MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Patriots secondary didn’t precisely get torched by the Dolphins’ elite fleet of receivers, as some predicted would occur.
And, the Fins didn’t precisely beat the Patriots on the bottom, both.
In the ultimate evaluation, it’s actually arduous to level a finger at a protection that surrendered simply 13 factors, with one rating falling on the offense.
No, the protection wasn’t the issue in a 20-7 season-opening loss to the Dolphins.
While the Pats has issues stopping the run final season, they defended effectively in that space. They saved the Fins new set of backs – Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert — in verify, permitting simply 65 general speeding yards.
Bill Belichick’s protection additionally introduced the warmth.
The move rush obtained to Tua Tagovailoa for 3 sacks, 4 different quarterback hits and loads of hurries.
Jonathan Jones, in the meantime, didn’t permit Tyreek Hill to beat them. The slot nook, who was moved to the boundary, principally held his personal, with Hill catching eight passes for 94 yards. Hill’s longest play went for 26 yards. So none have been actually of the explosive selection.
“They did a good job finding ways to get him the ball,” mentioned Jones. “I think we were able to limit a lot explosive plays. That was a big key going into the game, and we were able to do that for the most part.”
So the Patriots, for essentially the most half, saved the star wideout in verify.
And but, there was nonetheless a little bit of frustration over the efficiency.
Defensive captain Devin McCourty mentioned the unit simply gave up “too many bad plays.”
Even giving up only a landing and a pair of subject targets, he was proper.
Tagovailoa (23 of 33, 270 yards, 1 TD) and the Fins have been capable of hold the chains shifting on a number of of their huge drives.
At occasions, they only couldn’t get off the sector on third down (Miami was 6-for-14 on conversions) or simply had dangerous luck. That’s one thing they’re seeking to enhance on for subsequent week at Pittsburgh.
One of these dangerous performs McCourty spoke of occurred on the worst potential time. The Dolphins determined to gamble on fourth-and-8 from the Pats 42 yard-line with 18 seconds left earlier than the half.
Jaylen Waddle beat Jalen Mills in man-coverage, then Kyle Dugger and Ja’Whaun Bentley collided making an attempt to deal with him. That left a straightforward rating for the Fins wideout.
“Terrible angle by me, bad eyes. … I didn’t do much basically,” mentioned Dugger. “It was a poor play by me. The corners trusted me to be in the middle of the field, and I wasn’t there, so it was definitely on me.”
There have been a number of missed tackles, one specifically by Myles Bryant that turned what may have been a loss at a key time, into a giant achieve.
But for essentially the most half, the protection performed effectively. With a number of exceptions they performed totally different zone coverages and dealt with Hill, Waddle and Cedric Wilson.
“The biggest thing for us, was letting them convert on third downs, which led to longer drives, which gave those guys more opportunities to make those plays” mentioned Mills, “and that made the job tougher.”
They additionally weren’t capable of power a giant turnover, though it wasn’t for lack of making an attempt. Tagovailoa was dominated down a number of occasions he misplaced the ball, and was given a present incompletion when it appeared like he was throwing the ball away whereas being sacked by Matthew Judon.
Rookie Jack Jones had a close to choose, that also wound up a reception by the Dolphins. And they someway couldn’t provide you with any of the gentle floaters Tagovailoa put up for completions.
When you solely quit 13 factors, it’s extra about nitpicking than something.
“It’s something to build on,” mentioned Jon Jones. “You go into a game, and limit them to not too many points defensively, and it’s something to build on. We’ll come back next week and continue to do the things we did well, and the things we didn’t do so well, work on those to improve.”
McCourty nonetheless didn’t have the most effective feeling, though the unit performed effectively.
“It’s hard, man. I’m not going to lie to you,” he mentioned. “Like I mentioned, there’s some good issues on the movie. I’m certain we’ll see that.
“But you want to win, man. I think you understand how this league works. It’s a result league, win or loss.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com