One hour after the Patriots dropped Sunday’s season opener at Miami, then once more on Monday morning, Bill Belichick described the crew’s loss as a sport determined by two performs.
There was the second-quarter strip-sack of Mac Jones, and Tua Tagovailoa’s landing go earlier than halftime. And that was it.
That was all that separated the Pats and Dolphins, based on Belichick, who additionally cited complete yards to assist his case for an evenly performed sport.
The factor about a couple of performs making the distinction, although? That’s life within the NFL. And Belichick is aware of that higher than anybody.
All 9 of the Patriots’ Super Bowl appearances hinged on a play or two or three. Sunday, after all, was not a Super Bowl. But it was as essential an opener the Patriots have confronted underneath Belichick.
Finding consolation in stats ought to do nothing to erase the sting of giving a win away within the division. Or to a crew which will edge you out within the Wild Card race. Or to a below-average quarterback who someway owns a 4-0 report towards Belichick regardless of averaging 21.5 factors per sport.
The Patriots allowed 13 factors to Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ observe crew of an offense Sunday, a serious win. But their offense scored simply seven, a serious downside.
Looking forward, the Pats can not afford to dwell on their season opener earlier than touring to Pittsburgh this weekend, the doubtless motive behind Belichick’s uncommon optimism. But they need to repair the errors that littered their tape and reveal a larger hole than the one Belichick described post-game. Or they’ll be clinging to the stat sheet yet again subsequent Monday.
Here’s what the movie revealed about Sunday’s loss:
Mac Jones
Accurate throw share: 72.4%
Under stress: 1-of-2 for 27 yards, 2 sacks
Behind the road: 4-of-4 for 26 yards
0-9 yards: 14-of-16 for 107 yards, TD
10-19 yards: 1-of-3 for 12 yards
20+ yards: 2-of-6 for 68 yards, INT
Notes: Call it a B- sport.
Jones largely lived inside 10 yards of the road of scrimmage, and his downfield throws have been primarily all go-route, sideline pictures to beat a blitz. It’s unclear how his reported again spasms affected his arm energy, however Jones snuck a couple of good in-cut completions towards tight protection to maneuver the chains. He additionally efficiently audibled the Pats into higher appears to be like, now free to make adjustments on the line, however Miami was by no means critically threatened.
Studs
OLB Matt Judon
Judon tied for the crew lead with 4 pressures. He additionally set a a lot sturdier edge than the one we final noticed in Miami, the place he let Tagovailoa free on a game-sealing scramble in January. Against Kyle Shanahan-style offenses, the bottom edge defender is paramount for chasing play-action bootlegs and containing cutback runs.
Judon was all-around glorious Sunday.
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DE Deatrich Wise
The participant Judon tied along with his 4 pressures? That could be Wise, who generated stress from a number of alignments throughout the line of defense and performed above-average run protection. He additionally performed greater than 80% of the crew’s defensive snaps in brutal situations.
Duds
OT Trent Brown
Brown allowed the game-deciding strip-sack on Jones and was the doubtless wrongdoer on the primary sack the Patriots allowed. He additionally missed a block that resulted in a first-half run stuff.
LB Raekwon McMillan
It was a tough return to Miami for the ex-Dolphin, who performed 42 snaps in his return and was a internet adverse towards run and go. The Patriots deployed him as their lone linebacker in dime packages, and he could not sustain. It’s attainable Mack Wilson may overtake that position within the coming weeks.
Offensive notes
- Personnel breakdown: 51% of snaps in 12 personnel, 49% in 12 personnel.*
- Personnel manufacturing: 7.5 yards/play in 11 personnel, 3.0 yards/play in 12 personnel.
