Patriots Pregame Thread 2023 Week 2 OFFICIAL Pre-Game Thread: Patriots vs Dolphins (EDIT: was Phish chatter)

[patfanken]

Get it. Phish chatter/fish chowder. No? Well, so it isn't that funny. At any rate I noticed that it's Tuesday and there isn't a Dolphin game discussion thread. Now there is.

 

[reflexblue]

Squish the Phish

 

[Steve102]

 

[patfanken]

So I thought I'd start.

I've been thinking about this game and how "daunting" it must seem given the fact they put up over 550 yds of offense and over 30 points on the road against a highly touted team in a win. Now they are coming to Foxboro to play a team they seem to beat regularly even when they haven't been that good. Another game the Pats can't "possibly" win. NOT so fast, fishhead.

Think about these factoids.

1. There IS no homefield advantage at SoFi, especially for the Chargers. More often than not, the away team brings more fans to the game than the Chargers. It will be an entirely different vibe at Gillette.

2. I question the Jet running game. They had about 80 yds rushing in that game so the they are entirely dependant on the passing game at this point. Besides the Pats have a good run defense.

3. Speaking for rush offense; The Dolphins D allowed over 220yds of rush offense to the Chargers. Over 200yds!. That is NOT good and bodes well for us.

4. I saw an article where a former NFL DB was outraged by the fact the Chargers NEVER changed their defensive strategy the entire game even though they were getting torched. Vs the Pats, the Dolphins will face multiple defensive looks, Multiple defensive personnel packages. And disguises up the gumpstump. It will not be so easy.

5. The Dolphins OL had a decent game vs the Chargers, but they are NOT the philly OL.

Let's start with these. Add your own, plus the things to worry about and forget about the philly game and move on to Miami

 

[borg]

Have the Chargers done a wellness check on JC Jackson in the past 36 hours?

 

[Brotherblues]

Just put Keion White accross Wynn. Easy false start or blown-up play every time.

 

[Sciz]

People didn’t think that highly of the Dolphins offense at this time a year ago because the Patriots held them to 13 offensive points. They exploded a week later with 469 passing yards for Tua, 190 and 171 receiving yards for Hill and Waddle, and 42 points. Turns out that badly exploiting one defense does not mean that they’ll be able to do that against every defense.

 

[RodThePat]

People didn’t think that highly of the Dolphins offense at this time a year ago because the Patriots held them to 13 offensive points. They exploded a week later with 469 passing yards for Tua, 190 and 171 receiving yards for Hill and Waddle, and 42 points. Turns out that badly exploiting one defense does not mean that they’ll be able to do that against every defense.

Sure, but the Dolphins have looked very good on offense under Tua for a while now. It's not like they've only had success against Staley. Since the start of 2022 they are 5th in the league in offensive EPA/Play, and that includes the games Bridgewater/Skylar Thompson started.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

Would be nice to finally get a win over Tua - this will probably be their best chance since it'll only be tougher to win down in Miami.

Tough task, but not impossible. Pats will need to minimize the self-inflicted mistakes moving forward to have a chance against any team, but especially against an explosive and talented Dolphins team.

Are they up to the challenge? Hopefully they can build on some of the positives against Philly and eliminate most of the negatives.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Gonzo on Waddle and Jo Jones on Hill with help over the top. See, I am actually Jerod Mayo disguised as a PatsFans poster.

 

[FCB02062]

win the turnover battle....win the turnover battle....win the turnover battle...this Patriots offense isn't good enough to give the other team extra possessions.

Pats did a good job on Hill last year, granted the second game Miami was down to their 9th string qb. Keep it up.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

Don't turn the ball over. Can't give this type of offense extra chances.

I am confident we can keep them grounded for long enough to give the offense a chance to take control of the game.

Hopefully this is the week it happens.

 

[PatsFan2]

Tua is Undefeated against the GOAT of HC's nuff said.

 

[PatsFan2]

Hill/Waddle more explosive than Brown/Smith BB and Mayo's job is a lot tougher this week.

 

[slash83]

Hill/Waddle more explosive than Brown/Smith BB and Mayo's job is a lot tougher this week.

Their o-line is major crap compared to Eagles.

 

[RodThePat]

This game is a must win for them. This is where the Pats can show they are ready to fight for the division with the Rodgers injury and Buffalo looking shaky early. Time to make a statement.

 

[PatsFan2]

Their o-line is major crap compared to Eagles.

When you're that explosive OL don't need to block for an eternity.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

When you're that explosive OL don't need to block for an eternity.

Just the opposite. If the offense is looking for big plays deep, the OL has to hold up longer.

Tua loves slants to get the ball out fast. The Pats have to take away the slants. They know this.

 

[sb1]

Tua is Undefeated against the GOAT of HC's nuff said.

MIami's OL is weak, they don't have much of a run game and their run defense is suspect as the Chargers demonstrated. Good run defenses don't give up 234 yards and 5.9 yards per carry in any game. I don't think they match up that well with us. And we're at home. As long as the mistakes are minimized Pats should win comfortably imo.

 

[upstater1]

When you're that explosive OL don't need to block for an eternity.

You're not looking at multiple threats though like you are against the Eagles. Tua can't run like Hurts, Goedert isn't there, and they can't run the ball like the Eagles can with their massive OL either. Patriots have to worry about the 2 WRs just as they had to worry about Tyreek and the others back when Mahomes had them.

If you noticed last year, McDaniels went away from sending Tyreek downfield and instead they came out throwing short stuff to RBs and Tyreek.

Different defense this year as the multiple safeties (Mapu, Peppers, Dugger, Phillips) will be much better at handling that.