Patriots News 11-24 And Players To Watch vs. Miami
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Good morning. Here are your Patriots news and notes for November 24. The Patriots are on the road to a place that has never been friendly to them. They are 17-42 all-time in Miami.
Even in the Brady years, when New England owned the AFC East and had fantastic records against the Bills and Jets, Miami was a different story. From 2000 to the present, the Patriots are only 27-22 against Miami.
But the Patriots have some things going for them this time. Miami isn’t the same team it was a year ago when it was an offensive juggernaut. However, the offense is beginning to round into form now that Tua is back.
But now the Patriots have rookie quarterback Drake Maye, and he presents a different challenge for the Dolphins than they have in years past. Maye is athletically gifted and can run, something Miami hasn’t had to factor in before. What better way to create a new twist to the rivalry than having Maye win in his first start in Hard Rock Stadium?
Miami has a short week. They have to prep for a road trip for a very big game against Green Bay on Thanksgiving night. Could the Patriots catch Miami looking past them a little bit, worrying about the Packers? It will bear watching.
Alex Van Pelt: What a bad look all around. It wasn’t a great look for AVP, not knowing that Marcus Jones was used on offense in 2022; granted, it was just four passes. But other coaches on the staff here that year are still here. Why didn’t anyone say anything to him? Do better.
Robert Kraft: The Patriots owner has been once again denied the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The nine-member nominating committee for the Hall instead chose Ralph Hay, a co-founder of the National Football League and the owner of the Canton Bulldogs for only four years from 1918 to 1922.
Hay was on record as not wanting to pay the players, (Where does the “professional” come into play?) This is unbelievable, and yet very much so. Kraft has a lot of enemies among the owners, and they are doing their best to keep Canton away from Kraft and vice versa.
Mike Reiss of ESPN wrote, “one source who was angry about Hay’s selection over Kraft said, ‘Hay didn’t believe players should be paid. He sold the team after only four years. I don’t know how he is seen as more deserving than Bob Kraft.“’
There aren’t many “wait ‘til next year” chances left for Kraft while he’s alive.
Vince Wilfork: The great Patriots’ nose tackle is also eligible for the Hall of Fame, which will be announced next year, along with Rodney Harrison. Jerod Mayo spoke about Wilfork to the media this week.
“When I came into the league in 2008 and I was Rookie of the Year, it was all because of those guys up front. It started with Vince at the nose,” he said. “Honestly, for a defensive lineman, he was a dominant player. Sometimes the stats don’t do it justice, but he was a dominant player for a very long time. I hope he gets in. I don’t have a vote, but I hope he gets in.”
Cole Strange: The Patriots’ starting left guard last season is finally back on the field after tearing a patella tendon in December last year. Doug Kyed of the Herald wrote this week that the Patriots were getting him some reps at center instead of guard.
Strange’s rehab has been lengthy, but getting him back on the field is good news for the Patriots’ offense.
“It’s been a lot longer than I wanted it to be,” Strange said. “No, honestly, it’s been really tough and very aggravating, but I don’t know. I think it’s been a good perspective. Obviously, I would never want this to happen. But the silver lining is it gave me a very good perspective and appreciative of where I am.”
Patriots 4th & 2 Podcast: Derek Havens and I wrapped up the Rams game this week and discussed Maye’s play. We then did a quick breakdown of the Dolphins game, giving our predictions for that and other games. Please check us out and give us a listen on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
This week, the Patriots are playing in Miami, which has traditionally been a tough place for New England. The heat and humidity have taken a toll on the Patriots, especially at this time of year. But Mother Nature may be smiling on the Patriots this time. The jet stream has dipped farther south this week, bringing much cooler temps to south Florida. The kickoff temp should be around 75, with low humidity, which will be welcome news.
On the field, however, little has changed. Tua Tagoviola is back under center for the Dolphins and still has a bevy of weapons, including Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Head coach Mike McDaniel runs a motion-heavy, intricate offense that tries to get the ball to their fast, skill-position players in space.
Like the Rams, the Dolphins use motion (the most in the NFL) and condensed formations to get their offense going. Miami uses a lot of two-tight end or two runningback heavy personnel groupings.
