Official Post Game Thread- Pats beat the Dolphins!!!!

[farn]

The OL is a strength. It’ll be interesting if that continues vs stronger teams as well. I wonder if there are several factors. I’d place these at the top of the list :
(1) the health of Wynn & Andrews
(2) the fresh start of Wynn
(3) the threat of Cam’s running
(4) the RT position seemingly well manned

 

[PatsBoy12]

 

[SBLIII]

Wynn & Elumenor 0 sacks 0 hits 0 pressures

Kyle Van Noy 0 sacks 0 hits 2 pressures

The entire OL looked good.

 

[Uptown]

 

[farn]

Jason Mc has been a very good player for this team. I’m glad he’s around.

 

[DaBruinz]

He DIDN'T make the TD. He FAILED to secure the ball inside the 5 from a single defender.That's a fresh set of down inside the 5 with 250 pound Cam Newton at QB. I'd like to think he'd learn ball security in this league LAST YEAR...but, you're right in part, it is only the 1st game...lot of time and practice to improve. I hope he does. He has to with this O group of receivers.

That "single defender" happened to be one of the top 5 corners in the league who made a helluva defensive play to knock the ball out. Not giving credit to the opposition for damn good plays is ridiculous. Especially from a seasoned football guy like yourself. And let's not forget that the guy teaching them on the other side is the same guy who got this defense to knock out a TON of balls during his last season with the team.. So, it should be no surprise that he's having his defense work on that as well.

 

[captain stone]

I guess he's wearing that "first round pick" albatross among our draftniks. I wish people would stop waiting for TO or Moss to come waltzing through the door, as if generational WR talent falls off trees, or contributes to Super Bowl wins.

Nobody's waiting for To or Moss, just AJ Brown...or Terry McLaurin...or DK Metcalf...or Keenan Allen before that...

 

[jmt57]

Patriots-Dolphins Takeaways: What Snap Counts Told Us About Depth Chart - NESN.com

Cam Newton was one of five New England Patriots players to stay on the field for 100 percent of his unit's snaps in Sunday's 21-11 win over the Miami Dolphins.

nesn.com

Here is the Patriots’ complete list of offensive snap counts:​

​

RG Shaq Mason: 64 snaps, 100%
LG Joe Thuney: 64 snaps, 100%
LT Isaiah Wynn: 64 snaps, 100%
C David Andrews: 64 snaps, 100%
QB Cam Newton: 64 snaps, 100%
TE Ryan Izzo: 63 snaps, 98%
WR Damiere Byrd: 56 snaps, 88%
WR N’Keal Harry: 51 snaps, 80%
RT Jermaine Eluemunor: 48 snaps, 75%
WR Julian Edelman: 37 snaps, 58%
OL Michael Onwenu: 22 snaps, 34%
FB Jakob Johnson: 21 snaps, 33%
RB Rex Burkhead: 19 snaps, 30%
RB James White: 19 snaps, 30%
RB Sony Michel: 19 snaps, 30%
TE Devin Asiasi: 10 snaps, 16%
RB J.J. Taylor: 9 snaps, 14%
WR Jakobi Meyers: 7 snaps, 11%
OL Justin Herron: 2 snaps, 3%
WR Matthew Slater: 1 snap, 2%​

The columnist also had a few interesting takeaways, including this about the wide receiver snaps:

— Byrd and Harry were the Patriots No. 1 and 2 wide receivers with Edelman, who dealt with a knee injury earlier in the week, being relegated to No. 3 duties. We’ll monitor that situation closely through the season. Edelman’s drop in snap count didn’t necessarily affect his production. He led the team with five catches for 57 yards. Byrd led wide receivers in snaps but wasn’t even targeted. Harry caught five passes on six targets for 39 yards but had some hiccups. He didn’t run hard enough through a tackle on his first reception, and he turned the ball over by fumbling through the Dolphins’ end zone on his final reception. Still, it was the most touches Harry has had in a single game of his career. So, it wasn’t all bad, and Harry did show development. Meyers, who was limited in camp with a shoulder injury, was the Patriots No. 4 receiver with Gunner Olszewski on injured reserve. ​

​

​

Presumably this means once Edelman is healthier his playing time will increase - which would also mean a corresponding decrease in snaps for Byrd and/or Harry.

 

[DaBruinz]

#1 Cam Newton is a REAL starting NFL QB. He showed why he won the job out of camp. He IS who we THOUGHT he was!
#2 N'Keal Harry looked neither composed nor explosive. Made a bad blunder fumbling the ball through the endzone. Don't be surprised if he gets cut sooner rather than later. The only problem is we barely have enough healthy bodies at WR as of now.
#3 New England's STIFLING defense returns! It was a grindout win and our D played a huge part in containing the Dolphins, holding Fitzpatrick to 3 interceptions and under 200 yards passing. Really impressed with this unit.
#4 Tight Ends. What Tight Ends? This unit went MIA today, continuing the misery of last season. Only 1 catch out of the group for the whole game.
#5 What's wrong with Sony Michel? He seems to have lost that burst that made him look so good his rookie season. He should have had the entire offseason to work off any niggling injuries, right? Less than 4 ypc from Michel and our QB doubled up on Sony's rushing yards. Not a good look for the young man taken with a 1st round pick ahead of the likes of Nick Chubb and Ronald Jones.

