Game thoughts

[Rob0729]

1.) Brady is amazing. He looks to be on an MVP performance yet again. Brady decided since there will be no Peyton Manning this year, he would do his best Peyton Manning imitation minus the annoying arm waiving. I loved how they went with the hurry up for most of the game. I doubt they will do this all season, but it was definitely a back breaker for the Dolphins defense in the heat.
2.) I think Hernandez is going to turn into the next Antonio Gates/Tony Gonzalez. The guy was lining up in multiple positions and creating match up problems. You can't put a LB on him. He is too quick. A lot of nickelbacks are too small.
3.) Solder has a great start. Wake is no scrub, but he looked that way last night for most of the game. For a guy who was supposably raw and a poor technique, Solder's blocking style was textbook. He was able to constantly get a fast guy like Wake head up and get his hands under the pads like a seasoned veteran.
4.) Kudos to Dan Connolly. He slid into the center role with minimal problems. He had a couple poor snaps on shotgun, but nothing too bad. He did seem to look a little uncomfortable presnap, but he and Brady should get a rhythm over time.
5.) Loved the Pats turn the tables on the Dolphins and use the heat against them with a hurried up offense. Even during the Super Bowl years,you would see the Pats defenders sucking wind and getting worn down. Tonight it was the Dolphins defenders who were using oxygen on the sidelines.
6.) The Pats need an upgrade at free safety. The Pats are going to face too many good TEs this season (Gates, Keller, Clark, Witten, Miller, etc.). This is going to be an area that opposing offenses can attack. Putting Guyton on these guys definitely isn't the answer.
7.) The defense is still a work in progress. There were positive signs (the Dolphins were 2 for 14 on third down) and the Dolphins offense didn't perform as well as their stats indicated. That said, the coverages were spotty at times to say the least. The pass rush was inconsistent (although kudos for Henne to perform well while getting hit multiple times).
8.) So much for all the talk that Branch might be done after not getting a catch this preseason.
9.) Ochocinco is only going to be a role player in this offense. Let's hope he can deal with it. His lack of playing time and receptions has a lot to do with the hurry up. I never expected Ochocinco to be a stud in this offense, but at least for the early part of the year he might be less than I thought.
10.) If Haynesworth can get into better shape, he is going to be a monster. There were plays where he was virtually unblockable. He easily brought down Bush with an one arm tackle. Bush looked like he ran into a brick wall in another play. Haynesworth's biggest problem right now is consistency, but if he gets into better shape he is a guy who they have to gameplan against.

 

[JackBauer]

Good read. I think it's a bit too early to conclusively evaluate the safety play. I mean, you could very well be right, but since it's Barrett's first game starting I'd take a wait-and-see approach (also due to the fact that there's not much out there in the way of alternatives).

I didn't see anything from Barrett to indicate that he's physically unable to play the position, so I'd like to assume BB & Patricia can coach them up.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

I certainly agree that the Dolphins stats overrate their performance. Outside the first drive, they really did not do much offensively till towards the end when they had to completely open it up. Remember it was hot for our D too and they struggled a bit at the end, which is somewhat expected. Certainly not to the same level as the Miami D.

Overall though, I think our D is a work in progress, but certainly has the makings of a good defense.

Solder was a beast last night.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

3.) Solder has a great start. Wake is no scrub, but he looked that way last night for most of the game. For a guy who was supposably raw and a poor technique, Solder's blocking style was textbook. He was able to constantly get a fast guy like Wake head up and get his hands under the pads like a seasoned veteran.

Wasn't he too weak and needed some strength cnditioning to be effective as well? I'd say the kid knows how use his leverage and has a huge upside if his strength is indeed lacking (relatively). Then again, it's 1 game and teams don't have film on him to exploit his tendencies. Still, all around solid job by our first round pick.

5.) Loved the Pats turn the tables on the Dolphins and use the heat against them with a hurried up offense. Even during the Super Bowl years,you would see the Pats defenders sucking wind and getting worn down. Tonight it was the Dolphins defenders who were using oxygen on the sidelines.

