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- Jul 11, 2005
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I was down at Foxwoods today, but I got up from the table to watch the game in a room that one of my friends was staying in this weekend, So while everyone else was watching the game at the tables, I was up in the room alone with my computer as usual. Now, I would have started this much earlier than 1am, but I was forced to go back down to the table to earn the money I needed to pay off all those who bet me on the game, and it took me a bit longer than I expected to get that done and drive home.
As usual, I haven't ready any one else's review so I won't be influenced by their reviews. I'm sure it is all great stuff and I look forward to reading them tomorrow, but this is the way I do this. These are just my thoughts and the only thing I use is my memory that the box score. OK, to use a timely historical reference for this weekend - "Let's roll"
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General Remarks -
1. This is a team that is built to be in EVERY game. The offense is not likely to be dynamic enough to blow people away, and the defense, while good, isn't dominant enough (at least for the next few months, to throttle teams. So we are likely to see a ton of these one score games this season and the Pats are going to have win the vast majority if they are going to the playoffs.
2. This was a game that was very winnable right up to the Brissett sneak. By a lot of factors the Pats outplayed the Dolphins but they lost the game because of mistakes (2 fumbles lost - 86 yds in penalties, including a few unforced errors to name the obvious ones - Boldin's brain fart on the KO to name a few) Mistakes that are not what we expect to see from a BB coached team. But that being said there are 24 new faces on this team. That's almost half the roster, and they have had just 23 practices to learn their respective playbooks. And more than half of those where virtual walk throughs. This will be an immediate house of horrors Monday for the team.. But a lot of learning will go on and I expect their game to tighten up as the season goes on.7
3. This is a game we win if Brown doesn't get hurt. A lot of the penalty issues came from Herron. Actually I thought he looked good in the first half, but clearly wasn't holding up when they had to bench him in the 2nd half., and put in a guy who they just brought on board. (BTW- he seemed to do pretty well for a fat guy). I was disappointed Cajuste was inactive, but we shall see down the road how that goes. Hopefully Brown will be back next week, but if he isn't I expect whomever they throw in at RT will be an improvement since they will take all the first team snaps during the week. It's a tough job (especially on the OL,) to come after an injury mid-game.
4. There was nothing to dislike about Mac's debut. He did everything we hoped, and what he did was enough to win the game. IIRC he made on bad pass on a 3rd down and that missed by just a foot. His only serious deep throw was right on the mark and only a great play by Jason McCourty kept it from being a catch. I liked that as the game went on he seemed to go down field more for 15-25 yd gains. And I liked that he started using the TE's in the 2nd half. About the only negative I can think of was that brain fart of a play that he almost fumbled away early in the game.
Think about this Bailey only punted twice and once was from the Miami 37. We moved the ball all game and had a HUGE TOP advantage and that is even more stunning given that we lost the TO battle. Here is where the game was lost. We had 4 redzone chances and came up with only 13 points and fumble. This HAS to improve radically and soon.
5. Nelson Agular has gotten a lot of bad press in preseason. He caught everything today - Had 74 yds and a TD and created the all important "space" against one of the better secondary's the Pats will face. A good start for him. Meyers was steady and will be all year. My initial impression of Bourne is that he is the most dynamic of the receivers and needs the ball in his hands more. I don't think he got more than a couple of targets until the 4th quarter where he made 2 big plays only to have one of them called back. Overall I think the WR's acquitted themselves fairly well (again especially given the 2ndary they were playing against)
6. I was beginning to wonder about all that money we spent on those TE's for the first half. Then they came on in the 2nd half to have an impact. I watch both on their blocking. They both will never make us forget Gronk, but they were willing and fairly effective blockers. And granted how little time both had spent in practice, I can only assume that impact will grow on a weekly basis (assuming they can STAY on the field)
7. I really underestimated what a dynamic RB DHarris is and can be. There were a number of 2 and 3 yd gains he made that were things of beauty as he turn losses into something positive. He IS the real deal. Too bad his legacy for this game will be the fumble, but it is what it is. I was disappointed that Stephenson didn't get another shot, but I fear for his confidence when they decided to go with Boldin late in the game when they gave Harris a blow.
