A Week 1 loss has been flushed by the New England Patriots as the attention now turns to a matchup against the Miami Dolphins. While the division foes appear to be trending downwards, New England has not won in Miami since 2019.
So before what is suddenly a big game for New England kicks off, let’s get right into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
Enough of the Doom and Gloom questions. I know it’s early, but did you see any schemes on our defensive side that surprised you? And what would you like to
see changed scheme-wise on the offensive side? – GAPatriot
Sunday was a stark contrast from how defense has been played in New England the last quarter century. Instead of the bend-don’t-break nature of the old units, it was more boom-or-bust against the Raiders. That included a heavy blitz rate (40%) as they embrace a more aggressive nature which led to three sacks but nine explosive plays of 20-plus yards through the air. Still, they only allowed 20 points and did enough to win the game.
While Vrabel’s units in Tennessee did not feature a high blitz rate, he did not have the man coverage talent in the secondary to hold up. I’d imagine they stay aggressive throughout the year, especially when Christian Gonzalez returns.
It seemed like McD was brought in and applauded for evolving his scheme. Incorporating new influences and growing his game. Did you see anything in this past game to suggest he has, indeed, changed his game? It felt eerily familiar and I suppose this worries me the most. – PatsHowYouDoIt
The Week 1 pass concepts and downhill run style were typical parts of McDaniels’ offense. Perhaps the newest wrinkles came in QB run game as New England ran an RPO-zone read, speed-option, and a power-read shovel (1Q, 2:57). The latter — which was one of their better runs of the game — was something they did not even run during the Cam Newton era.
Moving forward, I wonder if they incorporate more outside zone as they did this summer and we’d push for more pre-snap motion. The Patriots ranked dead last in the NFL with a motion rate of 18.5 percent in Week 1 — something McDaniels was asked about on Thursday.
“Using [motion], it’s fun. It can be something that, if you’re not careful, can hurt you. It will certainly change what you’re looking at over there on the defensive side. With such variables in Week 1 and some of the unknown and uncertainty that goes along with an opening game, there’s definitely some pros and cons to it. There will probably be weeks where we use it more and weeks where we don’t based on what we think is hopefully best for the team.”
Miami was arguably the worst NFL team in week one and they are in disarray. The Raiders were a 4 win team last year. Is this week’s game a must win? I believe it is because if they can’t win this week we chould be looking at another 4 win season. – Depotfox
Entering the season, sitting at 2-2 coming out of September was the goal from this point of view. Assuming Week 5 is a loss at Buffalo, that would put New England at 2-3 entering a winnable stretch of games that includes at New Orleans, at Tennessee, and vs. Cleveland.
Assuming a split against Pittsburgh and Carolina coming to Gillette Stadium in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively, winning down in Miami is then a must to hit that 2-2 checkpoint. Plus with the way Miami as a whole looks right now, dropping this game (even down in Florida) would be alarming.
With all the pre-season hype around Pop Douglas being a perfect fit for this offense and expectations of having a VERY big year, any insight into why he was such a non-factor in this game? I get he had the touchdown, which is certainly a positive, just not enough to out weigh two catches on seven targets for -2 yards. – JBill
It was a weird game for Douglas. He had the touchdown and drop, but was open several times underneath on film throughout the game. That included an overthrow by Maye on the first attempt of the game and later in the end zone the play before the touchdown, but other instances where Maye did not pull the trigger or had the ball batted at the line of scrimmage (2Q, 9:52). I would guess the production comes.
Does Chism have a path to meaningful work? – ed.liebfried
Is it possible we see Efton Chism on the active roster in Miami? I love Pop D but the drops and uninspiring stat line despite the TD leaves me yearning for someone with sure hands and the ability to get open. Would love to see the kid get a shot. Thoughts? – Pats2001
Would love to see Chism get some work, but it’s tough to see a path at the moment with veterans DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins, and Stefon Diggs ahead of him on the depth chart. He remained on scout team this week would could hint at another trip to the inactive list.
As of now, Chism’s best path seems to be if that production does not come from Douglas or an injury occurs ahead of him.
Alternate: Does Kyle Williams have a path to meaningful work?
With Kayshon Boutte not coming off the field as the X receiver, adding to Williams’ role would again take snaps away from those same veterans ahead of Chism. But, the Patriots need more vertical speed and that’s exactly what Williams and his 4.4-speed provides. We’d push for him to see more playing time over Hollins to bring some juice to the unit.
Stefon Diggs* (40; 56%), had most of his plays and targets in the second half. Do you think he was on a play count? How do you see role this week and in the coming weeks? – MayeDAY
Seems like they are easing him back into things to start. Would imagine Diggs sees his usage increase as the season goes on as long as he is getting open and producing.
Were you surprised that Westover only played 2 snaps after all the discussion of McDaniel’s love of the FB? Seems odd there was not more 21 or 22 personnel used to try to establish the run. – spyponder90
As a whole, I was surprised by their inability to run the football and the fact they went away from the ground game in the second-half. That ultimately led to less snaps for Westover, while Mack Hollins also saw a pair of snaps in the backfield to contribute to that low snap number.
With Terrell Williams dealing health issues again…who would be next in line if McD had similar problems…Marrone? – PatsHowYouDoIt
They would have plenty of options with several former head coaches and play callers. I would lean tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Thomas Brown as he was the second play caller opposite McDaniels in the in-stadium scrimmage the summer.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.
