dugger offered a cautiously optimistic update on Adrian Phillips’ rib injury.
• Dakota Randall highlights Bill Belichick offering his take on the Mac Jones interception, ‘It was a close play.’
• Zack Cox hears Bill Belichick explain why LB Anfernee Jennings, one of the surprise standouts of training camp, wound up being a surprise scratch in New England’s season opener.
• Zack Cox highlights Cole Strange explaining his first-half absence yesterday. ‘Just to keep us fresh.’
• Khari Thompson notes David Andrews says the offense ‘beat ourselves’ with poor play.
• Mike Reiss posts a video clip of Kendrick Bourne: “I’m not giving coaches what they want.” (24 sec. video)
• Adam London notes the betting line for Patriots-Steelers makes no sense to Peter King. “I think someone’s got to explain to me how the Patriots — no idea what they can do on offense right now — are one-point favorites over the Steelers in Pittsburgh Sunday.”

NATIONAL NEWS

• Albert Breer (SI) NFL Week 1 Takeaways: Commanders pass a test; Be happy for Saquon Barkley; Plus, Lamar and Rodgers will be OK, Jefferson’s dominance, Belichick’s reaction and much more.
• Peter King (ProFootballTalk) FMIA Week 1: Giants go ‘aggressive, not reckless’ in upset, Steelers survive weird day and more takeaways.
• NFL Nation (ESPN) NFL Week 1 takeaways: What we learned, big questions for every game and future team outlooks.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) 2022 NFL season, Week 1: What we learned from Sunday’s games.
• Jeff Kerr (CBS Sports) NFL Week 1 overreactions and reality checks: Dak Prescott injury, Carson Wentz highlight wild opening Sunday
• MMQB Staff (SI) NFL Week 1 best performances: MMQB awards game balls.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 1 grades: Trey Lance and 49ers get a ‘D’ after upset loss, Dolphins get an ‘A’ for thrashing Patriots (D+).
• Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) Winners and losers of NFL Week 1.
• Albert Breer (SI) Breer’s best of the internet: The tweets that caught my eye over the weekend. Included: Robert Kraft and Mike Tyson holding hands.
• Sam Monson (PFF) NFL Week 1 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 20, New England Patriots 7.
• Mark Schofield (SBNation) The Patriots looked broken in Week 1. Offense gets out to a nightmarish start in Miami.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Bill Belichick: It was pretty even, two big plays skewed the game.
• Cody Benjamin (CBS Sports) Patriots’ Mac Jones suffers back injury during ugly Week 1 loss to Dolphins.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Report: X-rays negative for Mac Jones, further evaluation of back Monday.
• James Dator (SB Nation) Absolute genius destroys 8 cars with grill during Pats-Dolphins game.
• Conor Orr (SI) Revenge? The weirdness of the Browns getting on Baker Mayfield. Mayfield had little to do with the Browns trading him or the hype around Sunday’s game. Maybe it’s time we all move on.
• Jon Wertheim (SI) Can Joe Buck and Troy Aikman save Monday Night Football?