8. The OL teased us before Brown got hurt. Overall they allowed just one sack and that was on a safety blitz from the outside. Mac got hit 4 or 5 times after throws. They need to clean that up as well as those damned penalties. Again this is the first sustained action these guys have gotten and the starting 5 didn't get out of the first quarter. I expect better next week
Defense
9. In general- This was a decent job. Less than 300 yds of total offense in this day and age is a fine overall job, and giving up only 17 points will win a LOT of games. I think the strength of the Dolphins offense is their receivers. Parker is a proven commodity and I believe if Waddle can stay healthy is going to terrorize the Pats and other teams for many years (unfortunately) Tua was OK, but I'm happier with out Alabama QB. But he didn't suck. That first drive made me wonder about this game, but after that the Defense tightened up considerably and played fairly well. In defense of that first drive, that's the one you get to see what you haven't seen before. It was a credit to the defensive staff that they cleared that up and the only real sustained long drive the Dolphins had after that was the one to start the 2nd half.
10 Like most of the units the DL wasn't the run stopping ninjas we were hoping for, but the did only give up 74 yds and 3,7ypc So not a bad job, just not good QUITE enough when it counted late.
11 Likes and dislikes What I liked was Judon's overall play. Uche had 2 impact plays, but I hadn't noticed him at all before he got that sack, his only tackle. I was hoping for more. Bentley got more play than I thought he would, but he did better than I expected. There were rumblings about his improvement in camp, but I didn't believe them. I think in Parker and Waddle the Phins have 2 really dynamic WR's and a really good TE in Gasecki. Well Waddle and Parker accounted for 160 of the 200 yds Tua threw for, including the catch of the game which was the 3rd and 8 dagger by Powell against close coverage from Jackson with led to a Miami score. But all in all it wasn't horrible. Mills held up on the opposite side of the field, which was a surprise given what we've heard about is boundary play. and I think Jackson is in for a big payday after this year. I LOVE Dugger and Phillips, together they shut out Gesecki and made him disappear without a catch
I think we saw a secondary that was OK and could be great when Gilmore returns. I think the front 7 will continue to get better as the players get more full speed reps together.
13 ST's were good except for the Boldin Brain fart, one penalty and the Bailey kick into the endzone on the short punt. But Folk was steady, though they didn't ask much of him but to make the gimmees. But overall the ST's also held their own and did their part to give the Pats a chance to win.
14. Tipping the cap.
a. By and large I thought their OL did a good job of keeping the Pats from pressuring up the middle. It seemed like the Pats tried a number to stems and blitzes to attack the middle and weren't often rewarded.
b - Ran some nice pick plays to open up receivers.
15 What I want to see next week.
a. Hold on to the F#cking ball.
b. Let Mac take more shots up the field
c. start creating the Bourne Identity
d. find a RT until Brown gets back - BTW- what about put Owenu out there and move Karras to LG - Just a thought
e create more TO's
OK 3am and I'm done. I'll try and do better next time
As usual, I haven't ready any one else's review so I won't be influenced by their reviews. I'm sure it is all great stuff and I look forward to reading them tomorrow, but this is the way I do this. These are just my thoughts and the only thing I use is my memory that the box score. OK, to use a timely historical reference for this weekend - "Let's roll"
\
General Remarks -
1. This is a team that is built to be in EVERY game. The offense is not likely to be dynamic enough to blow people away, and the defense, while good, isn't dominant enough (at least for the next few months, to throttle teams. So we are likely to see a ton of these one score games this season and the Pats are going to have win the vast majority if they are going to the playoffs.
2. This was a game that was very winnable right up to the Brissett sneak. By a lot of factors the Pats outplayed the Dolphins but they lost the game because of mistakes (2 fumbles lost - 86 yds in penalties, including a few unforced errors to name the obvious ones - Boldin's brain fart on the KO to name a few) Mistakes that are not what we expect to see from a BB coached team. But that being said there are 24 new faces on this team. That's almost half the roster, and they have had just 23 practices to learn their respective playbooks. And more than half of those where virtual walk throughs. This will be an immediate house of horrors Monday for the team.. But a lot of learning will go on and I expect their game to tighten up as the season goes on.7
3. This is a game we win if Brown doesn't get hurt. A lot of the penalty issues came from Herron. Actually I thought he looked good in the first half, but clearly wasn't holding up when they had to bench him in the 2nd half., and put in a guy who they just brought on board. (BTW- he seemed to do pretty well for a fat guy). I was disappointed Cajuste was inactive, but we shall see down the road how that goes. Hopefully Brown will be back next week, but if he isn't I expect whomever they throw in at RT will be an improvement since they will take all the first team snaps during the week. It's a tough job (especially on the OL,) to come after an injury mid-game.
4. There was nothing to dislike about Mac's debut. He did everything we hoped, and what he did was enough to win the game. IIRC he made on bad pass on a 3rd down and that missed by just a foot. His only serious deep throw was right on the mark and only a great play by Jason McCourty kept it from being a catch. I liked that as the game went on he seemed to go down field more for 15-25 yd gains. And I liked that he started using the TE's in the 2nd half. About the only negative I can think of was that brain fart of a play that he almost fumbled away early in the game.
