Patriots Week 5 Report Card In Loss To Miami
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The Patriots had another chance to close out a close game at home and failed. Miami gashed the Patriots on the ground in a late fourth-quarter touchdown drive that included seven runs in a row to win on Sunday, 15-10.
The Patriots led the game from the first quarter and allowed Miami to chip away at it until they finally lost the lead and the game with 4:24 left. The offense continued its ineptitude, scoring just three points after a 33-yard touchdown run by Rhamondre Stevenson in the first quarter.
However, how they approached matters with the lead was the most baffling. They ran the ball 19 times, averaging 7.9 yards per rush. They passed the ball 34 times, averaging 4.1 yards per pass. Why?
So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Dolphins game.
Jacoby Brissett has been battered this season, with sacks, QB hits, and pressures on nearly half of his dropbacks. However, his physical toughness will never be in question. But he’s just not getting the job done.
He doesn’t see open receivers, has been inaccurate, and has been slow to deliver the ball. On Sunday, Pop Douglas had coverage beaten, and he sailed the throw rather than flattening it out.
On the game’s final play, he inexplicably threw the ball to Hunter Henry, who was short of the goal line with two Dolphins defenders behind him. He needed to take a shot at the end zone.
The offense’s issues are hardly all on Brissett, but on this day, the OL wasn’t the reason they lost. Brissett, the coaching staff (more below), and the run defense all contributed to that.
Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson combined for 141 yards on just 18 carries. Brissett had a scramble for ten more. Stevenson sat for the first series (benching? Not really) but came on, ran hard, and, most importantly, protected the ball despite Miami defenders tugging at it.
He ran 12 times for 89 yards and a 33-yard touchdown to give the team the lead. Gibson ran six times for 52 yards. It wasn’t their fault when their numbers weren’t called more often as they were having excellent games on the ground.
The wide receivers’ produced a combined 10 catches for 112 yards. This is not nearly enough but better than last week. Demario Douglas led the way with six catches for 59 yards, Kendrick Bourne returned to the field for the first time since last season and had one catch for six yards.
Kayshon Boutte had two catches for 34 yards on just two targets. Perhaps they should look his way more often in the future. Ja’Lynn Polk was targeted six times and had one catch for 13 yards. He nearly had the game-winning touchdown on a fourth down pass, but although his toe was inbounds, his heel was out.
There was some visible frustration after the play, where he didn’t return to the huddle and instead tried to fire up the crowd. That can’t happen again, and I’m sure the coaches spoke to him about it.
Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper combined for three catches for 41 yards on seven targets. Henry was flagged for a penalty when the Patriots were on the 12-yard line, which really hurt.
He was also the recipient of the game’s final pass play, where Brissett passed from the Miami 36 to Henry at the 11. With two defenders behind him, he had no chance of running into the end zone.
Five weeks, five different starting offensive line combinations. The offensive line’s pass protection was still bad, but it was a bit better. Facing a Miami team without its best pass rusher, they sacked him twice and still hit him nine times. Brissett was pressured on about 43 percent of his dropbacks.
However, the running game was doing quite well and the team averaged 7.9 yards per carry and piled up 151 yards rushing.
Setting the edge continues to be a problem, but it was better this week. Having Anfernee Jennings back definitely helped in that aspect. However, Miami’s speed on the outside runs was a killer for the defense.
Do you think the Patriots are missing Christian Barmore and Ja’Whaun Bentley in the middle of the defense? Barmore is a penetrator who disrupts plays at the point of attack. Bentley is a downhill thumper who finishes tackles. In the first two weeks of the season, Cincinnati had 70 yards rushing, and Seattle had 46. Since then, the numbers have skyrocketed in the wrong direction.
The Jets had 133, the 49ers rushed for 148, and the Dolphins for 193. Those numbers are alarming. Daniel Ekuale is playing hard. He had nine tackles, a TFL, a half-sack, and a QB hit, but he’s not as solidly built as Barmore, and it shows.
The linebackers got back Anfernee Jennings, and the edge setting improved, but Miami’s speed was an issue on the perimeter. Jennings had eight tackles, a half-sack, and a QB hit. Raekwon McMillan had eight tackles.
The penalties on Keion White on the edge during the same drive were killers. They handed Miami 30 yards on a scoring drive. This kind of undisciplined behavior is a symptom of losing teams.
The Patriots were missing their top two starting safeties this week, Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers, who were injured. Marte Mapu had just returned to practice this past week and not only started but also called the plays with the green dot communication device.
His outstanding speed and size make him a perfect player for the S/LB hybrid role. He played nearly 100 percent of the defensive snaps, which is incredible after three practices since Day 2 of training camp. He had some excellent splash plays and a few not-so-great ones, but he’s off to a very good start.
Christian Gonzalez continues to shine on the field. He did a super job of mirroring Tyreek Hill all game long. He had a superb diving interception and nearly had another, undercutting Hill in the end zone, but Hill poked the ball out. Jaylin Hawkins and Dell Pettus held up well against Miami’s talented receivers.
The ST units produced some outstanding plays against Miami. Brendan Schooler blocked a punt that the offense failed to convert despite getting the ball at the 23-yard line. Another field goal attempt was snuffed out, but that was mainly because of a poor snap.
Bryce Barringer averaged 51.7 yards per punt but had three touchbacks against only one inside the 20. However, one punt was a 69-yarder that bounced in the end zone, and another was nearly stopped at the 1-2-yard line.
Antonio Gibson had a 24-yard kick return, and Marcus Jones had a 15-yard punt return. But Joey Slye’s miss of a chip shot 33-yard field goal hurt. They would have been able to kick a potential game-winning field goal rather than have to throw on fourth down.
The coaching staff made some terrible head-scratching calls on Sunday. Last week, behind by two scores, they called run, run, run with no urgency. This week, with the lead for most of the game, they called 19 runs and 35 passes when the running game was clearly producing far better than the passing game.
Late in the second quarter and facing a second and 11, Brissett scrambled for what appeared to be a clear first down. They received a bad spot from the officials, and should have challenged that. Instead, they got a penalty and didn’t convert the third down, forcing a punt.
The clock management at the end of each half was questionable. This has happened twice this season, against Miami and Seattle.
When they got a first down at the Miami 12, with 1:13 left and three time outs available, they called four straight pass plays, the second of which to Polk was a heel away from winning the game. So, I’m being a bit nit-picky here. But averaging nearly eight yards per run, it was intriguing that they didn’t try one.
They aren’t using nearly enough play-action, pre-snap motion, or the spread formations. This is supposed to be a run-first, play-action team. This team could easily be 3-2 right now. But they aren’t because of mistakes, poor discipline, and questionable play-calling at crunch time.
They’d still be a very flawed 3-2 team, but the outlook wouldn’t nearly look so bleak.
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We’re on to Houston and a game with the Texans. Things don’t get any easier here.
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