- Pressure fee allowed: 12.1%
- Yards per carry: 3.5
- Third downs: 4-9
- Red-zone effectivity: 1-1
- First downs: 37.5% run (5.1 yards per play), 62.5% go (5.1 yards per play)
- Play-action fee: 6.1%
- Broken tackles: Jonnu Smith 4, Damien Harris 4, Rhamondre Stevenson, DeVante Parker
- Sacks allowed: Trent Brown 2
- QB hits allowed: Brown
- Hurries allowed: David Andrews
- Run stuffs allowed: Team 4, Mike Onwenu, Brown
- Penalties: TE Hunter Henry (false begin), C David Andrews (chop block, offset), Brown (holding, declined)
- Drops: None
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- The media messaging across the new/revised/streamlined Patriots offense has been messy. But it’s not a Shanahan system, and we are able to declare that after just one sport.
- The Pats known as simply three outdoors zone runs and two play-action passes, each staples of any iteration of the Shanahan offense. On Sunday, they have been garnishes on the plate of turnovers and punts play-caller Matt Patricia served up in Miami.
- It’s doubtless the Patriots will improve each their play-action fee and outdoors zone calls within the close to future, however Shanahan offenses do not deviate that removed from their base. Especially in Week 1.
- What the Patriots did do was cough up three turnovers. Here’s how: Mac Jones made a questionable determination to focus on perennial Pro Bowler Xavien Howard on an end-zone fade route with a backup nook manning the other facet. Howard blanketed DeVante Parker, then batted the go as much as Jevon Holland for a decide.
- In the second quarter, Miami schemed up a wonderful security blitz to strip sack Jones instantly after the employees changed left guard Cole Strange with practice-squad veteran James Ferentz in a pre-planned rotation. Trent Brown, working subsequent to Ferentz, allowed that sack.
- Lastly, Nelson Agholor fumbled upon absorbing an enormous hit from undrafted rookie Kader Kohou over the center within the fourth quarter. Credit Miami with creating not less than two of these takeaways, if not all of them.
- Beyond the turnovers, the Pats’ chief downside is how one-dimensional they turned. Miami largely solved their run sport after the primary quarter, permitting simply two runs longer than 4 yards the remainder of the best way.
- Underpinning the Patriots’ preliminary dashing success have been two play designs: crack toss and inside zone. Crack toss (a sweep play) works finest towards defenses just like the Dolphins, which play excessive charges of man protection. But Miami adjusted shortly, sniffing out the Patriots’ third toss play to drop Rhamondre Stevenson for a 4-yard loss.
- Being one-dimensional prolonged past run-pass splits, too. The Patriots performed half of their snaps in 12 personnel (one-back, two-tight finish units), which averaged three yards per play. Worse but, they gained 2.3 yards per dropback in that grouping.
- One of Jones’ sacks and his interception occurred on snaps of 12 personnel. The Dolphins have been completely snug defending Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, who ought to kind one in all, if not essentially the most, harmful tight finish duo within the league.
- And it isn’t as if the Pats’ run sport flourished via two-tight finish units, both. Over the final three quarters, two-thirds of their runs from that personnel have been stuffed.
- In protection, Miami combined extra zone than anticipated, most likely an admission it could not play as a lot man protection with out Pro Bowl nook Byron Jones (injured). But on their man-to-man snaps, the Patriots did not hunt reserves almost sufficient.
- Nik Needham, a utility defensive again, allowed 5 catches on six targets. Kohou noticed simply two targets. Keion Crossen, a core particular teamer masquerading as a nook, noticed none. Any time Jakobi Meyers lined up throughout from one in all them, it was a matchup Jones ought to have seemed to take advantage of first.
- Meyers not solely led the Patriots in catches — predictable with Parker disappearing on Xavien Howard island — however blocked exceedingly nicely. He even erased two Dolphins on Agholor’s 17-yard display within the first half.
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- The Patriots’ tiny 6.1% play-action fee was doubtless a game-plan determination to maintain Jones out of hurt’s method versus a high-blitz crew. Remember, the Pats known as zero play-action within the preseason towards a Giants protection dialing up blitzes on half their snaps.
