I was pumped last weekend with the win over the Jets because I thought it got the Patriots to 3-0 going in to their bye. I didn't agree with the praise of Cassel's performance, but the bottom line to me was just getting the "W" and getting to the bye perfect in order to regroup.
I rarely take a game for granted, but it never even crossed my mind that the Patriots could lose at home to the Dolphins. The same Dolphins that got destroyed by the Cardinals, the same Dolphins with no legitimate WR and a porous secondary. To not only lose, but to be blown off the field was the very definition of shocking.
The defense didn't just get confused/destroyed by the "wildcat" formation. Before the Dolphins even broke out that formation, Pennington was finding wide open receivers for uncontested catches and some big gains after the catch. The "D" was awful in every aspect of football against a poor offensive team.
The game started promising with a nice Hobbs kickoff return to start, but the Cassel led offense failed to put any points on the board. This has been a them since Cassel has taken over: great field position squandered. The Oline had a terrible performance highlighted by Joey Porter's 3 sacks. Joey Porter hasn't been relevant for a number of years, so that was completely unacceptable. There was no running game today, and certainly no passing game. Just like on defense, I can't point to one player who I can say played a good game.
The Patriots are still 2-1, and it's more important to be clicking on all cylinders in December and beyond that in September.
In my opinion the bye week is HUGE and the Patriots must take this time to answer 2 critical questions.
1. Are they going to stick with Cassel? In my opinion, this decision has to be made by Tuesday at the latest. If the Patriots are going to try to bring in a veteran QB, they need to do it now and give him 2 weeks of practice going in to San Francisco. This team is not going to compete for a Super Bowl throwing for less than 200 yards per game and missing some of the throws Cassel has missed. Whoever the QB is, taking more shots down the field early in the game is an absolute must. The Patriots need to make the determination quickly whether Cassel is capable of making those throws downfield. Hiding the QB is not a viable alternative for the rest of the year.
2. Does the defense need more speed? Bill Belichick must decide if the defense's troubles can be corrected just by scheme. My belief is that the run defense can, but I am not sure about the pass defense. It MIGHT be time to look at Bruschi and Harrison as part time players. This team needs to do a better job in the short/intermediate passing game and only the staff knows if the current starting defensive group can make that happen.
To me it's time to panic if the Patriots come back from the bye and they still are looking to play conservative on offense. If they go in to San Francisco and don't get the ball down the field in the passing game, it's time to panic even if they win. If JT O'Sullivan slices and dices the pass defense with the same types of throws that Pennington did, it's time to panic even if the Pats offense looks great.
If the Patriots do solve these issues then the Dolphins game will just be a missed opportunity as opposed to a sign of things to come. Plenty of teams have gotten deep in the playoffs with a very ugly loss on their resume.
I rarely take a game for granted, but it never even crossed my mind that the Patriots could lose at home to the Dolphins. The same Dolphins that got destroyed by the Cardinals, the same Dolphins with no legitimate WR and a porous secondary. To not only lose, but to be blown off the field was the very definition of shocking.
The defense didn't just get confused/destroyed by the "wildcat" formation. Before the Dolphins even broke out that formation, Pennington was finding wide open receivers for uncontested catches and some big gains after the catch. The "D" was awful in every aspect of football against a poor offensive team.
The game started promising with a nice Hobbs kickoff return to start, but the Cassel led offense failed to put any points on the board. This has been a them since Cassel has taken over: great field position squandered. The Oline had a terrible performance highlighted by Joey Porter's 3 sacks. Joey Porter hasn't been relevant for a number of years, so that was completely unacceptable. There was no running game today, and certainly no passing game. Just like on defense, I can't point to one player who I can say played a good game.
The Patriots are still 2-1, and it's more important to be clicking on all cylinders in December and beyond that in September.
In my opinion the bye week is HUGE and the Patriots must take this time to answer 2 critical questions.
1. Are they going to stick with Cassel? In my opinion, this decision has to be made by Tuesday at the latest. If the Patriots are going to try to bring in a veteran QB, they need to do it now and give him 2 weeks of practice going in to San Francisco. This team is not going to compete for a Super Bowl throwing for less than 200 yards per game and missing some of the throws Cassel has missed. Whoever the QB is, taking more shots down the field early in the game is an absolute must. The Patriots need to make the determination quickly whether Cassel is capable of making those throws downfield. Hiding the QB is not a viable alternative for the rest of the year.
2. Does the defense need more speed? Bill Belichick must decide if the defense's troubles can be corrected just by scheme. My belief is that the run defense can, but I am not sure about the pass defense. It MIGHT be time to look at Bruschi and Harrison as part time players. This team needs to do a better job in the short/intermediate passing game and only the staff knows if the current starting defensive group can make that happen.
To me it's time to panic if the Patriots come back from the bye and they still are looking to play conservative on offense. If they go in to San Francisco and don't get the ball down the field in the passing game, it's time to panic even if they win. If JT O'Sullivan slices and dices the pass defense with the same types of throws that Pennington did, it's time to panic even if the Pats offense looks great.
If the Patriots do solve these issues then the Dolphins game will just be a missed opportunity as opposed to a sign of things to come. Plenty of teams have gotten deep in the playoffs with a very ugly loss on their resume.