Thoughts on the Dolphins/Pats Game

Wilkins forced the fumble. Minkah recovered. Also Preston Williams is an undrafted rookie.

Can you add Eric Rowe being absolute trash to your list?

"Not So Fast wrote:

Wilkins forced the fumble. Minkah recovered. Also Preston Williams is an undrafted rookie.

I'm pretty sure Minkah hit that ball out, but I'll look at the replay again. And I know Williams is undrafted...that makes him even more special.

Why is Ballage scared of the football. I don't think I've ever seen a pro football player duck to avoid a football. And then he couldn't wait to throw it away when he did catch it. Damdest thing I ever saw.

"KeyFin wrote:

I'm pretty sure Minkah hit that ball out, but I'll look at the replay again. And I know Williams is undrafted...that makes him even more special.

Yes, agree, Minkah hit the ball out.

You're right, Rosen threw a couple of beautiful passes that were dropped. After that, though, there a number of "F*** it, I'll throw it 40 yards and see what happens" throws, though who could blame him.

I'm torn between "let's see what we have" and "what if it turns out we have something but he doesn't survive to the end of the season"? Well, I guess that is what the #1 pick is for.

I'd love to hear Marino's take on the QB situation.

"Hooligan wrote:

I'd love to hear Marino's take on the QB situation.

And he'd tell you with that line, Drake and the Wildcat seem like an awfully good option. It's impossible to evaluate a QB under that much constant pressure.

"KeyFin wrote:

And he'd tell you with that line, Drake and the Wildcat seem like an awfully good option. It's impossible to evaluate a QB under that much constant pressure.

Of course when you’re giving up 51 points a game, the offensive line is being put into a very difficult predicament in terms of pass protection.

"The Guy wrote:

Of course when you’re giving up 51 points a game, the offensive line is being put into a very difficult predicament in terms of pass protection.

Did you watch the game? The defense did okay considering.

I der that as well really think they could have stretched the field and had 60 points no lie. Saw a few positives but man the wideouts and balls he need to hold on to balls!!

dedense looks horrible against screen still. Watch what happens gronk unretires and wins another super bowl

“You can have the whole goddamn f---in' shit, man! You can kiss my a-- in the county square cause I'm f---in' buggin' out! I didn't come here for this! I don't f---in' need it, I don't want it! I didn't get out of the goddamn Eighth grade for this kinda s--t!

Gunna be a long season.

Had to work and didn't get a chance to watch it. Then to compound that, I had internet trouble when I got home.

Were we competitive? Did anyone/anything improve from last week?

"Surfs Up 99 wrote:

Had to work and didn't get a chance to watch it. Then to compound that, I had internet trouble when I got home.

Were we competitive? Did anyone/anything improve from last week?

The game stayed closer for longer before they blew it open. We were only down 16-0 for a while if I recall.

Otherwise? Ehhh

"Surfs Up 99 wrote:

Had to work and didn't get a chance to watch it. Then to compound that, I had internet trouble when I got home.

Were we competitive? Did anyone/anything improve from last week?

Run game couldn't get going for anything.
Offense was horrible/non-existent for most of the game, although the pocket had moments where it help up better than last week, and towards the end they were able to get more passes out. Sadly, the receivers then started dropping/missing catches.

Scary moment when Rosen, at the end, got hit on the leg running out of bounds and went off briefly, but then came right back on. Hopefully nothing on-going with that.

Defense had a stronger (but obviously not strong) showing. The Patriots didn't try for much downfield but rather aimed to slice and dice at the intermediate level and generate yardage opportunities that way - which they were able to do. A few questionable calls as usual, chief of which was a non-call of OPI on AB who very kindly helped his defender along the way before turning around and catching a touch down. An obvious OPI happened later and also wasn't called but Flores challenged it and it was then penalised. We also got a couple of sacks on Brady.

The team seemed to have fight in them, and didn't give up, and the score got run up a bit due to a couple of pick sixes towards the end of the game.

We also have a lot fewer penalties called, no off-sides etc. that I remember.

All in all, it felt like a small improvement on last week. I think the one thing that will make a big difference - if it's even possible to figure out - is establishing a run game. If we can generate some semblance of a run game it will help in every area.

I think we saw improvements, esp. on D. I think they did a good job at taking away the deep ball. The pressure on Brady was there for a solid portion of the game. The running game has to improve in order to get the rhythm of the offense going. Drops by wideouts were bad.

There is an obvious talent difference between Fitz and Rosen, though I think Fitz “understands” how to read a defense much better, and understands the nuances of playing QB much better despite his physical deficiencies. It certainly doesn’t always show up on the field. Prime example, the pass to Parker that was dropped.