This week, the key for the Patriots’ defense is disrupting Tua and his receivers’ timing. He gets the ball out very quickly, and forcing him to hold it a bit longer and keeping him in the pocket can go a long way toward solving the dilemma. Interior pressure (read Christian Barmore) is a big key this week.
Defensively, Miami can be attacked in the middle of the field using the tight ends to attack the seams. Running the ball inside will be tough with Calais Campbell and Zach Seiler.
Here are our Patriots Players to Watch this afternoon if the Patriots are to win today.
Drake Maye: Maye had his most productive day as a pro last week, completing 30-40 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He’ll be looking to replicate that this week against Miami.
Miami runs a defense similar to that of the Rams. They play mostly zone coverage, although, in the first matchup in Foxboro, they switched to more man coverage and blitzed Jacoby Brissett, forcing the Patriots receivers to beat them against man coverage.
Look for the Patriots and Maye to go to the quick passing game and attack the middle of the field. The TEs will feature this week. Miami will have to account for Maye’s athleticism and running ability, something they haven’t had to do in the past against New England.
AVP must scheme up better red-zone calls for Maye to be more effective there. Maye also needs to cut back on turnovers.
Christian Gonzalez: The Patriots’ talented cornerback has only two interceptions in his career, but both came against Miami. They used him in two games against Hill, and he accounted himself very well. Earlier this season, Hill had three catches for 58 yards when covered by Gonzalez, but that was with Tyler Hunley at quarterback.
Gonzalez will have to be at the top of his game to take away the quick-hitters looking for YAC that the Dolphins feast on. Tua’s average depth of target is just 5.6 air yards per pass, the lowest in the league.
Hunter Henry/Austin Hooper: The Patriots’ most consistent offensive skill position this year, the Patriots’ tight end duo is currently fourth in the NFL in catches and yards gained, trailing only Baltimore, Las Vegas, and KC.
Last week, the Raiders relied on Brock Bowers, who caught 13 passes for 126 yards and scored a touchdown against Miami. The Patriots would love to have that kind of production this week, and they have 364 YAC (thanks to Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar for that stat).
Both players have a knack for finding soft spots in zone coverage and getting open once plays break down. They’ll need big games from the tight ends this week in South Florida.
Pop Douglas: If the Patriots go to the quick passing game, they’ll need Douglas to figure into their game plan this week. The Patriots should attack the middle of the field and the seams against Miami. They’ll need Douglas, who is quick off the line and can get open quickly to keep the chains moving.
Isolating Douglas on a linebacker will go a long way in being successful this week. However, Miami’s ILB Jordan Brooks is an excellent sideline-to-sideline linebacker who hasn’t missed a snap all season.
Marcus Jones: This is a big game for Jones, who may be tasked with covering Waddle this week in a match of speedsters. The Patriots’ secondary may also use Jonathan Jones as safety help over the top to aid Marcus.
It will be a tough matchup for Marcus Jones, as Waddle has always been a very productive WR for Miami, especially against New England.
Prediction: The Patriots return to their house of horrors that has been in Miami since 1966. For whatever reason, they always seem to bring their lesser efforts to Florida with them. As mentioned above, the Patriots are 17-42 all-time in Miami. That trend has to change.
With Drake Maye, the Patriots have the best antidote for the struggles in Miami. But does the rookie quarterback have the surrounding cast to start a new trend? Time will tell. Looking at the rosters on paper, Miami has a decided advantage, and yet the Dolphins have only one more win than the Patriots do. They haven’t looked like the same team that lit it up a year ago…yet.
I think the Patriots will give Miami a run for their money but come up juuuust a bit short again.
Dolphins 24-20
The Bills knocked Kansas City from the unbeaten list last week and now have a shot at the #1 seed in the playoffs. They still have tough games against the Lions, Rams, and 49ers (the Patriots twice).
Although Mahomes has never lost to Buffalo in the postseason, all those games were in Kansas City. It would be an intriguing twist if the Chiefs had to travel to Buffalo in January.
