I feel like I watched a different game than most of you

[203Pat]

No way in Hell we beat Seattle in Gillette Sunday

Lol oops

 

[Wozzy]

53% of the Dolphins' defensive snaps came from players that were acquired this offseason.

Byron Jones - $82.5M/5yr
Shaq Lawson - $30M/3yr
Emmanuel Ogbah - $15M/2yr
Kyle Van Noy - $51M/4yr
Elandon Roberts - $2M/1yr
Noah Igbinoghene - first round pick
Brandon Jones - third round pick
Raekwon Davis - second round pick
Kamu Grugger-Hill - $3M/1yr

This ^

I don't think the Dolphins improved dramatically on offense, but defensively with the free agents mentioned and draft picks they improved a lot, the Patriots O-Line moved them around anyway. Cam only threw 19 times but was efficient, Harry led the team in WR snaps and outside of a fumble looked good. Considering there's no preseason and Cam still has to master the offense this was a solid start.

 

[jimnance]

I think the ground game is going to be interesting to watch this season. Really encouraged by what we saw and I feel like David Andrews is pretty underrated given the contrast with him back in the line-up at center. Love the tough, nasty style he brings and it was just great having him back.

Pats interior ol is one of the best in the nfl imo. Mason, Andrews,Thuney. And I think Wynn will be a solid lt if he stays healthy.
After secondary, probably strongest unit on team.
And the rbs might not be too far behind, especy once Harris is back and we got the full complement. Michel has always run better with Develin, so if Johnson can just be a solid fb, the run game could be something
special.

 

[GreenCow]

Can you spell T R O L L?

What have I done that is rude or disrespectful?

I'm just here to talk football.

 

[PatsDeb]

There is a lot of praise for Cam and how the offense performed on here.

I feel like I watched a completely different game.

- Playing one of the worst teams in the league last year, the offense had 7 points going into halftime, and 14 points through 55 minutes(!), despite the defense getting two interceptions which put them in Miami territory off the bat.

- Cam's passing wasn't bad, but it was very little substance. Nearly all short throws. He had 2 passes all game that were in the air further than 15 yards.

- It was all his legs. I'm not against running but keep in mind that Miami was DEAD LAST (#32) in the league last year in passing defense. They gave up 39 passing TD's last year and 4,200 passing yards. Yet Cam couldn't squeak out more than 155 yards, 0 TD's and a 79 QBR?

I was big on Cam before he signed in NE. My buddy who is a Panthers fan said "don't be". And I'm starting to agree with them. 14 points in the first 55 minutes play is not cool - especially against the Dolphins.

I guess I just don't understand where all the praise is coming from. I didn't think much in that game deserved praise (from the offense).

I went into the game with no expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised. Even though the Pats didn't put up big numbers, I never felt like the game was out of their control. But for the N'Keal Harry EZ fumble, we would have had more points, and they might have had fewer. Pretty much the same Miami team embarrassed us last December, and we went into this game with a new QB who had no preseason to work out the kinks. What was not to like?

 

[GreenCow]

Touche.

Wasn't impressed at all by Allen on Sunday tbh. Wouldn't shock me if that's what happens.

Perfect.

So that'll tell you a lot if someone you were not impressed by, drops 40 on the same defense, right?

 

[doesntmatter1]

It is weird for any pats fan to criticize a short passing game. I've seen Brady show nothing but short passes about a million times. Without the batted passes Cam was damn near perfect.

 

[GreenCow]

He played well enough to win a football game. I think most of us will take that

I can definitely agree with that. The W is the most important factor.

 

[Ian]

Pats interior ol is one of the best in the nfl imo. Mason, Andrews,Thuney. And I think Wynn will be a solid lt if he stays healthy.
After secondary, probably strongest unit on team.
And the rbs might not be too far behind, especy once Harris is back and we got the full complement. Michel has always run better with Develin, so if Johnson can just be a solid fb, the run game could be something
special.

I thought Taylor looked good as well, which was a pleasant surprise. It's an overall pretty solid group this year and you're right, between that and the interior OL, I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

 

[Ian]

I can definitely agree with that. The W is the most important factor.

Exactly. And as long as they can keep him from turning over the football, I think they'll be OK. They did a good job of evaluating his strengths and putting him in good spots and I think they'll get even better about that as the weeks go on.

While most of us would love an MVP season out of him, if he can just play mistake-free and help them move the ball and score, that should be enough to hopefully have them in contention potentially for the division and hopefully playing in January.

 

[n6249c]

(I’m out of this thread after this post because I’m giving the benefit of scant doubt and don’t wanted to risk being tempted into breaking my rule against feeding trolls a second time in the same thread.)

First of all, you‘re obviously ignorant of decades of Belichick season management. In a normal year Bill uses everything before Thanksgiving as extended preseason. In the Covid created absence of preseason he is using the start of the regular season as extended training camp. Expectations should be calibrated by what you would normally find in the first preseason game.