Think about this Bailey only punted twice and once was from the Miami 37. We moved the ball all game and had a HUGE TOP advantage and that is even more stunning given that we lost the TO battle. Here is where the game was lost. We had 4 redzone chances and came up with only 13 points and fumble. This HAS to improve radically and soon.
5. Nelson Agular has gotten a lot of bad press in preseason. He caught everything today - Had 74 yds and a TD and created the all important "space" against one of the better secondary's the Pats will face. A good start for him. Meyers was steady and will be all year. My initial impression of Bourne is that he is the most dynamic of the receivers and needs the ball in his hands more. I don't think he got more than a couple of targets until the 4th quarter where he made 2 big plays only to have one of them called back. Overall I think the WR's acquitted themselves fairly well (again especially given the 2ndary they were playing against)
6. I was beginning to wonder about all that money we spent on those TE's for the first half. Then they came on in the 2nd half to have an impact. I watch both on their blocking. They both will never make us forget Gronk, but they were willing and fairly effective blockers. And granted how little time both had spent in practice, I can only assume that impact will grow on a weekly basis (assuming they can STAY on the field)
7. I really underestimated what a dynamic RB DHarris is and can be. There were a number of 2 and 3 yd gains he made that were things of beauty as he turn losses into something positive. He IS the real deal. Too bad his legacy for this game will be the fumble, but it is what it is. I was disappointed that Stephenson didn't get another shot, but I fear for his confidence when they decided to go with Boldin late in the game when they gave Harris a blow.
8. The OL teased us before Brown got hurt. Overall they allowed just one sack and that was on a safety blitz from the outside. Mac got hit 4 or 5 times after throws. They need to clean that up as well as those damned penalties. Again this is the first sustained action these guys have gotten and the starting 5 didn't get out of the first quarter. I expect better next week
Defense
9. In general- This was a decent job. Less than 300 yds of total offense in this day and age is a fine overall job, and giving up only 17 points will win a LOT of games. I think the strength of the Dolphins offense is their receivers. Parker is a proven commodity and I believe if Waddle can stay healthy is going to terrorize the Pats and other teams for many years (unfortunately) Tua was OK, but I'm happier with out Alabama QB. But he didn't suck. That first drive made me wonder about this game, but after that the Defense tightened up considerably and played fairly well. In defense of that first drive, that's the one you get to see what you haven't seen before. It was a credit to the defensive staff that they cleared that up and the only real sustained long drive the Dolphins had after that was the one to start the 2nd half.
10 Like most of the units the DL wasn't the run stopping ninjas we were hoping for, but the did only give up 74 yds and 3,7ypc So not a bad job, just not good QUITE enough when it counted late.
11 Likes and dislikes What I liked was Judon's overall play. Uche had 2 impact plays, but I hadn't noticed him at all before he got that sack, his only tackle. I was hoping for more. Bentley got more play than I thought he would, but he did better than I expected. There were rumblings about his improvement in camp, but I didn't believe them. I think in Parker and Waddle the Phins have 2 really dynamic WR's and a really good TE in Gasecki. Well Waddle and Parker accounted for 160 of the 200 yds Tua threw for, including the catch of the game which was the 3rd and 8 dagger by Powell against close coverage from Jackson with led to a Miami score. But all in all it wasn't horrible. Mills held up on the opposite side of the field, which was a surprise given what we've heard about is boundary play. and I think Jackson is in for a big payday after this year. I LOVE Dugger and Phillips, together they shut out Gesecki and made him disappear without a catch
I think we saw a secondary that was OK and could be great when Gilmore returns. I think the front 7 will continue to get better as the players get more full speed reps together.
13 ST's were good except for the Boldin Brain fart, one penalty and the Bailey kick into the endzone on the short punt. But Folk was steady, though they didn't ask much of him but to make the gimmees. But overall the ST's also held their own and did their part to give the Pats a chance to win.
14. Tipping the cap.
a. By and large I thought their OL did a good job of keeping the Pats from pressuring up the middle. It seemed like the Pats tried a number to stems and blitzes to attack the middle and weren't often rewarded.
b - Ran some nice pick plays to open up receivers.
15 What I want to see next week.
a. Hold on to the F#cking ball.
b. Let Mac take more shots up the field
c. start creating the Bourne Identity
d. find a RT until Brown gets back - BTW- what about put Owenu out there and move Karras to LG - Just a thought
e create more TO's
OK 3am and I'm done. I'll try and do better next time