Liked the images of some defenders breathing oxygen. TB definitely exploits others weaknesses. like seeing the one DB crapping and the very next play goes to the guy he's covering (think that was the Hernandex catch for the almost touchdown)

 

[signbabybrady]

I certainly agree that the Dolphins stats overrate their performance. Outside the first drive, they really did not do much offensively till towards the end when they had to completely open it up. Remember it was hot for our D too and they struggled a bit at the end, which is somewhat expected. Certainly not to the same level as the Miami D.

Overall though, I think our D is a work in progress, but certainly has the makings of a good defense.

Solder was a beast last night.

Two drives into the red zone heck inside the 10 ended in 3 total points that will skew the stats.

While you have to be concerned about the total ground gained by the Dolphin offense you have to be equally if not more excited about those two goal line stands. Clean up and get more consistant and keep playing like those two stands and this D will turn into something nasty.

 

[Rob0729]

One thing I forgot. Kudos to Chad Henne. The guy might actually live up to his Dolphins fans' hype from prior to last season. The guy was hitting targets while under pressure and getting hit (I think the Pats had 10 pressures, 4 hits, and 4 sacks).

It is amazing that this was the first game of his pro career that he was allowed to call audibles at the line of scrimmage (yet, just showing the "brilliance" of Dan Henning). I thought he called the audibles at the right time.

Henne will never be an elite QB or a top QB, but I think he might be a good QB now that Daboll will give him some freedom and not call the conservative crap Henning used to run.

 

[Rob0729]

Wasn't he too weak and needed some strength cnditioning to be effective as well? I'd say the kid knows how use his leverage and has a huge upside if his strength is indeed lacking (relatively). Then again, it's 1 game and teams don't have film on him to exploit his tendencies. Still, all around solid job by our first round pick.

That was another knock on him. Clearly it wasn't a problem last night. I thought that was overrated too since the Pats have never had incredibly strong o-linemen.

Now the question is when Vollmer returns, who goes to the bench - Light or Solder? Right now it is Solder who will rotate in liberally, but that could change quickly

 

[Rob0729]

Good read. I think it's a bit too early to conclusively evaluate the safety play. I mean, you could very well be right, but since it's Barrett's first game starting I'd take a wait-and-see approach (also due to the fact that there's not much out there in the way of alternatives).

I didn't see anything from Barrett to indicate that he's physically unable to play the position, so I'd like to assume BB & Patricia can coach them up.

Just judging it based on last night. Still think that position is the Pats' biggest weakness, In a few weeks, it could be wrong.

 

[Razor's Edge]

"The defense is still a work in progress. There were positive signs (the Dolphins were 2 for 14 on third down) and the Dolphins offense didn't perform as well as their stats indicated. That said, the coverages were spotty at times to say the least. The pass rush was inconsistent (although kudos for Henne to perform well while getting hit multiple times). "

I think this will improve but is a concern for me

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Two drives into the red zone heck inside the 10 ended in 3 total points that will skew the stats.

While you have to be concerned about the total ground gained by the Dolphin offense you have to be equally if not more excited about those two goal line stands. Clean up and get more consistant and keep playing like those two stands and this D will turn into something nasty.

Indeed......

Let's not forget......... It was 90 degrees for our defense too, and they were a little gassed at the end of the game. 220+ of Miami's 480 were in this garbage time 8 Minutes (Miami only got 7 points out of it too). Up to that point is was a reasonable 250 yds. Then the D ran out of gas........ not as bad as the Miami D did, but it was there.

24 point out of 480 yards of offense isn't much. Most teams that have that much offense score 30+.

 

[everlong]

The Good:

The entire offense
Fins 2/14 on 3rd down. Massive improvement from last year.
4 Sacks
10 QB Hits
Fins RB's 13/39 3.0 rushing

The Bad:

Fins 4/5 on 4th down.
Henne 7/59 rushing including a 9 yard TD run

The Ugly:

Henne 30/49 416 yards 2 TDs 1 INT 93.6 rating

Henne's QB rating would have been over 100 if not for the final play. In spite of good sack, QB hits and 3rd down conversion numbers the defense still gave up 416 yards passing and 24 point to Chad Henne. It's week one and the defense will evolve and there were tons of good takeaways from this game but bottom line that's still a lot of yards to that caliber of QB.

