Monday Re-Watch @ Dolphins

Every Monday, win lose or draw, I go back and take a second look at the game. I do my best to separate the passion and emotion of Sunday from the retrospect of Monday. Today it just seems like every radio caller has something to complain about. The trouble is that the complaints are all the same, and they have been the same all year. Well, almost all the same - people seem to have dropped the "CBs don't turn around argument." Unfortunately this leaves the ranting fan without anecdotal or statistical evidence for their complaints about the defense. 

The common line is: "I don't trust this Defense with a lead/the secondary gives too much space in prevent D." I know this feeling well, but this constant whining about the defense not holding teams with the game on the line has got to stop. The Patriots Defense has been asked to hold a lead 6 times this year, and they are 3-3 in those games. Also, in one of these losses (Arizona), the D made the stop, but Gostkowski missed the FG to win. I may not be super confident in the Defense, but more often than not they've made stops the end of games (Cardinals, Jets, Bills, and Broncos). 

An even more common, but far more agreeable complaint is a lack of faith in Gostkowski. I mean, I am not saying that I validate the deprecation of the man, but he is not having a very good season. Still, do we really need to act like the world is ending when he misses a 49 yard FG? If you want to be angry that he missed against Arizona, that's fine. If you want to be angry that he's missed a couple FGs inside 40 yards, go ahead. Just remember that he's got a better FG% than Adam Vinatieri by 5%, and recall that he hit 2 FGs from 50+ in that Arizona game. Also, its not like you can just go out and get a better kicker... lay off and maybe he'll regain some confidence.

The final complaint that keeps cropping up (and someone actually said this today) is that the Offense can't finish games. Sure, The Pats had trouble in the 3rd quarter, but finishing was certainly not the case in this contest. Tom Brady led the team on a 16 play drive that chewed up nearly all of the 8:30 on the clock, and more importantly all 3 Miami timeouts. Flat out, the game was won on that drive, but it wasn't Brady or Ridley or even Vereen who should get the credit. The Offensive Line just dominated the point of attack, patchwork or not. Without Mankins and Connolly (who left with back injury) they had some struggles in protection, but on that last drive they would not be denied. I don't know what all the nay-sayers are thinking here, but that drive impressed me.

In other news, I was pleasantly surprised to see Marcus Cannon get some reps at Guard. He's a talented kid. If he can function at Guard without mobility issues, then that gives us a huge O-line. From what I could see, he played well inside. Maybe Dante and Bill will look to him to move ahead of McDonald on the Guard depth chart. Likewise, it was nice to see Jake Bequette getting some live game snaps. He actually filled in as a 4-3 DT a la Jermaine Cunningham. He didn't really do much, but it was interesting to see him get work in a DT role rather than a DE/OLB role.

Trevor Scott had a big game with 2 sacks (including a sack-fumble) and a tackle for a loss. However, I didn't see a lot of consistency from him. Both of his sacks were the result of Tannehill holding the ball too long, but the fact that he forced the only turnover gets him some kudos. This game will probably be a springboard to more playing time even after Jones gets healthy. Without Cunningham, I'd like to see him get work as a DT on passing downs. He seems a little more comfortable rushing from a 2 point stance, but I figure its worth a shot on the interior. We've got to figure some way to get the best pass rushers out there in one package. Maybe this game will be remembered as the emergence of Trevor Scott.

Overall, I thought the Defense was very competitive throughout the game. Tannehill's numbers were pretty bleak at 13/29 for 186 yards, but not all of that is a credit to the Patriots Defense. Tannehill missed deep on a sure TD and he had a few dropped passes. Still, credit New England for the 3 sacks, and for doing enough with pre-snap motion and disguise to throw Tannehill out of rhythm. The secondary didn't get exploited terribly, but a few plays were concerning - 1) Talib/Gregory blown coverage on deep pass. 2) Hartline wide open on Miami's final drive. In my opinion, this is praiseworthy, but nobody is buying this Defense after they shut down a Rookie.

Still, I can name quite a few things that the Defense did that was critical to the victory. The Defense forced 3 punts to begin the game (1 failed snap), and 3 punts to begin the 3rd quarter. This includes four 3-and-outs and a 3 play drive that ended in a fumble. Miami scored on only 4 of their 11 drives, and only scored 1 TD. Also, Miami finished 3 for 13 on 3rd downs, and only had 277 total yards. Let's not forget that the Defense forced a second fumble that was recovered again by Miami. Really, is there anything to complain about here?

Offensively there was some difficulty. The credit has to go the Miami's coaches and players for bringing their best shot to the title fight. At halftime, The Patriots only had 10 yards rushing. McDaniels came in thinking that he could pass more effectively than run, but all that passing was knocking the offense out of balance, and Brady was taking too many hits. If there is anything that made me nervous in this game it was Cameron Wake's big hit on Brady. Overall though, I appreciate the fact that we can win when the game plan doesn't play out the right way. Likewise, I love that we can win when Brady gets sacked 4 times and throws an INT. 

McDaniels switched up the plan at half, but it didn't yield immediate results. The Patriots punted 3 times to begin the second half, including a rare 3-and-out. Still, when the game needed to be closed out, his work to establish the run in the second half worked out. The RBs weren't making too many guys miss, but the O-line started to wear down the big guys like Soliai and Wake. Soon enough 2 yard runs became 4 yard runs, and the chains were moving like clockwork. The game plan in the second half was a strict regimen of persistence, and it worked out well in the end.

One side note before I check the keys to victory: Miami's special teams kept them in this game with two punts downed at the 2 yard line. Field position is often overlooked, but being backed up in the shadow of the goal post is never a good thing. New England actually managed to move the chains in those situations, but one drive was stifled by an INT and the other ended in a punt. Both led to good field position for the Dolphins, but Miami only managed a FG after the INT. Nevertheless, the failed possession by New England kept the game within reach for Miami, that is, until that final 16 play drive.

Anyway, how'd we do on the keys to victory?

1. Blocking & Tackling - If I didn't mention how dominant the O-Line was on that last drive, I'll sat it again. There was some shaky pass protection at times, but Miami has some good pass rushers. Overall, Brady had enough time to make plays. On the other side, tackling was pretty good. A couple 3rd downs were stopped because of sure tackling, and only one missed tackle stands out in my mind (Dennard). Nevertheless, we didn't allow a TD in crunch time, and we blocked very well to seal the game. I'll take it.

2. Dont'a Hightower in 3-4 Concepts - I didn't see Hightower do anything particularly special this week, but I did see him lined up in some new spots. It seemed like he was lined up over the inside WR in Trips more often than not when Miami showed a bunch formation. Overall, he had a quiet game, but I suppose that's good when you consider how much he was in coverage.

3. Turn It Over Tannehill - Trevor Scott did manage to get there right on time, but I was hoping for an INT to make it lopsided. I guess I will just stay content with the sack fumble, but its worth mentioning that I was impressed with Wilfork's move to hit Tannehill's elbow to force an overthrow. 

4. Brady For MVP - Brady dealt with a lot of pressure, and lots of guys flying around at his knees. Overall, I think he handled himself better than I can remember in a game with so much QB pressure. Certainly he played better here than he did against Seattle. Sometimes an early INT can snowball for Brady, and although he got lucky on one screen pass, he didn't let a 2nd mistake ruin his game. 

5. Bottle Up Bush / Rangle Reggie - Reggie Bush was largely contained except for one 16 yard scamper. He did post 64 rushing yards, but he was a non-factor in the passing game, and he didn't break any explosive plays.