Team Grades: Poor Patriots' Effort Leads To Loss At Miami
By Gregory Hunt
The New England Patriots lost home field advantage for the upcoming AFC playoffs thanks to an uninspired 20-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins Sunday afternoon at Sun Life Stadium. Despite the number-one seed being on the line, the Patriots didn't appear to be trying very hard to win the game. Later that afternoon, the Denver Broncos took over the top seed with a 27-20 win over the San Diego Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Despite losing, the Patriots will still get a bye for the first round of the playoffs as the number-two seed.
Offense: F
In only his second game as a Patriot, Steven Jackson received an opportunity to become the featured running back in the New England offense, but he failed to deliver. He did turn a short pass reception into a 20-yard gain in the second quarter, but he gained only 35 yards rushing on 14 carries. He touched the ball on five of New England's first six offensive plays, but he picked up only one first down on those plays. He did get a rushing touchdown in the third quarter, but that turned out to be New England's only touchdown of the game. New England's running game gained only 2.6 yards per rush on 27 attempts.
Quarterback Tom Brady completed only 12 passes, and none of his receivers caught more than two of them. Running back James White broke a tackle to turn a short pass reception into a 68-yard gain, but that one play accounted for more than half of New England's passing yardage for the entire day. Brady's offensive line failed to give him much time to throw, and he appeared to suffer a minor ankle injury when Miami defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh landed on the back of Brady's legs. New England gained only 196 yards of total offense.
Defense: D
Since his rookie season in 2012, Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill is the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL. The Patriots sacked him five times during their 36-7 win over the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on October 29. On Sunday, they sacked him only once. As a result, Tannehill was able to make several big plays downfield, and he finished the game with 350 yards passing and two touchdowns.
On several occasions, the Patriots defense appeared poised to make a big play, but it failed to close the deal. Linebacker Jerod Mayo broke into the Miami backfield on a blitz, but he whiffed on the tackle which allowed Miami running back Lamar Miller to gain 29 yards. Linebacker Jamie Collins had an opportunity to make an interception deep in Miami territory, but he dropped the ball. Cornerback Logan Ryan got his hand on a deep pass intended for Miami wide receiver DeVante Parker, but Parker still made the catch for 46 yards.
Special Teams: D
Kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed his third field of the season when a 46-yard attempt in the second quarter went wide right. He did make a 34-yard attempt earlier in that quarter, and he made touchbacks on all three kickoffs.
Thanks to New England's anemic offense, punter Ryan Allen needed to punt seven times, including punts on five consecutive drives in the second half. Only two of them were downed inside the 20-yard line, and he was't able to get much hang time on a critical fourth-quarter punt when the Patriots were trailing by seven points.
Coaching: F
There's nothing wrong with trying to establish a running game, but calling only seven passing plays in the first half was awfully extreme. It was also incredibly stubborn, given that New England's running backs couldn't find many holes to run through. It appeared as if New England's coaches were trying to protect Brady by not exposing him too much to the Miami pass rush; but if that were a concern, then backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo should have been in the game. As it was, Brady still took several scary-looking hits.
The coaches also exposed a couple of key defensive players to injury. Safeties Devin McCourty (ankle) and Patrick Chung (foot) both started the game despite sitting out last week; McCourty got through the game unscathed, but Chung was briefly knocked out of the game before returning to action. A more-reasonable approach would have been to rest all injured players, because having a healthy team on the road in the playoffs may be better than having a banged-up team at home.
After a 10-0 start, the Patriots finished the season losing four of their last six games. A first-round bye and a divisional playoff game at home still put the Patriots in a decent position for a championship run, but the road to the Super Bowl now goes through Denver, and that's never an easy road to travel.
Gregory Hunt is a Boston native and a life-long fan of the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics. He's also particularly fond of lacrosse, IndyCar racing and women's college basketball. He currently works for Examiner.com where he serves as the Senior Manager of Content and Media Access. He also writes for Examiner.com as the New England Patriots Examiner. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