At this point of the season, my MVP pick is Josh Allen. He’s been fantastic this year, and last week, he single-handedly put that game against KC away with the 26-yard touchdown run. If the Bills get their kicking game in gear, they’ll be a tough out come playoff time.
The Jets are on a bye this weekend, but their dysfunction continues. Jets owner Woody Johnson is the man in charge and the main culprit for the Team’s perpetual underachievement. Johnson reportedly fired head coach Robert Saleh without even informing GM Joe Douglas. Since firing Saleh, the Jets have lost five of six, so obviously Saleh was the problem, right?
Now Douglas is fired, which is probably overdue. Despite amassing talent, the Jets haven’t sniffed the playoffs in a decade. Under Douglas’ watch, the Jets have gone 30-64.
When they brought in Aaron Rodgers a year ago, the national media frenzy, so desperate for a NY Superbowl, bought into the Jets’ hype that “they are only a QB away from a title.” That ended after four snaps. It continued this summer. But amassing talent and building a team are two different things.
Rodgers never was and never will be a ‘team-first’ guy. His skills have eroded to the point that he will continue to be part of the problem rather than the solution. But he remains, and the Jets are on the hook for $46 million if they choose to rid themselves of him this offseason.
So, who will they bring in as the new GM and head coach in 2025? With Johnson, it will be a tough sell. Same old Jets.
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Week 12 Predictions:
Thursday Night Football:
Pittsburgh over Cleveland 0-1
Sunday, November 24:
Minnesota over Chicago
Detroit over Indianapolis
Tampa Bay over NYG
Miami over New England
Washington over Dallas
Kansas City over Carolina
Houston over Tennessee
Denver over Las Vegas
Green Bay over San Francisco
Arizona over Seattle
Sunday Night Football:
Philadelphia over LAR
Monday Night Football:
Baltimore over LAC
Bye Week: Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New Orleans, NYJ
Last week: 10—4
2024 Season 119—47
2023 Season 178—94
2022 Season: 178—92—2
2021 Season: 183—88—1
2020 Season: 169—86—1
2019 Season: 162—93—1
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“You can see the difference in that offense with Tua out there. Very good player for them. Talk about their receivers, obviously, one word to describe those guys is fast. Those guys are blazers. We have some fast guys on defense, too, so this will probably be a little bit more of a matchup game, but those guys have fast players on the outside.
“I will say the backs don’t get enough love. I think their running backs are very good, especially with the scheme that they run. Then the tight end, Jonnu [Smith] is doing a good job and has been coming on as of late as far as his run-after-catch stuff, so he is doing a good job for them there.
“Defensively, it starts up front. It starts up front with the bigs, [Zach] Sieler and [Calais] Campbell. Very active, very active up front. It will be a challenge, or an opportunity, for us to go out there and do a good job on those guys. Once you get the down guys there, you go to the next level; I would say [Jordyn] Brooks is doing a good job as the season progresses. Then obviously, in the back end, you have some good players there in [Jalen] Ramsey, [Jevón] Holland, and the rest of those guys. Definitely going to be a huge challenge for us.”
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo spoke about facing the Dolphins this week and the challenges that the team will face.
“First off, he’s scored like 30 or 40 touchdowns in this league, so he’s had a lot of success. He’s done it with a guy with Phillip [Rivers] in San Diego.
“Then he was in L.A. with [Justin] Herbert, some guys that have done it at a high level. He’s seen a lot of different looks, and he helps with lining guys up in the huddle.
“He’s just a true vet. He’s one of the best players on our football team, so I’m trying to get him the football.”
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on Hunter Henry and why he seems to have become a favorite target for him in the Patriot’s offense.
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“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on Apple and YouTube as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.
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Interesting that Gonzalez now has a hip problem. Perhaps that’s why the pats played a good amount of zone D vs man coverage vs Rams. If the pats are limited this week on coverage options this week vs MIA, it will be a tough day for the D as they will likely get run on as well. Covington will get blamed of course: “Shoulda done whatever they didn’t do”. Just fill in the blanks post game. MIA 36 Pats 20.