Love Mccorty and Dowling and how they battled. They gave up some plays but were generally in position and fighting. Fletcher played a great game. The entire Dline played well and that rotation will payoff line term keeping everybody fresh.

 

[The Scrizz]

Who are the safeties out there who can cover all of these TE's anymore?

Seemed like every team had trouble covering the TE's this week. And really, Guyton was responsible for most of Fasano's yards not the safeties.

 

[AzPatsFan]

The Good:

The entire offense
Fins 2/14 on 3rd down. Massive improvement from last year.
4 Sacks
10 QB Hits
Fins RB's 13/39 3.0 rushing

The Bad:

Fins 4/5 on 4th down.
Henne 7/59 rushing including a 9 yard TD run

The Ugly:

Henne 30/49 416 yards 2 TDs 1 INT 93.6 rating

Henne's QB rating would have been over 100 if not for the final play. In spite of good sack, QB hits and 3rd down conversion numbers the defense still gave up 416 yards passing and 24 point to Chad Henne. It's week one and the defense will evolve and there were tons of good takeaways from this game but bottom line that's still a lot of yards to that caliber of QB.

Love Mccorty and Dowling and how they battled. They gave up some plays but were generally in position and fighting. Fletcher played a great game. The entire Dline played well and that rotation will payoff line term keeping everybody fresh.

The Offense gave up a TD on the INT. Asking the Defesne to prevent a score whan the Offense starts inside the ten should not be counted against the Defensne. The Defense yielded 17 ppg, and that is pretty good right out of the gate. The Rush Defense actually yielded only 29 yards aside from the QB scrambles.

 

[everlong]

The Offense gave up a TD on the INT. Asking the Defesne to prevent a score whan the Offense starts inside the ten should not be counted against the Defensne. The Defense yielded 17 ppg, and that is pretty good right out of the gate. The Rush Defense actually yielded only 29 yards aside from the QB scrambles.

It's a good point on the offense giving up the field position and I actually meant to post the red zone defense as a positive as they made a couple of goal line stands but they still folded pretty quickly on that drive so it's still 24 points.

I credited the rush defense however historically this defense has given up scramble yards so it's something to watch.

You can't just put the good stuff. The defense was a mixed bag with more good than bad but still there's plenty of room for improvement.

 

[dex13]

Indeed......

Let's not forget......... It was 90 degrees for our defense too, and they were a little gassed at the end of the game. 220+ of Miami's 480 were in this garbage time 8 Minutes (Miami only got 7 points out of it too). Up to that point is was a reasonable 250 yds. Then the D ran out of gas........ not as bad as the Miami D did, but it was there.

24 point out of 480 yards of offense isn't much. Most teams that have that much offense score 30+.

most teams don't rack up 480 yards on offense and lose. Also, Miami's O is not considered a powerhouse.

while there was a lot of "garbage" time yards, this was not a good start for the Pats D. 5 yards per carry and henne throws for 390 yards? Giving up 250 yards in three quarters isn't that great as well.

O looked ready but the D, which was completely revamped, needs to step it up for those tough games in the middle of the season.

 

[Metaphors]

I think you have to be careful drawing conclusions from this game. The Fins have weak coverage safeties/LBs and a limited pass rush. They are almost uniquely unqualified to deal with this Pats offense. The Pats didn't even have to use Woodhead in the passing game (only targeted once).

On defense, the game was a track meet early which changes the complexion of the game. If a team throws the ball 50 times and goes for it on 4th down 5 times, I'm thinking the Pats will be in good shape.

So basically I don't think the games situations will translate much to other games. But if I'm the Jets, I peed a little in my pants watching the game. They have the same liabilities on defense. The Pats went 14-20/195/2 to non-WRs...after Romo went 15-19/181/0 against the Jets. That doesn't even count targeting K.Wilson in the slot. The Pats could throw up a dud like they did in the playoffs, but I'm thinking Brady is sufficiently motivated against the Jets to not let that happen.