PostGame Thread 2023 Week 2: Patriots Lose to Dolphins 24-17

[State]

O-line is an issue. If they could protect him and get the running game going things would look different.

I tried to warn guys earlier this week that the Dolphins Dline wasn’t a pushover. Guys looked at the 200+ rushing yards the Chargers put in them.

But that was an aberration.

 

[festy1986]

Yup, he's one guy

That INT ended up being pretty important. Way more than that fumble I saw you mention.

 

[sambam94]

I don’t think the OTs were why we lost the game, at least in pass protection. Mac got sacked a few times but it wasn’t like he was constantly under duress. The pass blocking was okay for the most part.

disagree, he had to throw the ball quickly every drop back or he was in trouble. OL sucked.

 

[Toofy]

Please name one QB who can win games without a weapon . And then let's talk about Mac .


Gesicki couldn't out muscle a defender to get 2 yards . Our YAC sucks. Our running game was non existent and the easiest punching bag is Mac because he doesn't make the Mahomey throws..

Tbh he has some great throws today. Get Mac some weapons and we can evaluate. Right now he is handicapped for talent who can make those plays. Made 1 boneheaded play but there were at least 5-6 terrific throws . Tua was virtually untouched and his receivers got open in 1.5 seconds. Our receivers take more than 3 seconds to cross line of scrimmage .

 

[cmasspatsfan]

0-5 vs Tua, what a sad state of affairs

Tua's good

 

[Delicate Genius]

Bill was wearing a red hoodie tonight if anyone is looking for something to blame.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Mac doesn't have that "it" factor. He has a much better supporting cast than Cam had but still doesn't break over 20 points a game unless we are playing absolute scrubs. Our offense needs to be able to score around 24 points without the assistance of int and blocked punts etc. I honestly think we should throw in the towel on Mac if there aren't drastic changes in the next few games.

I'm well aware it isn't all on Mac but I doubt our offensive output would be any lower with Zappe or Cunningham as long as they protect the ball.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

That INT ended up being pretty important. Way more than that fumble I saw you mention.

No it didn't they stopped Maimi and scored when they got the ball back.

 

[yukon cornelius]

Yeah one guy - playing the most important position in pro sports. The inability to move the ball when it matters most falls on him.

In two games this season, HE has done enough to move the ball when it matters most.....

 

[PatriotSpy]

This team will have to hit rock bottom, before it can rise from the ashes again. Talent is needed at so many spots. They need blue chippers that come with top 10 draft picks. A 6 win season would be a blessing long term for this team.
The defense is good, not great but good. The offense is average to below average and is missing fire and cohesion.
I do not blame MAC, at all...but even if he had top tier talent his ceiling is Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins does not get you to the Super Bowl.

Good comp I guess but Kirk had tons of comebacks last year. Mac isn’t that guy.

This is a quarterback driven league. Having a 20-30 tiered qb isn’t going to get you to the playoffs no matter how solid the d is.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

2-7 in the last 9 regular season games

Woof

 

[Ghost_Rush02]

Guys, and this also goes for @FCB02062 , I hated the move also but the guy lasted all of three more seasons (and solidified his legacy with the win in Tampa). If they picked Brady, he'd be gone and they'd be in the same position with who knows at QB, just a different name. This reality was coming, it just would have been in another form. "It is what it is." Let it go.

BB the GM has screwed BB the coach. So many head scratcher moves during the last few drafts.

Missed out a franchise QB like Lamar Jackson, missed another solid QB in Hurts. Missed a ton a big play wide receivers...

Didn't want to pay Meyers but you gave Godchaux for some strange reason a ton of money..I could go one for days...

Sox got rid of their GM...i'm just saying..

 

[Kdo5]

Ted Johnson shredding the defense on post game and it's well deserved

They should be shredding the offense. The defense wasn’t great, and tonight proved that they aren’t one of the best right now. We were also missing the Jon Jones and Jack Jones. A lot of Myles Bryant and the Dolphins still didn’t dominate us through the air.

A few bad plays in the running game for sure. But if our offense can’t overcome another team scoring 24 we are dead in the water.

