The New England Patriots erased their horrors in Miami with a 43-0 mauling of the Dolphins Sunday afternoon down in the heat of South Beach.
The New England Patriots entered Sunday’s Week 2 matchup with the Miami Dolphins as 19-point favorites. They ended up mauling their AFC East rivals in shutout fashion 43-0 and proved that the only thing that would stop the on this day were themselves.
In fact, it was the Patriots who kept Miami in the game in the first half. After taking a 7-0 lead on their first drive, Tom Brady and company struggled a little bit to put some points on the board.
Thanks to a missed field goal and extra point by Stephen Gostkowski, the defending Super Bowl champions only had a 13-0 lead going into halftime, following Antonio Brown’s first touchdown in a New England Patriots uniform.
As it turned out, those 13 points were all the team needed as the defense really came to play. They were all over Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins’ offense was pretty nonexistence. As the team opened up the flood gates in the second half by scoring 30 points, 60 minutes of football was the emphasis given what happened last year in Miami and no real football fan can blame Bill Belichick for stepping on pedal and not taking his foot off.
That explains why Tom Brady was still in the game throwing with under five minutes left with his team already up 37-0.
"“Obviously, Miami was ready to go and they gave us some problems early but we were able to work through that and played 60 minutes and finished the game,” Belichick said following the game. “I’m proud of our team for doing that. It’s Game 2 – (we have a) long way to go, so we have a lot of work to do. We’ll just get back at it and start getting ready for the Jets.”"
Despite the great performance all the way around, the Belichick’s boys didn’t escape the game without some issues, mostly along the offensive line in the name of injuries. Besides that, hard to see any team stopping them when everything is clicking.
Here are five observations from the 43-0 mauling of the Miami Dolphins.
5. More Isaiah Wynn concerns
Again, there is not much to nitpick out in a game in which the New England Patriots were clicking on all cylinders.
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The one concern is the offensive line.
With Marcus Cannon already out at right tackle, the Patriots lost second-year left tackle Isaiah Wynn early in the game with a foot injury. The extent of that injury has yet to be revealed, but if he has to miss any extended time, Tom Brady’s blindside may be in jeopardy.
For this game however, the Patriots were okay. They were able to move veteran tackle Marshall Newhouse to the left side and move Korey Cunningham in at right tackle. Except for a couple of holding calls on Newhouse, the offensive line held up pretty good.
Still, depth is a concern and Bill Belichick knows there’s a challenge ahead.
"“It’s a real challenge there,” Belichick said. “Marshall and Korey really stepped up, and that’s what we have depth for. We had to. Use it today. It was a tough day out there, but they battled through it.”"
The only problem for the New England Patriots, is there is not much depth left if both Cannon and Wynn are limping around on injuries for any extended period of time.
4. Sonny Michel bounces back
As pretty much predicted, New England Patriots second-year running back Sony Michel did bounce back with a much stronger effort than Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After just rushing for 14 yards on 15 carries, Michel totaled 85 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
He did have a fumble late in the game, but overall Michel looked strong, quick and decisive in hitting holes. Though he has yet to get involved in the passing game, it is good to see Sony Michel running the ball like he did to end his rookie season.
In all, the Georgia Bulldogs alum will just get stronger and so will the New England Patriots running game with Rex Burkhead, James White and rookie Damien Harris presenting some valuable depth at the position.
As long as the offensive line doesn’t undergo anymore injuries or shifting, the rushing attack should complement the passing game tremendously as it did in Sunday’s beatdown of the Miami Dolphins.
3. Pass rush did its thing
It was like Oprah Winfrey was out there on the field in Miami Sunday afternoon for the New England Patriots pass rush.
“You get a sack, you get a sack, you get a sack, everyone gets a sack.”
With seven sacks and 11 quarterback hits, the Patriots defensive line applied consistent pressure on both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen. Along with rookie pass rusher Chase Winovich recording the first sacks of his NFL career, Adam Butler, Danny Shelton, John Simon and Michael Bennett all caused havoc in the pocket.
With the secondary playing the way they are, applying that type of pressure without blitzing makes the New England Patriots defense overall more multiple and harder to move the ball against, especially with the play they are getting out of their linebacker unit.
In all the defensive unit pitched a shutout in dominant fashion. Of course, Bill Belichick couldn’t have been happier even if his face doesn’t show it.
"“Yeah,” it’s always good,” Belichick said regarding the shutout. “It’s always good. If you don’t let them score, you can’t lose.”"
Words of wisdom from Mr. Belichick.
2. Happy Gilmore
More impressive than the seven sacks were the four interceptions, including two for a pick-six.
One was by Jamie Collins on a bobbled pass and the other was off a nice read from Stephon Gilmore to pick off Ryan Fitzpatrick and take it to the house.
Believe it or not, it was the first pick-six of Gilmore’s career and he couldn’t be more joyful of doing something he always wanted to do.
"“I always wanted a pick-six,” Gilmore said following the game, as transcribed by NESN. “I had one my rookie year, but they called it back. So I finally got on the board. It was a great play. I was happy to get in the end zone.”"
As predicted from my “Three bold predictions for Stephon Gilmore” article, Gilmore got his pick-six and wouldn’t be surprised if he delivers another one before the season is over.
With the way the defense is playing on all three levels, quarterbacks will feel rushed and force mistakes like Fitzpatrick did on Sunday afternoon.
Folks, the New England Patriots defense is legit. The numbers aren’t lying, and the scary part is they will only get better.
1. Antonio Brown got fed the rock
Well, four receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown in his New England Patriots debut.
Not bad for Antonio Brown.
As the NFL is set to meet with Brown’s accuser on Monday, it really would be no surprise if the league found a reason to suspend Brown for multiple games.
For now, however, Tom Brady and the Patriots fed Brown and it looks like the two can be a pretty lethal connection, especially with the other weapons the team has.
The only downside to working Antonio Brown into the offense is that it took away from some of the other playmakers getting some looks. Josh Gordon only had a couple of targets and Julian Edelman really didn’t get going until the second half of the game.
In all, the New England Patriots could afford the game plan they had versus a team like the Miami Dolphins. Once Brady opened it up a bit, the team looked like they could score anytime they wanted to.
In seeing how Antonio Brown looks in a Patriots’ uniform, how things go off-the-field from here on out is even more intriguing for the league and fans.