Official Post Game Thread -Pats @ Dolphins

[varjao]

This may have been the worst game of the season for McDaniels. I'm not one to normally pile on him, but if your quarterback is absorbing one highlight reel hit after another and you're having issues with pass protection up the B-gap, it might not make sense to call long-developing pass plays (particularly on third and short). You might want to go into the no-huddle, use motion, and make use of quicker-developing route concepts like slants and quick outs to alleviate some of the pressure.

Yeah I'm missing 2016 James White, he was so involved in the offense last year, now it seems like he is our 3rd RB but he can work as a receiver, we are short at receiving options. McDaniels should figured out some way to get him touches because that dude is a baller.

 

[luuked]

Might be a tad more than that.

IIRC, Hogan didn't even shed the sling until 3 weeks ago. Which means maybe 3 weeks before that with possibly no actual running whatsoever - stair-climber and bike perhaps. After that, maybe two weeks grdually ramping up from light jogging to sprinting and cutting. Then, he's limited in practice for a week leading up to last night's game.

He played 90% of the snaps last night (running, cutting and blocking), which might have been his hardest workout since he was injured.

Speaking from (related) personal experience, after that long a layoff, it might be week-16 or 17 before he's gotten all of his pre-injury speed and cutting quickness back.

And then there's his blocking. He might not have done much significant upper-body work for as long as four weeks.

Without the prolonged injury break that catch at the end of the game is a TD. Not getting the second foot in bounds screamed like lack of gameday experience and reps to me.

 

[ohiopatsfan]

I recorded the game to watch later and, as I normally do, deleted it when I heard the final score. I've been doing this ever since the Mets beat the Red Sox in the infamous "Buckner error" game. Call me a homer, but I can't stand watching (or rewatching) a key loss by a Boston sports team. That said, I think the Phins looked on this game as their Super Bowl and played that way. The Pats, Brady especially, always seem off their game at Miami. The Phins are deep in their heads. All the key injuries didn't help either. On the field, (0 for 11 on third downs) it was obvious that the tough short yardage plays that Edelman and Gronk are best at were sorely missed. Also, there was no strong runner to pick up a few yards up the middle when needed like Blount used to do. Brady's health also is concerning. With Garoppolo gone, the QB situation is on thin ice. Hoyer is a good backup, but I don't want to see him as the starter going into the playoffs with a street free agent as the only backup. BB rolled the dice on Brady; hopefully, he didn't write a check that TB12's body can't cash. This game will either light a fire under the team and blow them right past the Steelers and the last two home games or it will be the beginning of the road toward losing the #1 seed and playing at least one road game in the playoffs. Regardless of how this season plays out, I have a good feeling about next season. Hopefully, both Edelman and Bennett will be back at full strength, all the other key IR'ed players will also be ready to rock and roll, and, with four draft picks in the top 100, the team can restock in needed areas.

 

[luuked]

OTOH, VV is coming off an injury and hasn't physically practiced, much less played, at NFL speed and contact level for at least 14 weeks. There are 3 weeks left in the regular season and (hopefully) 3 playoff games. Even if he starts practicing with the team this week, how long until he can be a significant upgrade over a guy like RJF who has at least been participating in NFL-level practices since September?

With Mitchell, as long as he's just healthy enough to play, he's kind of an automatic upgrade over a completely healthy WR off the street who would still need to learn the offense from the ground up.

That is a good point. And you are right that the shortterm of RJF might be substantially better than VV.

 

[PatsFan2]

Brady's face at the start of the game told us everything. Brady had neither of his favorite Binkies last night #87 or #11. Our Offense runs seamless through either guy and we were missing both. Yeah Hogan needed a game to knock off the rust. But this game showed us what Cooks is really a One a dimensional deep threat. Some might disagree but that was one of the reasons why the Saints sent him packing. Cooks doesn't excellent in the short stuff and that's Brady's bread and butter.

 

[maineman209]

You can’t take away everything consistently. He was simply not finding what they were giving. Miami did play well on defense - Brady looked confused and rushed.

Last week, against the Broncos, the 'Fins defense clamped down hard on WRs Thomas, Sanders, Fowler & Latimer, holding them collectively to 6 catches on 24 tgts for a whopping 66 yds. Xavien Howard had two picks (one a pick-six) and 5 of the 'Fins 12 PBUs on Trevor Seminumb, who was sacked three times and hit 8 times.

Last night, Cooks and Hogan combined for 2 catches on 12 tgts and 39 yards (one was the 38-yarder to Cooks). Howard had 2 picks and 3 of 7 Miami PBUs. Brady was sacked twice and hit 6 times.

However, the Broncos RBs & TEs produced well, going 11 of 14 for 98 yds, plus a 39-yarder for Virgil Green. For the Pats last night, the Pats RBs and Amendola caught 19 of 23 for 182 yards and a TD.

