MORSE: 15 Observations From the Patriots Loss to Miami

The news isn’t very good for a 4^th consecutive week with an effort that can only be described as sloppy. The Patriots were called for 12 penalties by a flag happy officiating crew for a whopping 105 yards.

Jacoby Brissett was just awful in this game. He completed 18 of 34 passes for 160 yards. That’s slightly over 50% completion rate. Let’s go over the 1^st half possessions:

3 plays -8 yards 2 sacks. 1^st down was a 7-yard run by Antonio Gibson, 2^nd down was a sack on a blitz of 5 Phins initially and then a late blitz by the safety. Onwenu gets pushed right into the feet of Brissett. However, Brissett had a three step drop in a clean pocket but didn’t throw the ball when he reached his third step. This resulted with the sack by Ogbah who was initially blocked well by Jacobs. The late safety blitz kept Brissett from getting away. On third down and 6, Zeitel beat Leverett off the snap and had a straight line to the QB because Gibson forgot the number 0ne rule in pass blocking … Inside Out. He left the inside instead of picking up Zeitel and went outside to help Jacobs. That was Zeitel’s only tackle of the day!!!
4 plays 43 yards and a TD – The Patriots got the ball on the Dolphins 43 after a spectacular Interception by Christian Gonzalez. First down was for 4 yards, as was 2^nd down leaving 3rd and 2. Brissett dropped back and looked downfield and then took the checkoff to Stevenson who should have been stopped behind the LOS but wiggled out of it for the 1^st. On the 1^st down from the 33, Jacobs and the two TE’s on his Right side blocked down and Onwenu pulled right and sealed the end inside. Stevenson got around the edge and broke a tackle on his way to a 33-yard TD run. I have to give credit to Kayson Boutte for the great downfield block.
3 plays -0- yards Patriots started with great Field position at their own 47 after a missed FG by Miami.

Patriots block a punt and recover the fumble by Jake Bailey at the Dolphins 23.

7 Plays – 8 yards Two holding calls against the Patriots stymie this promising drive. They topped this off with a missed FG on a bad snap – No Points
3 plays – 8 yards
3 plays – 5 yards

Amazingly the Patriots led at halftime 7- 3

Other Observations

The Patriots O-line was not great in pass protection giving up 9 QB hits, but outside of the 1^st two sacks in the opening series, they didn’t give up another sack. Granted Brissett had to do a magic act to avoid a couple of sacks.
This was the 5^th different Starting Five on the O-line, but it just might have been the best showing since week one. They only ran the ball 19 times (WHY) for 151 yards and a Franchise best 7.9 yards per carry! Lowe at LT, Jordan at LG, Leverett at C, Onwenu at RG and Jacobs at RT. I’d like to see this line together for another week and see what kind of improvement they will get with another week of practice and familiarity with each other. I actually saw the linemen properly passing off D-linemen when they were stunting.
Boutte besides the great downfield block had 2 catches on 2 targets for 34 yards, an impressive 17 yards a catch.
Ja’Lynn Polk had a tough day with 1 catch on 6 targets. He needs to learn to lean into the DB and create separation when they are trying to pinch him along the sideline.
Can someone explain to me the logic behind the rule that a toe drag backwards is no good because the heal came down out of bounds, but a toe drag going forward is allowed? That makes no sense to me and cost the Patriots the lead late in the game. That is the actual rule according to Evan Lazar of Patriots.com, toe down first and then heal on the line in the end zone is no catch. That compares to a running back who just has to break the ball across the goal line plane for TD, but a receiver has to take the ball to the ground to make a TD catch.
The Patriots were 2 of 11 on Third Down.
The Dolphins won the Time of Possession 34:20 to 25:40 an almost 9-minute difference. The Patriot’s Defense was gassed on the last Dolphins game winning TD drive where they ran the ball down their throats on the last 7 consecutive plays for the TD. The Dolphins held a 75 – 55 play advantage.
The Patriots won the turnover battle 2-0 and still lost.
Bryce Baringer may have averaged 51.7 per kick but it was his least effective day. Only one punt landed inside the 20. He had a Touchback on a 69-yard punt. He also had a huge shank at the end of the 1^st half in which Berrios returned for 12 yards. Joey Slye missed a chip shot FG because a bad snap from Joe Cardona. Schooler blocked a punt with his butt. Marcus Jones had a 15-yard punt return.
Dell Petus in his 1^st NFL start led the team in tackles with 9, equaled by Daniel Ekuale. Jaylinn Hawkins, Anfernee Jennings, and Raekwon McMillan had 8 apiece. Jennings had a sack.
Christian Gonzalez had a spectacular diving Interception when he stepped in front of Odell Beckham. He nearly had another in the end-zone only to have it knocked away by the WR. On the day he contributed two Pass Breakups. Gonzo and the rest of the secondary kept Tyreek Hill in check until the last drive where he had a 21-yard catch. They only allowed one other big play catch for 20 yards.
The Patriots pass rush kept Huntley in check for the most part. He had 3 carries for 7 yards, far below his average. He was able to scramble out of pressure once for a short gain rather than a sack and on another occasion bought some time until Hill could get open. Huntley was sacked 3 times.
Four penalties stand out for me. Keion White horse collar tackle followed by a second penalty by White for roughing the passer. That personal foul on third down incompletion allowed the Miami drive to continue resulting in a Field Goal. I’m beginning to think that White is a blockhead and doesn’t think out there. Josh Uche’s too many men on the field penalty on 4^th down is another blockhead move. Is he on the Punt Return team? That’s two weeks in a row with a stupid penalty. This one resulted in a 1^st down for the Dolphins. If I was in Mayo’s shoes, I’d call Uche into my office and tell him there are consequences for his actions and tell him to pack his bags. There is no place on the team for repeat offenders. The last penalty was the stupid Pass Interference by Christian Elliss on 3^rd and 13. He was not in the proper position to start the play and scrambled over to cover Mostert, only to needlessly grab him when he was getting by him. That kept the game winning drive alive for Miami.
It’s time for a change. I don’t mean playing Drake Maye but replacing Alex van Pelt as Offensive Coordinator. He is not getting the job done. The Offense is unimaginative and predictable. Why did the Patriots only run the ball 19 times when they were averaging 8 yards a carry. Why is AVP allowing Jacoby Brissett to make the same mistakes over and over again. Brissett is staying down his receivers. He is late to make the throw as evident by a sideline throw to Polk that took him out of bounds. Polk had no chance to get his feet in bounds. Perhaps let Ben McAdoo to take over. He coached the Carolina Panthers in 2022 and had them ranked 20^th in offense. Jerod Mayo said this morning that changing the coordinator at any time this season is not under consideration.
I was impressed by the effort of 2^nd year DT Jaquelin Roy. The 2023 5^th round pick of Minnesota played in 12 games last season with 8 tackles of which 3 were solo. In this game, Roy had 4 tackles of which 3 were solo. He also had his 1^st career sack. He filled in for Davon Godchaux to give him a breather.

Late breaking news. Jabrill Peppers was arrested on Domestic Violence and Drug Possession charges. I don’t know what the implications will be, but I think that Peppers is facing a suspension at some point. He was injured and did not play on Sunday.

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About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

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