Also you are looking at this game on the wrong level. You’re looking at full game margin of victory and scoring differential. You should be looking at a much more granular level. How many plays did the Patriots run for negative yardage? What was average yards per play? Or even more granular, individual player performances on individual plays. How well did the OL execute their blocking assignments? How many missed blocks? Were there holes and runners following their blocks and moving N/S or was it a mess with runners dancing going nowhere? When it was a pass play were the QB and receivers in sync, or not even in the same chapter of the playbook? Was the QB accurate or spraying the ball all over?

Don’t post until you know what you’re talking about. And then when you do post show that you know what you’re talking about. Right now you’re zero for those two. Gotta do better, trollbait.

 

[sb1]

Perfect.

So that'll tell you a lot if someone you were not impressed by, drops 40 on the same defense, right?

Don't see the relevance.

 

[sb1]

OP self reassurance after thinking the Bills would be a shoo-in for the division. Lol.

Understandable.

 

[JMC00]

To not have fans happy with a 155 yard, 0 TD (passing) performance against the worst passing defense in the NFL last year.

A Flores coached passing defense with Xavien Howard and Byron Jones as the #1 & #2 CB is not the worst pass defense in the league.

Cam currently sits at #8 after week 1 in average yards per attempt. He's 0.1 off of Matt Ryan & Aaron Rodgers who had the most passing yards week 1. Your guy Josh Allen currently sits at #19, 0.1 ahead of Trubisky and 0.2 ahead of Brady.


Drew Brees had 160 passing yards against a worse pass defense and threw the ball 30 times. Guess that means Saints offense is trash, they only scored 17 points through 52 minutes and no the defense scoring a td doesn't count for the offense


If you're gonna troll come up with better arguments

 

[Ian]

Can you spell T R O L L?

What have I done that is rude or disrespectful?

I'm just here to talk football.

While it wasn't quite the optimal way to discuss it, it at least brought up some points about the fact that the days of being preseason Super Bowl favorites are over. I think there were enough positives to take away from this one to feel optimistic and I think I was already pretty mentally prepared for a season that was full of questions with unexpected outcomes. I think every week is going to be different and as long as they're in it and don't look terrible, I'll be good with that, even when they do drop a game here and there. As long as they stay in the mix.

 

[jimnance]

I thought Taylor looked good as well, which was a pleasant surprise. It's an overall pretty solid group this year and you're right, between that and the interior OL, I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Yeah really like Taylor. Whats cool about the rb group is they all bring something different. Having Harris is gonna keep Michel fresh. I thought Sony ran hard Sunday. And of course, Cam will help open things up.
Gonna be an interesting year.

 

[n6249c]

Honest question.

How are you going to feel about the offensive performance last Sunday if Buffalo goes and scores 20 on Miami this week? (better receiving options)

Touche.

Wasn't impressed at all by Allen on Sunday tbh. Wouldn't shock me if that's what happens.

You really expect them to do that well?

why is everyone assuming it’s a foregone conclusion Buffalo rolls over Miami next weekend? It’s not like they played an NFL caliber team yet this season.

 

[tasmlab]

There is a lot of praise for Cam and how the offense performed on here.

I feel like I watched a completely different game.

- Playing one of the worst teams in the league last year, the offense had 7 points going into halftime, and 14 points through 55 minutes(!), despite the defense getting two interceptions which put them in Miami territory off the bat.

- Cam's passing wasn't bad, but it was very little substance. Nearly all short throws. He had 2 passes all game that were in the air further than 15 yards.

- It was all his legs. I'm not against running but keep in mind that Miami was DEAD LAST (#32) in the league last year in passing defense. They gave up 39 passing TD's last year and 4,200 passing yards. Yet Cam couldn't squeak out more than 155 yards, 0 TD's and a 79 QBR?

I was big on Cam before he signed in NE. My buddy who is a Panthers fan said "don't be". And I'm starting to agree with them. 14 points in the first 55 minutes play is not cool - especially against the Dolphins.

I guess I just don't understand where all the praise is coming from. I didn't think much in that game deserved praise (from the offense).

You're not wrong, and/but the W covers a lot up.

They avoid the two mistakes of the missed kick and Harry's touchback fumble and they put up a very handsome 31 points.

But you are right to be worried about the pass game, especially with the WR/TE roster at this point. But let's watch the games and see what happens.

 

[sb1]

You really expect them to do that well?

why is everyone assuming it’s a foregone conclusion Buffalo rolls over Miami next weekend? It’s not like they played an NFL caliber team yet this season.

I really think the Jest have a shot at 0-16.

 

[Ian]

I really think the Jest have a shot at 0-16.

I feel like @sb1 just won the thread with this one

(Edit - these smileys suck - I need to get on that)