 

[Ian]

we talked Kraft v Parcels forever, until Belichick and Brady came and it turned up roses...Brady v Belichick is valid IMHO. everyone calls the coach a genius, greatest of all time...if that is true, how is he under .500. it's also valid because so many on here have blind faith in a coach, whom up until **** Rehbein found Brady, was well below .500

It's the whole "chicken vs egg" situation. There were plenty of times where both won games because of the other. Go back and think about that playoff game against the Ravens (among a couple of others) where Brady didn't play his best, but they did enough on the other side to weather it.

It's easy to go there. But at the end of the day, they each benefited from working together and it's funny how, prior to Brady leaving, everyone looked at the Cleveland situation with context seeing how that team was 3-1 and playing well before the rug got pulled, one year from a playoff run. Now, the media pulled out those numbers and people are just parroting that nonsense.

Again, I would say thinking the same formula would work may be the one thing you can fault him for since they didn't follow the lead of what other teams in the league have done with a young QB. But as far as the Brady vs Belichick thing, it is what it is.

And as I said, be glad it happened that way for Brady's sake. Because you'd be hearing about all the guys who the talking heads would be saying are potentially better had he not pulled off that win in Tampa. You could also see - whether they got along or not - the difference that Arians made and how Brady didn't pull off another one after he stepped down.

 

[festy1986]

No it didn't they stopped Maimi and scored when they got the ball back.

Wonderful point.

If you ignore the fact that the Patriots were driving and we got no points out of it.

Hard to win if you can't even accept the INT cost your team points.

 

[venecol]

Not sure why everyone thinks that was a bad call/ not procedure. Irrefutable evidence doesn’t need to require significant margins/ yardage. If there is clear and indisputable evidence that someone is 6 inches short, that is the call. Terry (what’s his name) pointed out that his elbow came down right on the first down line…you can deduce that the ball was further back when his knee hit. First there’s the visual evidence but there’s still a some small reasonable doubt about the angle. The knee/ elbow makes it indisputable.

Terry eats ****s for breakfast.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

There was and is a plan. And we can't make a final determination based off of 2 games. This will all sort itself all out and if they finish 6-11 or something along those lines, we'll see what happens. But as I said in the game thread, I don't think they'll look like this 4 weeks from now. And fortunately, the rest of the Conference also stinks, which is what may allow them to weather this.

I’ll play.

What I think MUST happen for a turnaround:

1. O-line is abysmal, especially with run blocking which is perplexing. Need a Scar-like turnaround and fast.

2. SOMEONE (reagor, Pop) HAS to become at least a semblance of a speed threat so that Defenses can’t just clog up 13 yards from the line.

4. Defense has to get better at LB….both Mostert’s TD’s were poor LB play

 

[FCB02062]

this is not good... going back to last year, Pats are 2-7 in their last 9 games...that could be bottom 4 or 5 in the NFL...and the two wins are vs backup qbs

 

[State]

If we could have gotten a push in the running game early in, then the play action passes come into play. We can open up the playbook.

But Strange sucked early on. Onwenu looked bloated and out of shape. He ran out of gas. No stamina. Even Mr Dependable Andrews had one of his subpar games.

But give the Dolphins Christian Wilkins credit. He dominated. I heard his name repeatedly. Saw him making tackles for losses.

As a DT.

Did any of our DTs make a tackle for a loss? I thought Barmore was an impact player?

 

[Jlaff]

Not sure why everyone thinks that was a bad call/ not procedure. Irrefutable evidence doesn’t need to require significant margins/ yardage. If there is clear and indisputable evidence that someone is 6 inches short, that is the call. Terry (what’s his name) pointed out that his elbow came down right on the first down line…you can deduce that the ball was further back when his knee hit. First there’s the visual evidence but there’s still a some small reasonable doubt about the angle. The knee/ elbow makes it indisputable.

Hear what you're saying, but I think the shifting standard is what's frustrating. One day the NFL will argue you need to see the ball to overturn and can't just overturn on the basis of deduction. Then you have today's call.

You have this TV ref (wouldn't surprise me if he's on the phone with New York being told how to prime the audience) saying that because his elbow was between the ball and the yard to gain, he didn't make it. Whereas the NFL would effectively say another day that you can't assume the ball hasn't physically entered the space occupied by the ball carrier's arm to overturn.