Gresh & Zo: Patriots Holes And Areas In Need Of Change
BOSTON (CBS) - It was a tale of two halves for the Patriots on Sunday afternoon in Miami.
Save for the blocked punt, New England looked like the better team and well on their way to a victory holding a 10-point lead going into halftime.
Then the wheels fell off.
The Dolphins willed themselves back into the game and scored 23 unanswered points, and did so in impressive fashion.
The Dolphins defensive line had their way with the Patriots offensive line, sacking Tom Brady four times and hitting him 10. The Phins O-line created massive running lanes for Knowshon Moreno and manhandled the Patriots front four. Tom Brady looked like he had zero chemistry with anybody besides Julian Edelman. And Darrelle Revis -- whether by design or by mistake -- didn't appear to be put in a position to be successful. Same can be said for Chandler Jones.
But as Matt Light told Toucher & Rich Wednesday morning, "It's not DEFCON-5. It's Week 1."
98.5 The Sports Hub's Andy Gresh and Scott Zolak try to explain what went wrong in that game by dissecting the holes and areas in need of change.
1. What is Brandon LaFell's role?
Gresh: "When I went back and watched the game I didn't see anything they did that was unique with him."
Zolak: "I remember in the preseason they started him on the inside. He was predominately a slot guy in games no. 1 and 2. Then in games 3 and 4 they flexed him and he was more of an outside guy. That was right around the time when coach said he's fitting into that role and doing some things on special teams. What does he do on special teams? What is the special part?"
2. Do they possess a viable second pass rusher outside of Chandler Jones?
Gresh: "I think what they're finding out with Dont'a Hightower is that he's better in the Rob Ninkovich role than Ninkovich is."
3. Aren't the Patriots better suited for 4-3 defense, not 3-4?
Zolak: "Why did they come out in the 3-4? Why aren't they more 4-3? I never wanna see Chandler Jones with his hand down. I never want to see him inside. You can only do that in certain situations."
4. Can the Patriots stick with the running game and not panic?
Zolak: "Dan Koppen talked about it [on Toucher & Rich], and how once the game becomes one-dimensional, I had no clue why they didn't try to come out and run the ball in the third quarter. As a lineman you want to get in that physical mode."
5. Do the Patriots have five solid offensive lineman? Why did they rotate so much on Sunday?
Zolak: "The biggest thing for this week is they need to pick five guys and roll with it. They can't rotate guys. When you're having guys in multiple positions and rotating it doesn't work. I want reactors. I don't want a lot of thinkers out there. Find the guys and what attributes fit them better and have them do that job. That's why they looked all screwed up. They looked out of funk, and need to get back in funk on Sunday."
Listen below for the full discussion:
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