With or without the aid of a potential wet track, the Patriots need to slow down Tyreek. While that one sentence could summarize whether the Patriots exit week two tied for first or alone in last place, I'll give you a little bit more to think about before tonight's AFC East matchup.
OFFENSIVELY- After the initial deer in headlights moments from Mac, the Patriots actually looked like an NFL offense last week. Sure we couldn't seal the deal at the end, but there were obvious plays being run. Players knew the call well in advance of the play clock winding down. They also appeared to be running the routes as intended by Bill O'Brien. While the results weren't what we wanted, anyone with eyes could see that the offense is trending in the right direction.
MAC- Although he only had one pick 6, Mac easily could have had 2. Regardless of how good your defense and special teams are, if your quarterback is throwing touchdowns to the other team you probably aren't going to win. Last week Mac had too many errant throws. Not including the obvious picks, he had several passes that were off target. If Mac can be more consistent with looking off his defenders and then throwing at least an average pass, the offense will be just fine.
PLAY CALLING- Overall the play calling last week was pretty solid. I did like how we spread the ball around. This week I would like to see Gesicki and Bourne get involved earlier. I'd also like to stop trying to have rookies make important toe drag catches when they are still mentally playing college rules. That being said, the Dolphins gave up 234 yards on the ground last week. Rhamondre and Zeke may have a field day.
OFFENSIVE LINE- Another week, another makeshift offensive line. Barring any avoidable pre-snap penalties, I think the o-line has a pretty easy opponent. The Dolphins had zero sacks and was a sieve last week.
MAC- Although he only had one pick 6, Mac easily could have had 2. Regardless of how good your defense and special teams are, if your quarterback is throwing touchdowns to the other team you probably aren't going to win. Last week Mac had too many errant throws. Not including the obvious picks, he had several passes that were off target. If Mac can be more consistent with looking off his defenders and then throwing at least an average pass, the offense will be just fine.
PLAY CALLING- Overall the play calling last week was pretty solid. I did like how we spread the ball around. This week I would like to see Gesicki and Bourne get involved earlier. I'd also like to stop trying to have rookies make important toe drag catches when they are still mentally playing college rules. That being said, the Dolphins gave up 234 yards on the ground last week. Rhamondre and Zeke may have a field day.
OFFENSIVE LINE- Another week, another makeshift offensive line. Barring any avoidable pre-snap penalties, I think the o-line has a pretty easy opponent. The Dolphins had zero sacks and was a sieve last week.
DEFENSE- One of the best things I saw out of the defense last week was the solid tackling. Until it was time to try and knock the ball out, everyone was just wrapping guys up and holding on. It really was a clinic out there. In addition to slowing down Tyreek, the Patriots can not let Miami have free first downs. Last week the Eagles benefitted from 3 freebies. Instead of having them at 3rd and 15 from their own 20, a pre-snap penalty put them at 1st and 10 on their 30. So instead of have a quick three and out to start the game, the defense was out there for just under 8 minutes.
So how do you slow down Tyreek? You treat him like he treats other people, you smack him around early and often. He needs to get hit hard on the line of scrimmage and then let the safeties be in charge of covering him down the field.
SPECIAL TEAMS- I'd give special teams a solid B+ for last week. While I love seeing Marcus Jones making plays, he really needs to be willing to fair catch some balls. Punting for the Dolphins this year is Jake Bailey. After his awkward exit from New England it will be interesting to see which version shows up. Good or bad, I hope we get to see him punt a few times today. The only problem I had with the Patriots punting unit last week was the touchback. Not knowing if Baringer was supposed to kick it out of bounds or not, I can't really put the blame on him. In my opinion, once you are past the 50 you should be using the sideline.
So how do you slow down Tyreek? You treat him like he treats other people, you smack him around early and often. He needs to get hit hard on the line of scrimmage and then let the safeties be in charge of covering him down the field.
SPECIAL TEAMS- I'd give special teams a solid B+ for last week. While I love seeing Marcus Jones making plays, he really needs to be willing to fair catch some balls. Punting for the Dolphins this year is Jake Bailey. After his awkward exit from New England it will be interesting to see which version shows up. Good or bad, I hope we get to see him punt a few times today. The only problem I had with the Patriots punting unit last week was the touchback. Not knowing if Baringer was supposed to kick it out of bounds or not, I can't really put the blame on him. In my opinion, once you are past the 50 you should be using the sideline.
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