The Patriots suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Miami Dolphins. They historically don’t play well in Miami, and they have never beaten Tua Tagovailoa, who is now 7-0 against them. But to completely shut down and play no Defense in the 2nd quarter was amazing.
Jerod Mayo tried to take responsibility for the loss rather than throw his players under the bus. He stated, “It starts with me”. Yes, Mayo made some questionable calls during the game, but as he said, once the game starts and the players cross the white line, there is nothing the coaches can do. If we can blame anything on Mayo, is that he is enabling the bad behavior and penalties by his team. The repeat offenders (Lowe, Polk) are not facing any type of discipline or repercussions. Yeah, go ahead and have a False Start, it’s OK we will just get’em the next time. Granted the Patriots don’t have a lot of talent, but the Players Coach needs to be tougher on his players and require them to play to a higher standard.
In the first half, the offensive line didn’t give Drake Maye a chance. Four dead-ball, false start penalties and 2 holding calls. The last Holding call forced the Pats to take a longer 45-yard FG which Joey Slye missed, hitting the Goal Post. Overall, the Patriots had 5 pre-snap penalties (4 on Offense 1 on Defense) in the first half. Demontrey Jacobs was eventually benched. One play was called Offside when one of the Tes
In fairness, 3 of those calls against Vederian Lowe were questionable. The 1st False Start, he did leave slightly early, but I have seen much worse digressions not called against tackles this year. The 2nd False Start was after a Miami player jumped into the neutral zone. Nobody across from him moved and Brown didn’t snap the ball. Lowe moved and because he was on the other side of the Center, it was ruled a False Start. Finally, his holding call against Calais Campbel was just a good block that Campbell got hurt on.
Demontrey Jacobs was brutal at Right Tackle. Dolphins rookie Edge player Chop Robinson is very good, but he made Jacobs into a turnstile. He gave up a sack and had a False Start in the 1st
(PHOTO: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Lowe gave up the Strip Sack by Zach Sieler on an inside move. All the blame can’t be placed on Lowe, as Rhamondre Stevenson made no attempt to pick up Sieler after he cleanly beat Lowe inside. Granted, Maye was holding the ball like a loaf of bread, way outside of his body, just begging for it to be knocked away.
Overall, the Patriots had 13 penalty calls against them with 10 accepted for a total loss of 75 yards. With all their motion, the Dolphins had just 3 calls against them. Clearly a bias against the road team. The Patriots cannot overcome these penalties and think they can compete. They just don’t have enough talent to do that.
The Defense was quite offensive, as in offending my senses. Christian Gonzalez is the only player in the secondary that can cover anybody. Hill, Waddle and Jonnu Smith just ate them up. Tua Tagovailoa just carved them up. He quickly got rid of the ball which didn’t allow for any pressure. The big culprits were Marcus Jones and Kyle Dugger. Dugger can’t cover my grandmother, and she is deceased. Curious that the Defense has been playing worse since Dugger has returned? DeMarcus Covington did not have the team prepared to play this year. Dell Pettus needs to drop deeper to take away the middle, where the Phins killed them all afternoon.
The Patriots Rush Defense was very good on Sunday. They held the Phins to 65 yards rushing on 24 attempts (2.7 Avg). Realistically, Miami could pass anytime they wanted, and they didn’t have to run the ball.
On the other side, the Patriots didn’t light it up running the ball. They ran just 21 times for 86 yards, for 4 yards per carry.
Antionio Gibson played well in a short spurt, with 6 carries for 31 yards and 1 catch for 14 yards. He needs to play more.
Jonnu Smith played the game of his life on Sunday. He appears to have cut some weight and is playing more like a Travis Kelce type of slot receiver than a true TE. That is the player the Patriots thought they were getting in Free Agency. He had 9 catches on 11 targets for 87 yards and a TD. He is having the best TE Season of any Dolphin in the last 10 years. I need to point out that he had Kyle Dugger covering him, so that explains why he was so wide open.
Drake Maye was mediocre at best. He was 22 of 37 for 222 yards and 2 turnovers. Yes, he was under constant pressure and forced out of the pocket. His 4th down scramble, and deep throw on the run to Austin Hooper for a 39-yard TD was the highlight of the day. The wide-open Hooper caught it at the 3-yard line on one knee and quickly spun around and dove into the End Zone. Maye was blitzed by the safety and cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and he was flushed out of the pocket. He tried to complete a pass by throwing off his back foot and lobbing it over the defensive pressure. Linebacker Tyrell Dodson made a great athletic play intercepting the ball with one hand. Miami incorporated a spy on Maye to prevent him from scrambling. They allowed the four-man pass rush to put pressure along with occasional blitzes.
Christian Gonzalez had a nice scoop and score of a fumble. That was a 62-yard return for a TD. That gave the team a little spark, but Tua and the Phins marched right down the field for a FG which sealed the deal.
Why did Mayo challenge a catch by Waddle on a play that already had a Defensive Holding flag?
Greg Bedard stated post-game that the locker room was unbothered by the loss today. Too many smiling and talkative players. Perhaps they accepted the loss being down 31-0 midway through the 3rd quarter. Drake Maye was not one of them. He was visibly upset during the post-game press conference.
Like this article? Support Mark and buy him a coffee.
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.
By: Mark Morse The Patriots made a questionable first-round trade-up for Caleb Lomu, raising questions about Will Campbell's role and Lomu's fit at offensive tackle. Scouting reports analyze…
By: Ian Logue The Patriots traded up in Round 1 of the NFL Draft, acquiring the 28th pick from Buffalo to select Utah offensive tackle Caleb Lomu, bolstering…
By: Mark Morse Analyzing the unpredictable NFL Draft, MORSE's final Patriots mock draft projects key additions including EDGE Malachi Lawrence and LB Jake Golday.
1 day ago
📅 This Week in Patriots History:
From our archive - this week all-time: April 9 - April 24 (Through 26yrs)
Follow us
Follow Us
