So tell me what's wrong withn the Offense?

[carolinatony]

I am in Carlolina and the game was not on TV here in Charlotte.
We did not have any long passes over 15 yards? I thought with more practice we would open up the passing game again. You have to pass the ball longer than 15 yards to open up the field!
Did Miami stack the line against the run?
I know we are 4-1 BUT; without a passing game we won't go anywhere in the playoff's.

 

[RayClay]

I am in Carlolina and the game was not on TV here in Charlotte.
We did not have any long passes over 15 yards? I thought with more practice we would open up the passing game again. You have to pass the ball longer than 15 yards to open up the field!
Did Miami stack the line against the run?
I know we are 4-1 BUT; without a passing game we won't go anywhere in the playoff's.

Look at past records against Miami with Branch and Givens.

Always a tough matchup for Brady.

 

[BradyManny]

Brady did seem a little off with his passes today, his short passes just didn't come off his hands right. It was weird. Did anyone else notice this?

My biggest beef is the playcalling, although like I said after Cincy, a well executed offense makes me forget about the playcalling, it's always tough to draw the line. But I guess I just long for Charlie Weis back.

 

[fnordcircle]

I am in Carlolina and the game was not on TV here in Charlotte.
We did not have any long passes over 15 yards? I thought with more practice we would open up the passing game again. You have to pass the ball longer than 15 yards to open up the field!
Did Miami stack the line against the run?
I know we are 4-1 BUT; without a passing game we won't go anywhere in the playoff's.

It's so hard to really gauge this team right now when they've played 3 division games and Denver to go with Indy. Denver always kicks our ass, sadly, and division games are typically wonky. Cincy was coming off of an emotional win against Pitt and the Patriots were coming off of a frustrating loss.

I think more time for Gabriel, Reche and Jackson will only help and we'll have a better idea of where this team is in 5 games.

They don't need a great passing game to win in the playoffs, just enough of one. I think they can get that out of Brown, Gabriel, Caldwell, Jackson, Faulk and Watson.

It's hard to place the blame, though. Brady has looked inaccurate but it's tough to lay the blame on him without knowing whether receivers are making the right reads, running the correct routes off of those reads, etc.

 

[RayClay]

Game 14 -- Dec. 20, 2004
At Miami 29, New England 28
The only people who gave the 2-11 Dolphins a chance were on the sidelines. Both sidelines. The Patriots knew they would be in for a fight in one of their most haunted venues. Nothing seemed amiss that Monday night when Brady hit Faulk for a 31-yard touchdown on New England's opening possession. Even after Wes Welker broke free for a 71-yard punt return, laying the groundwork for the tying score, there was no reason to suspect a monumental Miami upset.

Dillon scored via the air and ground, and once Graham hauled in Brady's third TD pass, a 2-yarder with 3:59 to play, it was time to turn out the lights at 28-17. But Miami took just 1:52 to cover 68 yards (aided by a pass interference call on Harrison in the end zone) and Sammy Morris's 1-yard run made it a 5-point game. Instead of an onside kick, interim Miami coach Jim Bates opted to kick deep, and three plays later Brady served up a head-scratcher, lofting an easily intercepted pass into traffic.

The Patriots' secondary never looked so vulnerable on the go-ahead score. Left in single coverage on fourth down, Brown was turned around by Derrius Thompson in the end zone and the Dolphins had completed their shocking comeback. Home-field advantage in the playoffs was history.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5228/splits;_ylt=AlQZnPFw4oWXs6EXPdnbeBr.uLYF?year=career

This page has his stats against each team. His qb rating career against Miami is worse than against Denver.

He needs much work with new receivers and we've got a bye. 4-1, 3 division wins, life is good. Relax, have a beer.

 

[Bella*chick]

Look at past records against Miami with Branch and Givens.

Always a tough matchup for Brady.

This is exactly what I think. I didn't think we would steamroll. This is always a tough game for us.

 

[Patters]

Game 14 -- Dec. 20, 2004
At Miami 29, New England 28
The only people who gave the 2-11 Dolphins a chance were on the sidelines. Both sidelines...

Great post. It really sums it up. 1-3, 2-11, it doesn't matter what Miami's record is -- they know how to make it tough for the Pats.

