Miami – Three Things of Note
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1)
In Henne Can They Trust?
One game would be too soon to forget about all the checkdowns and cautious play, but there was something different about Chad Henne (+7.2). Consider this; last year he threw the ball further than 20 yards on 7.3% of his attempts. In this game, that number sky rocketed to 16.3%. Check down Chad has left the building. Still, it wasn’t just his willingness to attack the defense, he made some good throws and plays with his feet as well. More so, he didn’t seem as rattled by pressure getting his way, completely a healthy 57.1% of passes when he was pressured. It was an encouraging display lost amongst an out of this world one on the other side.
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2)
Pick a Defender, Any Defender
Name a Miami defender who played on Monday night and the odds are they graded negatively. The team combined for an atrocious -14.4 coverage with there being so much blame to go around that at least it won’t feel like anyone is being singled out. Take the cornerbacks, Nolan Carroll (-3.5) gave up 103 yards as Brady ruthlessly exposed him, while Benny Sapp (-3.4) just couldn’t handle Wes Welker (or anyone else for that matter). Even two pass defenses (one of which that led to an INT) couldn’t offset the 169 yards and two touchdowns given up. We could go on to talk about the linebacker who was brought in to protect them against tight ends, but you probably already know. Those guys weren’t even the starters, but they themselves had their struggles. The conditions and nature of the game played its part, but the combined 114 yards and a touchdown that Sean Smith (-1.8) and Vontae Davis (-1.5) gave up actually flatters them given how poor they were. The only consolation is it can’t get much worse than this, until they play New England against at least.
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3)
A Mixed Introduction
What to make of Mike Pouncey’s (+0.9) NFL debut? He was certainly going to have his hands full given the talent on the Patriots roster, and it’s fair to say he acquitted himself pretty well, as a run blocker. As a pass blocker? Not so much. In that regard he gave up three pressures (two to Haynesworth). Still, his run blocking was very encouraging. He was up the task of both Haynesworth and Vince Wilfork and added a couple of nice blocks at the second level for good measure. He resembles his brother in more than just appearances.
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