- But it was nonetheless too low. The expectation of blitz stress from Miami appeared to have an effect on them as a lot as precise stress did. Jones tried two passes between 10 and 19 yards, a window the Pats usually assault off play-action and affords a safer avenue to explosive performs with 5 or 7-step drops.
- If Patricia felt snug calling a go fee north of 60% on first down, a couple of ought to have included play fakes with max safety to guard towards the blitz.
- Ultimately, changes are what value the Patriots in Miami, past the apparent turnovers and few basic breakdowns. They have been unable to scheme chunk performs, and Week 1 is not any time for dink-and-dunk soccer, when groups are most vulnerable to primary errors.
- Between the stalled run sport, ineffective two-tight finish bundle and questionable personnel selections — irrespective of how poor Kendrick Bourne’s summer time was, he is higher than Lil’Jordan Humphrey — most of Sunday’s stumbles felt like they belonged to the coaches.
- After all, take away Bourne’s 41-yard acquire — the Pats’ longest acquire of the sport — and Belichick’s argument about complete yards collapses. Now think about if Bourne had performed additional snaps and generated a second explosive play? That’s an argument, and possibly extra factors, too.
Defensive notes
- Personnel breakdown: 58% three-safety nickel bundle, 27% three-cornerback nickel, 18% dime, 3% base.**
- Pressure fee: 32%
- Yards per carry allowed: 2.8
- Third downs: 6-14
- Red-zone effectivity: 0-2
- Sacks: Matt Judon, Deatrich Wise, Ja’Whaun Bentley
- QB hits: Judon 3, Wise, Christian Barmore
- Hurries: Josh Uche 2, Wise 2, Davon Godchaux, Jahlani Tavai, Bentley
- Run stuffs: Adrian Phillips, Kyle Dugger, Mack Wilson, Carl Davis
- Interceptions: None
- Pass deflections: None
- Missed tackles: Jalen Mills, Jonathan Jones, Myles Bryant, Mack Wilson, Jack Jones
- Penalties: DT Carl Davis (impartial zone infraction), Too many males on the sector
- The bullet factors of the Patriots’ sport plan got here into focus instantly: maintain every little thing in entrance and power Tagovailoa into apparent passing conditions by stopping the run. For essentially the most half, they succeeded.
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- The Pats solely missed 5 tackles enjoying a number of zone protection and throttled Miami’s run sport. But their greatest missed whiff value them six factors.
- Kyle Dugger took a poor angle to Jaylen Waddle on Waddle’s 42-yard catch-and-run landing earlier than halftime. Dugger’s struggles as a single-high security — usually Devin McCourty’s area — date again to the preseason, when he allowed a protracted acquire at Las Vegas.
- The Pats performed mushy zone on most early downs and pivoted to man-to-man on third down, after they may stick Jonathan Jones to Tyreek Hill and normally Jalen Mills on Waddle.
- The Patriots prevented Hill from doing main injury on a excessive quantity of touches. He averaged 7.8 yards per goal, and made his greatest acquire by pulling in a 1-handed catch in entrance of fourth-round rookie Jack Jones.
- Hill’s 26-yard seize was one of some Tagovailoa bounce balls they did not reel in, although the Pats’ protection wasn’t so tight. They completed with zero breakups on 33 passes
- Miami predictably attacked the Patriots on the perimeters early, feeding the ball to Hill and speedy operating backs Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert in house. Tagovailoa’s brief passing sport in the end served as an extension of the Dolphins’ stunted dashing assault, a method across the Pats’ stout entrance.
- Matt Judon and Deatrich Wise carried the go rush. Wise was a nightmare throughout the line of defense bouncing round. Josh Uche had two pressures, however misplaced Tagovailoa on one with an edge rush that allowed him to increase the play; a rep that might be scrutinized in conferences.
Statistics for passing depth, stress, damaged tackles and missed tackles courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
*11 personnel = one operating again, one tight finish; 12 personnel = one operating again, two tight ends.
**Base protection = 4 defensive backs; nickel protection = 5 defensive backs; dime protection = six defensive backs.
Source: www.bostonherald.com