{"id":37801,"date":"2021-09-13T09:51:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T13:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=37801"},"modified":"2021-09-13T09:54:22","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T13:54:22","slug":"morse-15-observations-from-game-1-loss-to-dolphins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2021\/09\/13\/morse-15-observations-from-game-1-loss-to-dolphins\/","title":{"rendered":"MORSE: 15 Observations from Game 1 Loss to Dolphins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some observations from Sunday’s game:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Mac Jones’s play in this game was good enough to win.\u00a0 If Harris doesn\u2019t fumble the Patriots would have at least a chip shot FG.\u00a0 Jones was spectacular at times.\u00a0 He started a little shaky by grounding the ball on a backward pass to Jonnu Smith who smartly pounced on the ball.\u00a0 However, the big loss of -9 yards on 1st<\/sup> down forced them into 3rd<\/sup> and long and the drive stalled.\u00a0 Mac looked like a rookie on that play.\u00a0 He settled down and was under heavy blitz pressure all day and losing starting right tackle Trent Brown in that 1st<\/sup> series didn\u2019t help.\u00a0 Jones finished 29 of 39 (74.4%), 281 yards, a TD pass, and no interceptions.\u00a0 He had a 75.3 Quarterback rating.\u00a0 His 74.4% completion rate is the highest ever recorded by a rookie starting his 1st<\/sup>\u00a0 game.\u00a0 Miami threw some exotic blitzes at Jones and he didn\u2019t wilt under the pressure.\u00a0 In fact, the Patriots were 11 of 16 on 3rd down (66%).\u00a0 Bill Belichick was 38-0 coming into the game when his team converted on 60% of their 3rd<\/sup> downs.\u00a0 Jones did miss Jakobi Meyers on a short rollout right and underthrowing him.\u00a0 If the pass hit him in stride Meyers would have caught it and made the line to gain. Jones took nine hits and one sack in the game.\u00a0 He was more mobile than I thought he would be.\u00a0 Jones had some receivers coming open deep if he would or could hold the ball a bit longer.\u00a0 The play calling was understandingly conservative.\u00a0 Jones took the check-downs rather than throw downfield.\u00a0 There is a lot to like about Jones’s opening game performance. \u00a0His third-down efficiency was terrific.\u00a0 Jones exceeded my expectations and it was a shame they didn\u2019t win this game.
     <\/li>\n
  2. Evan Lazar had a great article on Saturday highlighting the Dolphins \u201c0\u201d defense. The zero defense should be familiar to Patriots fans as we ran this several times in 2019.\u00a0 Zero means no deep safety in the middle of the field.\u00a0 Mac Jones’s pre-snap read appears to be a huge hole in the middle of the field.\u00a0 However, this is a disguise as Miami shifts just prior to the snap and drops a safety into the middle.\u00a0 The second version of this drops a DT into the middle linebacker position stopping the short crossing pattern.\u00a0 The linebackers play an amoeba look where no lineman has a defined position and many are in a standup position.
     <\/li>\n
  3. The Patriots Defense held Miami to 74 yards rushing for a 3.2-yard average. They allowed the opening drive of Miami for a TD, and FG (48 yards) at the end of the half, and the opening drive of the 2nd<\/sup> half and held Miami to 17 points.\u00a0 If the Patriots are able to hold a team to 17 points at home they are usually going to win.\u00a0 I thought the secondary played too soft which allowed easy completions.\u00a0\u00a0 Tua was 16 of 27 for 202 yards a TD passing and a TD running, with one INT, and a 40.1 Quarterback rating. \u00a0\u00a0Miami utilized a no-huddle offense on that 1st<\/sup> drive that confused the Patriots and kept them from making situational matchup changes of personnel.\u00a0 Further, this tactic was meant to tire out the personnel that was on the field.\u00a0 It was hot out there (for New England) and the Patriots were wearing their all blues (dark) uniforms.\u00a0 Miami was much better acclimated to hot weather, and this weather was actually cooler than southern Florida temps they are used to practicing in.
     <\/li>\n
  4. The Dolphins coaching staff with former Patriots coaches Brian Flores (Head Coach), George Godsey (Offensive Coordinator) and Josh Boyer (Defensive coordinator) know the Patriot’s tendencies.\u00a0 They had all off-season to prepare for this game and because of a strange quirk of scheduling had two weeks to prepare for the rookie QB Jones, once Cam Newton was released.\u00a0 The Dolphins scripted plays to start their 1st<\/sup> offensive series and at the start of the 2nd<\/sup> half were just enough to squeak out a win.