Here’s the thing, there is only so much more of this the team can go through before either: A) the locker room is lost, -or- B) they just start having fun with this. I really hope it’s the latter, and I hope it’s sooner rather than later. I understand the “work hard” mentality, but that can become mentally draining over the course of the season. I hope this staff are great communicators. And I really hope this staff know what they are doing.....

"Surfs Up 99 wrote:

Had to work and didn't get a chance to watch it. Then to compound that, I had internet trouble when I got home.

Were we competitive? Did anyone/anything improve from last week?

Fitzpatrick had a little bit of time in the pocket for most plays in the first half- maybe 2.5 seconds on average. NE has a great secondary though and there wasn't much there- plus he was sacked several times and there were several drops. Rosen came in for the 4th quarter- got sacked on his 1st play (looking deep), threw a beautiful threaded 55 yard TD pass to Grant on the next play that hit both hands then balanced on his helmet for a split second before hitting the ground...then he threw another TD pass to Williams on the very next play (also hitting him in stride in the hands and then dropped). From there on, it seemed like Rosen sort of gave up and just started airing it out to try and get a few points on the board...the Pats dialed up pressure though and there weren't any more opportunities.

On D, Miami looked "okay". The Pats mainly threw short on quick passes so there weren't a lot of opportunities. Antonio Brown pushed off A LOT and the Pats were pretty much unstoppable. We played the run a lot better though (not good, mind you, but they didn't get 20 yards per touch like the Ravens either). Brady was sacked maybe 3 times? There was a little bit of pressure but Brady got the ball out fast. Minkah stripped the runner and created a turnover in the 4th.

There were two pick-6's towards the end of the game so it was actually a lot closer than the score made it seem...I'm thinking it was 22-0 going into the 4th (sorry, it's just not worth looking up). Rosen's back to back TD pass attempts were absolutely BEAUTIFUL and Preston Williams had another solid day....yet him and Grant just couldn't haul in the easy scores on those two plays.

So were we competitive? Yeah, sort of. If Rosen started the 2nd half (or the whole game), maybe we could have had a shot at winning. Fitzpatrick wasn't bad by any means and only halfway had to run for his life at times (big improvement from week one); there were several blown routes, miscommunications, etc. to stall drives though.

Thanks for bringing up to date ya’ll. I know it's still feeble, but who has the offense performing better Fitzpatrick or Rosen?

"Surfs Up 99 wrote:

Thanks for bringing up to date ya’ll. I know it's still feeble, but who has the offense performing better Fitzpatrick or Rosen?

Rosen looked better, but the Oline did absolutely no favors for Fitz. It got to a point that Fitz tried to force a couple of throws that turned into pick 6s. In other words, Rosen "looked" better, but I'm not sure if it'll make a difference if the Oline is going to be as inept as they are. Maybe inept is the the wrong word. Maybe raw and inexperienced?

"Big Phin wrote:

Rosen looked better, but the Oline did absolutely no favors for Fitz. It got to a point that Fitz tried to force a couple of throws that turned into pick 6s. In other words, Rosen "looked" better, but I'm not sure if it'll make a difference if the Oline is going to be as inept as they are. Maybe inept is the the wrong word. Maybe raw and inexperienced?

Their pass pro was okay for what they are, it's the run-blocking (surprise, surprise) that was bad. Nobody forced those throws except for Fitzpatrick.

"invid wrote:

Their pass pro was okay for what they are, it's the run-blocking (surprise, surprise) that was bad. Nobody forced those throws except for Fitzpatrick.

Yeah, I would have called it "pretty good" under the circumstances....it was a massive improvement from week one. At the same time though, when the Pats felt like blitzing all hell broke loose in the backfield, LOL.

I feel so darn bad for Fitzpatrick...but the guy keeps his head up anyway. He's a good dude.

"Big Phin wrote:

Rosen looked better, but the Oline did absolutely no favors for Fitz. It got to a point that Fitz tried to force a couple of throws that turned into pick 6s. In other words, Rosen "looked" better, but I'm not sure if it'll make a difference if the Oline is going to be as inept as they are. Maybe inept is the the wrong word. Maybe raw and inexperienced?

Don’t discount the effect of being down big on the scoreboard on the offensive line. There are probably few if any offensive lines in the league that can withstand being teed off on by a defensive front that knows the opposing quarterback has to pass the ball.

"The Guy wrote:

Don’t discount the effect of being down big on the scoreboard on the offensive line. There are probably few if any offensive lines in the league that can withstand being teed off on by a defensive front that knows the opposing quarterback has to pass the ball.

I agree because its 100% true.

I disagree because I dont think this line can really block anyone consistently for any period of time under any circumstances.