2) This shows you don't know squat about Harry? Where the hell do you get the "not composed" crap? Harry was never explosive. EVER. He is a possession receiver who's specialty was his ability to use his body, highpoint catches and use his body to block out the opponent.

4) The TEs were primarily there to BLOCK. How many targets did TEs get? Maybe you should consider the game plan. Which was RUN heavy. 42 runs to 19 pass attempts.

5) Nothing is wrong with Michel. Getting 3.7 YPC when the defense is stacking the box with 8 or 9 guys is pretty damn good. Maybe you should watch what the defense is doing instead of thinking that Michel is the problem.. Michel had only 10 of the teams 42 rushes. It's easier for Cam to get more yardage because the team is using gadget plays to open up the field for him. If you can't be bothered to look at the context of the game, then your evaluation leaves a lot to be desired..

 

[sb1]

KVN's strength is setting the edge vs the run. Sure didn't look like it yesterday.

 

[DaBruinz]

I don't mind Dugger coming along slowly here after an unusual offseason. Sooner or later he should start.

Hopefully the same goes for Uche as well. The pass rush lacks juice imo so I hope he will get out there in the coming weeks.

I honestly believe that the Pass Rush was meant to contain Fitzpatrick. Like Watson and Jackson, Fitz is pretty damn good on the run.. And he showed it the couple times he broke out..

 

[luuked]

He didn’t run hard enough through a tackle on his first reception, and he turned the ball over by fumbling through the Dolphins’ end zone on his final reception. Still, it was the most touches Harry has had in a single game of his career.

Kyed might have forgotten that Harry showed up with a shoulder issue on the injury report before the game. Might be smarter to avoid forceful contact to that region and not get it separated on the first hit of the year only to miss another 8 weeks.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Ryan Izzo had a solid game blocking and caught a pass to set up a TD.

Who here pre-game had Izzo gaining WAY more yards than Tamper's #87?
Not I.

 

[Patjew]

I honestly believe that the Pass Rush was meant to contain Fitzpatrick. Like Watson and Jackson, Fitz is pretty damn good on the run.. And he showed it the couple times he broke out..

Fitz is fast for a fat guy.

 

[Triumph]

The OL is a strength. It’ll be interesting if that continues vs stronger teams as well. I wonder if there are several factors.

(4) the RT position seemingly well manned

We did not hear Cannons name mentioned all day.

 

[Scotty]

I think things are more promising at TE when we get to see Asiasi and Keene on the field. I liked the look of Izzo when we drafted him but things did not go too well last year....but if he can build from last nights game...we could be in better shape. WR's are still a work in progress but I hope Harry can get a touchdown or two to help him along.....the Seahawks game might suit him

 

[RIpats88]

I know its the dolphins, but alot of fans here had the patriots pegged as the worst roster in the NFL.

honestly, this is the way the patriots are going to have to win. And its the way Bill has wanted the team to win last year and the year before. Run the ball, control the clock, and win 20-11. with Cam newtons dual threat ability they will hopefully be able to have them open the playbook somewhat.

 

[BB4PRez]

This team will need Harry to perform and there were signs. Teams will be stacking the box so much on this team having a big strong player who can make strong catches just past the box will make this offense that much more difficult to defend. The fumble was huge play and one he needs to correct. If he can correct that mistake, that play is exactly what I hope we see alot of. . .

Heck, even the GOAT had some pretty ugly plays later in the afternoon. Hoping Harry builds on the positive and learns from the negative, because he can make this offense much more competative.

 

[upstater1]

With all the experience Anfernee, Dugger, Uche, JoeJuan, Bentley, Winovich, Cowart, etc. are going to get this year, we'l be totally stacked on defense next season, dominant.

 

[Conflicted Panthers fan]

I’d have to think we will see more 5-8 designed runs per game as we move out of the “preseason” part of this season. Otherwise, Cam won’t last the season. Through the air, they were clearly giving him easier, higher percentage throws. To me, it looked like they hadn’t fully installed the offense yet, which doesn’t surprise me since we didn’t have a preseason.

Some reporter tweeted that there were about 8 designed runs for Cam, the rest came off option plays or scrambles. So they were close to your estimate.

I will say, as Cam alluded to in his interview on WEEI this morning, that for his entire career folks have said this style of play is not sustainable and he proved them wrong every year.

The recent injuries stem from a torn rotator cuff (2016) he suffered hustling the length of the field to tackle a defender after throwing an interception, and the freak Lis franc injury (2019) he suffered in the preseason against the Pats while avoiding pressure. So his injures in recent years really were never caused by his “running” style, despite what national pundits love to predict every year.

I am more concerned about his throwing shoulder becoming sore as the season progresses and taking hits in the pocket than I am from taking hits on designed runs.

That said, even though Cam is built like a defensive end you still hold your breath when he’s pushing a pile of defenders.