It's week 4 of the NFL season and the Patriots could get their 3rd loss of the season. While I don't anticipate that happening, if they don't have some better play calling starting with their first possession, it could be a long day in Foxboro.
THIRD DOWN-After last week's debacle in Detroit I spent a few hours looking at the length of each Patriots' possession for the season. If you feel like they never have the ball, you are correct. This season has been full of 3 and outs especially at the beginning of halves. Of the Patriots 33 possessions, 22 have lasted less than 2 minutes. Keep in mind we aren't talking about quick scores or the end of a half. This is in the middle of the game with a new defensive coordinator trying to make in-game adjustments as the injuries keep piling up.
With the Patriots struggling on 3rd down this season, playing the Dolphins this week may be helpful. According to an article in the Miami Herald, Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke said that they stink on 3rd down. More specifically he said that they are guilty of "giving up leaky yardage in the run game". With the Patriots having an almost invisible run game, this should be a perfect chance for the offense to get things going.
With the Patriots struggling on 3rd down this season, playing the Dolphins this week may be helpful. According to an article in the Miami Herald, Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke said that they stink on 3rd down. More specifically he said that they are guilty of "giving up leaky yardage in the run game". With the Patriots having an almost invisible run game, this should be a perfect chance for the offense to get things going.
TIME OF POSSESSION- Time of possession is one of those sometimes useful, sometimes useless stats. With the Patriots having most of their possessions last less than 2 minutes and their record at 1-2, their current ranking of 29th seems pretty relevant. Conversely the Dolphins are sitting pretty at the top of the AFC East with the 30th worst time of possession.
SPECIAL TEAMS- For years it has seemed like the Patriots were the only team to really emphasize the importance of special teams. With their winning ways, it was only a matter of time for the rest of the NFL to follow suit. Although the Patriots have had some special teams plays they would like back of the years, they've been pretty consistent of winning the special teams battle week after week. This season has been a bit different. Three games in, the Patriots have yet to play better than their opponents on special teams. Week one was pretty even with the Texans until McCarron muffed a punt making the game a lot tighter. Week 2 didn't start well with a missed field goal and ensuing bad decision-making. Week 3 wasn't a disaster, but the Lions were flawless and had more points from their kicker and more punts inside the 20. What will week 4 bring? The Dolphins are a pretty solid special teams unit. Last season they had 3 blocked kicks. This season they already have a kickoff return for a touchdown and 8 punts inside the 20.
MIAMI DEFENSE- Last December Xavien Howard picked off 2 Tom Brady passes. In his 4 games against the Patriots he has 4 pass deflections to go with those 2 interceptions. In his 17 career games against the Patriots, Cameron Wake has had 10.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Ideally the Patriots keep these two players from making big plays and play to the Dolphins' weakness of allowing running backs to be on the receiving end of touchdown passes.
JOSH GORDON- Personally, I don't care if Josh Gordon is 100% or not. Suiting him up for 2 or 3 plays which won't worsen his injury is more beneficial than whoever else the Patriots have at the bottom of today's game day roster. He can minimally be used as a decoy for at lease one play without putting his hammy in any sort of danger. Assuming the team can actually get into the red zone today, his presence on plays deep in the red zone will put touchdowns on the board. .
PATRIOTS OFFENSE- If McDaniels can change his regular season ways of trying to "get everyone going" and just go with something until it's not there, I think the Patriots will move the chains a lot better. Another thing they need to step away from is attempting to get first downs exactly at the yard marker. While Edelman and Amendola are really good at catching the ball for those first down plays, this year's roster has been coming up inches short pretty consistently.
MIAMI DEFENSE- Last December Xavien Howard picked off 2 Tom Brady passes. In his 4 games against the Patriots he has 4 pass deflections to go with those 2 interceptions. In his 17 career games against the Patriots, Cameron Wake has had 10.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Ideally the Patriots keep these two players from making big plays and play to the Dolphins' weakness of allowing running backs to be on the receiving end of touchdown passes.
JOSH GORDON- Personally, I don't care if Josh Gordon is 100% or not. Suiting him up for 2 or 3 plays which won't worsen his injury is more beneficial than whoever else the Patriots have at the bottom of today's game day roster. He can minimally be used as a decoy for at lease one play without putting his hammy in any sort of danger. Assuming the team can actually get into the red zone today, his presence on plays deep in the red zone will put touchdowns on the board. .
PATRIOTS OFFENSE- If McDaniels can change his regular season ways of trying to "get everyone going" and just go with something until it's not there, I think the Patriots will move the chains a lot better. Another thing they need to step away from is attempting to get first downs exactly at the yard marker. While Edelman and Amendola are really good at catching the ball for those first down plays, this year's roster has been coming up inches short pretty consistently.
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