     <\/li>\n
  5. The Patriots knew the Dolphins defense was a ball-hawking defense that likes to strip the ball. It was reported that Damien Harris was carrying a ball with him all over the Patriot’s practice facility in preparation for Miami\u2019s ball stripping ability.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t sink in!\u00a0 Rahmondre Stevenson fumbled after a 9-yard reception in the 2nd<\/sup> series and we never saw him in the game the remainder of the game.\u00a0 Stevenson has a fumbling problem as he had one in pre-season and is now in the opening game.\u00a0 In his 2019 college season, Stevenson fumbled twice in only 65 carries.\u00a0 Bill Belichick won\u2019t stand for fumbling.\u00a0 One scribe stated that Stevenson is now in the witness protection program and we might not see him for some time.
     <\/li>\n
  6. Penalties, 8 for 84 yards killed many drives. This is not the Patriot way and it was so disappointing that it came from veteran leaders.\u00a0 Of particular was a call on Matt Judon out of bounds by the Miami bench and the second being a call for a blindside block on Shaq Mason.\u00a0 The Patriots had 24 new faces on their 2021 opening day 47 man game roster.\u00a0 That\u2019s more than half.\u00a0 I would love to be a fly on the wall for Monday\u2019s film review with the team and Bill Belichick.
     <\/li>\n
  7. The secondary was playing too soft, allowing free releases off the line of scrimmage. Tua and the Dolphins took advantage of this for easy 10-15 yard gains.\u00a0 Perhaps the threat of Tua running forced this.\u00a0 Kyle Dugger led in tackles and Adrian Phillips played a great 2nd <\/sup>half.
     <\/li>\n
  8. Jake Bailey only punted twice and averaged 49.9 yards per kick.\u00a0 His long kick was a 65-yard beauty.
     <\/li>\n
  9. Trent Brown went down after the first series with an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the remainder of the game. That hurt a lot.\u00a0 Replacement Justin Herron was awful at RT and was later replaced by Yasir Durant.\u00a0 Yodny Cajuste was inactive for the game.\u00a0 \u00a0The Dolphins were allowed to pressure Jones with all types of blitzes.
     <\/li>\n
  10. The high-priced free-agent TEs came through with 8 receptions on 8 targets. However, they were underused in the first half.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until the second half that Jones even looked at Hunter Henry.
     <\/li>\n
  11. Personnel decisions were a curious choice. Devin Asiasi and JJ Taylor were inactive.\u00a0 If you were going to run the ball, why wouldn\u2019t Asiasi be on the field?\u00a0 In hindsight, the decision of Stevenson over Taylor was a mistake.\u00a0 Where were Christian Barmore and Henry Anderson?\u00a0 Did they even play?\u00a0 Donta Hightower was invisible.\u00a0 This bears watching, with Hightower coming off a missed season due to opting out due to COVID.\u00a0 Has Hightower lost a step or is he just rusty?
     <\/li>\n
  12. The Patriots dominated the time of possession yesterday from 36:43 to 23:17. If Harris doesn\u2019t fumble, the TOP would have been worse as the Phins kept the ball the last 3 minutes of the game.\u00a0 This was a typical Bill Belichick game.\u00a0 \u00a0Conservative playcalling, run the ball to dominate Time of Possession, keeping the Miami Defense on the field and your defense off.\u00a0 They had three 14 play drives.\u00a0 Keep the games close and win the game on the final drive.\u00a0 If Harris doesn\u2019t fumble, the Patriots would have at least a game-winning FG attempt. \u00a0Instead of allowing Jones the chance to win the game, Belichick and McDaniel decided to run the ball and take time off the clock.
     <\/li>\n
  13. Why was Juwhan Bentley in the game during critical stretches of the 2nd<\/sup> half? Bentley is too slow to be an effective linebacker in the NFL.\u00a0 I was screaming at the TV when Bentley came out to the sideline to cover running back Salvon Amed.\u00a0 What a mismatch and Miami tried to exploit it twice, one was successful and the other was not.
     <\/li>\n
  14. This gem is from Mike Giradi of NFL Network. Mac Jones is the 4th<\/sup> QB since 1950 to pass for 275+ yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, and 70% completion percentage.\u00a0 All the other QBs won.
     <\/li>\n
  15. The Patriots were 1 for 4 in the Red Zone. This was also a problem in the pre-season, settling for FG rather than TDs.\u00a0 Consequently, Miami was 2 for 2.
     <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you just looked at the statistics, you would have thought the Patriots would have been the winners.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe they actually lost this game.\u00a0 The fumbles and penalties (8 for 84 yards) killed the Patriots.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is another stat that was important to the outcome.\u00a0 Miami passed on 6 Run-Pass Options for 70 yards (of the 202 total passing yards).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Some observations from Sunday’s Patriots vs Dolphins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":37795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22712],"tags":[45,44],"class_list":["post-37801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2021-patriots-season","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\nMORSE: 15 Observations from Game 1 Loss to Dolphins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some observations from Sunday's Patriots vs Dolphins.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.","url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/author\/markmorse5\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/USATSI_16743252_168390408_lowres.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37801"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37809,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37801\/revisions\/37809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}