 

[BradyManny]

This Dolphins secondary isn't nearly as good as the one that has given Brady fits in the past, so I don't think that's the excuse for the poor play today.

And it wasn't THAT poor - they kept throwing up the total yardage stat, but when you get three turnovers inside the opponents 30 yard line, you aren't going to rack up as much yardage naturally.

 

[carolinatony]

I would still like to see some 30/40 YD passes
I guess if we are 4-1 and the offense isn't in sync yet; watch out where it does

 

[BradyManny]

I would still like to see some 30/40 YD passes
I guess if we are 4-1 and the offense isn't in sync yet; watch out where it does

No doubt, they didn't even seem to be trying to stretch the field for some reason. Obviously CJ still needs to learn a lot about the offense, but they could still send him in as a deep threat. All his routes today were short ones.

 

[PatsDeb]

Nothing is wrong with the offense. We scored 20 points against a tough opponent who always gives us fits and had no turnovers ourselves (not counting Kevin Faulk's maddeningly stupid fumble as that was on special teams).

 

[D-cleater]

Agreed. Not only that, I think Miami is but is better than a winless team with Culpepper on the bench, and better than some teams that have a win or maybe two. I predict Harrington starts now and they start to get a few wins.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Look at past records against Miami with Branch and Givens.

Always a tough matchup for Brady.

Yes...too many "what happened" threads every week. There are lots of good coaches and good players out there...and of course matchup problems. Many times what happened is the other teams game plan is a bit better or the players are in sync better. Shanahan and Saban have given the Patriots a hard time ... 2 great coaches there... a tip of the hat to them and you move on....we won this one.

 

[Fencer]

How much difference would Daniel Graham have made?

 

[Mike the Brit]

Like Denver, Miami sold out to stop the run -- which they did very effectively -- and challenged us to beat them through the air. Brady completed 16 of 29 for 140 yards.

Enough said.

 

[rookBoston]

Miami just has a good D. That's explanation enough.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Like Denver, Miami sold out to stop the run -- which they did very effectively -- and challenged us to beat them through the air. Brady completed 16 of 29 for 140 yards.

Enough said.

Enough said? 16 of 29 for 140 (4.8 YPA)? Enough to get a win but definitely not enough to be put so terse. When our running game struggles, as it did today, the passing game has got to be more effective than that. Teams will be putting an emphasis, and adjusting personnel accordingly, to stop the run against us. Their thought process will be 'let their less than stellar passing game try and beat us'. Brady's numbers and the passing game in general did nothing today to change that belief. We have new receivers and we have an evolving OL. I think it is understandable if BB and co. are thinking run then run some more. This gives time for the passing game to evolve. 16 of 29 for 140, 4.8 YPA with 2 td's and no int's ain't awful, however, turnovers helped our offense considerably. We cannot count on that week in and week out. If a team doesn't turn the ball over, limits us to slim rushing totals and keeps the passing game at 4.8 ypa at a 55% completion rate? That more often than not will be a loss.

 

[patsfan13]

Miami is always tough. Don't forget Graham was out today.

 

[lobster]

My view is the score doesn't reflect everything the Pat's could do offensively if they had wanted to. For example in a division game you try to score points at the end of the game, not simply take a knee. It seemed like Belichick didn't want to run up the score against his good friend Saban. I also don't know what happened to Jackson, whose strength is apparently on longer routes.

First the Dolphins DL was very strong in the middle, led by DT Keith Traylor - the ex-Pat who the Pat's released instead of trying to get a trade. That prevented the OL from creating a passing lane up the middle for Brady, and the Pat's from running effectively up the middle. Brady struggled with at least 2 balls batted down because of that.

However the Pat's stubbornly pounded it up the middle with absolutely dismal results. No one in the chat room could figure out why they kept doing that, for example Maroney seems to run best to the left behind Mankins block. If we could guess the Pat's were going to run up the middle, the Dolphins could certainly figure it out.

Also Brady seemed to be rushing his throws a lot in the first half, as he did against the Bronco's, and when he does that he can be pretty bad. In the 2nd half he seemed to take his time and do much better.

 

[Patjew]

Miami is always tough. Don't forget Graham was out today.

That does make me feel better, actually.