New England Patriots: 5 observations from meltdown in Miami

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New England Patriots Bill Belichick (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Belichick criticized

The execution or lack thereof of the New England Patriots defense deserves to be criticized in this one.

The team certainly had its moments with key sacks and delivering pressure on Ryan Tannenhill, but in all they gave up too many big plays to an offense that is simply not that explosive.

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While some of it could’ve been by design. Bill Belichick is known for forcing a team to beat them in one facet of the game while taking away another. But, there are cases where the coach outsmarts himself. One of those cases presented itself on the last play of the game.

Up 34-28 with just seven seconds left in the game, the Miami Dolphins appeared well out of Hail Mary striking distance. Yet, Belichick had Rob Gronkowski in the game instead of an actual safety. As Gronkowski was the last defender Kenyan Drake had to escape for the winning touchdown, the decision came back to haunt Belichick.

Now, he is taking criticism from his own former players.

"“Coach Belichick outsmarted himself having Rob Gronkowski on the field for a 70-yard Hail Mary and keeping his best defensive player on the sidelines, Devin McCourty,” Rodney Harrison said during a segment of Football Night in America."

Given how slow Gronk looked in any trying to defend the play, any other player would’ve at least gotten there to force Drake out of bounds. If Belichick was so worried about an improbable Hail Mary, either Josh Gordon or Cordarrelle Patterson would’ve at least had the speed to make a play.

Well, second guesses are always part of the game. That decision on Sunday will live with Bill Belichick for a while.

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