The biggest differences for the Broncos offense was that they were more successful running the ball, but scored fewer points. Otherwise, it seems like the 'Fins defense successfully executed pretty much the same defensive game plan.

 

[raduray]

Ugh! Glad we got that out of the way. On to Pittsburgh.

 

[maineman209]

Yeah I'm missing 2016 James White, he was so involved in the offense last year, now it seems like he is our 3rd RB but he can work as a receiver, we are short at receiving options. McDaniels should figured out some way to get him touches because that dude is a baller.

White 2016:
2.4 rush attempts /game
3.8 receptions / game
26.6 snaps / game

White 2017:
3.3 rush attempts / game
4.2 receptions / game
27.9 snaps / game

 

[Kdo5]

The offense was atrocious without a doubt. The defense had a weird game though. They gave Brady a LOT of opportunities to get the comeback rolling. Butler ought to have been burned with a long TD but I felt that if this was the early season defense playing last night we could have given up well over 40 points.

 

[varjao]

White 2016:
2.4 rush attempts /game
3.8 receptions / game
26.6 snaps / game

White 2017:
3.3 rush attempts / game
4.2 receptions / game
27.9 snaps / game

Stats. One big play and it messes with the numbers.

He was running a bit more at the beginning of the season but he's been invisible, but since I couldn't watch the first Dolphins game and the Chargers game I may be wrong. Anyways yesterday was a game Josh should have used him a lot, as a matter of fact when he was involved he caught a TD.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Brady's face at the start of the game told us everything. Brady had neither of his favorite Binkies last night #87 or #11. Our Offense runs seamless through either guy and we were missing both. Yeah Hogan needed a game to knock off the rust. But this game showed us what Cooks is really a One a dimensional deep threat. Some might disagree but that was one of the reasons why the Saints sent him packing. Cooks doesn't excellent in the short stuff and that's Brady's bread and butter.

looks like hes trying to run before catching it

 

[RobertWeathers]

White 2016:
2.4 rush attempts /game
3.8 receptions / game
26.6 snaps / game

White 2017:
3.3 rush attempts / game
4.2 receptions / game
27.9 snaps / game

I think teams are keying on him more. Hes not getting those break away runs like he used to.

 

[maineman209]

 

[maineman209]

 

[ashley]

They should add a new stat just for Jordan Richards called QB Wiff

 

[maineman209]

Stats. One big play and it messes with the numbers.

He was running a bit more at the beginning of the season but he's been invisible, but since I couldn't watch the first Dolphins game and the Chargers game I may be wrong. Anyways yesterday was a game Josh should have used him a lot, as a matter of fact when he was involved he caught a TD.

Well, no "big plays" involved here to screw with averages - no 75-yd runs or receptions - only touches and snaps /game.

These stat averages cover 13 games, 363 snaps and 97 touches in 2017, and 16 games, 426 snaps and 99 touches in 2016. To answer your implication that White isn't as involved in the offense this year as he was last year, in 3 fewer games, he already has 63 more snaps and only 2 fewer touches than he did all of last season. I'm not making up these numbers or mathematically manipulating them somehow - just performing simple division to get averages.

Anyway, one or two "big games" in terms of touches are unlikely to have affected the comparative averages much. However, just for the hell of it, I went back and removed his biggest rush attempt game and biggest receptions game for both seasons:

2016:
2.1 rush attempts/game
3.1 receptions/game

2017:
2.8 rush attempts/game
3.7 receptions/game

Still more.

This season, White's snap count dropped about 10 snaps/game below his season average for a 5-game stretch: wk-7 (ATL) thru wk-11 (1st MIA game), and he averaged 3 rush attempts and 3 catches game during that stretch, slightly below his season averages. For the six games before ATL and the two games since the 1st MIA game (total 8 of 13 games), he's been slightly above his season averages on both.

 

[TomPatriot]

You can’t take away everything consistently. He was simply not finding what they were giving. Miami did play well on defense - Brady looked confused and rushed.

They were giving him drags and digs to the TE. Will Tye runs those patterns pretty well. Hollister can catch those and seam passes. There must be a reason Hollister never saw the filed and Tye wasn't activated from the PS for the game.

 

[luuked]

They were giving him drags and digs to the TE. Will Tye runs those patterns pretty well. Hollister can catch those and seam passes. There must be a reason Hollister never saw the filed and Tye wasn't activated from the PS for the game.

Because they were thin at LB and had an open spot for this week only anyway ?

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

White 2016:
2.4 rush attempts /game
3.8 receptions / game
26.6 snaps / game

White 2017:
3.3 rush attempts / game
4.2 receptions / game
27.9 snaps / game

Lmao. Maybe he misses Super Bowl 51 James white.

 

[libra957]

Still can't believe how the pats got pushed around like that...domination on all phases...