Along with exorcising their demons with their first win at Hard Rock Stadium since 2019, the hope is that a 33-27 victory over the Dolphins is a launching pad for the Patriots offense.

Second-year QB Drake Maye played his best game in his young NFL career on Sunday. Maye set new single-game bests in total QBR (77.6) and total expected points added (+16.3) in a performance where he accounted for nearly as many touchdowns (3) as incompletions (4). Maye also didn't register a turnover-worthy play, his third such full game out of 14 career starts where he didn't put the ball in harm's way. For Maye, this was about as close to a peak performance as it gets.

"It was hugely efficient. The ball went where it was supposed to go. He was decisive. He did a great job of transferring up into the pocket, setting his depth, and then transferring up, being really good with the football, being able to pull through with two hands in the pocket when they have edge rushers and we're on the road," head coach Mike Vrabel said on Monday. "When you don't do that, those turn into sacks, hurries, throwaways, strip sacks. When you can climb the pocket, remain a thrower and keep your eyes downfield, that's when you can hit some plays."

Before we continue gushing about Maye's film and the adjustments made by the OC Josh McDaniels in play-calling, we must get a one-game sample size disclaimer out there. Frankly, the Dolphins are in a bad way right now defensively, ranking last in expected points added per drop-back (+0.48) and 31st in passer rating allowed (126.1) through two weeks. In Week 1, Colts QB Daniel Jones also shredded Miami's pass defense. So, as exciting as it is to see Maye play nearly flawlessly for a full 60 minutes, time will tell if this is a turning point for the Patriots offense or an indictment on the Dolphins defense.

That said, it was still a huge step forward for the Maye-McDaniels pairing. Admittedly, the opener left some doubt about the identity of the offense. With the Patriots turning into a drop-back passing offense from the spread and shotgun formations, the results were uneven, and Maye missed throws due to being sped up and inconsistent footwork (his words). On Sunday, McDaniels got into a play-calling groove that was more balanced and less of a burden on his young quarterback. There were fewer shotgun (41.8%) and spread formations (15.4%). More run actions (60%), motion (69.2%) and an increase in moving pockets (five) that cut the field in half to simplify the reads for Maye. Obviously, the game script factored into the Patriots being more QB-friendly, but as we wrote in this space a week ago, finding a running game to incorporate more play-action and motion was an absolute must for this offense.

Although the overall rushing success was similar to Week 1, running the football with duo/outside zone sequencing set up the boots that opened up the downfield passing game. Then, McDaniels got back into his usual bag of gap runs to get downhill with explosives coming on power (+21 yards) and wham (+15 yards) schemes. Was this a one-off script due to the game flow and Miami's struggles on defense, or does McDaniels lean into making Sunday's script the identity of the Patriots offense?

McDaniels has always been a game plan coach, and maybe he saw something in the Dolphins film that suggested the opening script the Patriots had would work. Next week, it might be a different plan to attack the Steelers defense. In theory, a great offense would be able to morph week-to-week, but, from this perspective, the Patriots might need to crawl before they walk and then eventually run. In other words, the quarterback and his supporting cast can execute a more under-center-oriented offense. Leaning into that identity until the drop-back pass stuff comes along might be best.

Lastly, it was a breath of fresh air to see the Patriots control the line of scrimmage against a defensive front that has some dudes: Zach Sieler, Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson, and Bradley Chubb were all held in check, with Maye only being under pressure on seven of his 31 drop-backs (22.6%). It's so refreshing to see an offense that isn't held back by the pass protection, and that's two solid weeks in a row for New England's reworked offensive line in pass pro. So, kudos to the personnel department and line coaches Doug Marrone, Jason "Hoss" Houghtaling, and Robert "Kugs" Kugler for a good start to the season. Now, keep building.

Here are some big-picture thoughts on the Patriots pass defense and quick-hit film notes from the win over the Dolphins After Further Review.

Evaluating the Patriots Pass Defense vs. the Dolphins, Through First Two Weeks

The Patriots got a huge win on Sunday, but it wasn't all perfect for head coach Mike Vrabel's team in the victory over the Dolphins.

Although it's important to keep the small sample size in mind, New England's defense has allowed a league-worst 677 passing yards through the first two weeks. The Pats also rank 29th in expected points added per drop-back (+0.25), and are also allowing a league-worst 10.3 yards per pass attempt. Getting All-Pro CB Christian Gonzalez back will certainly help, and the Patriots were coaching without DC Terrell Williams, leaving the play-calling duties to a first-timer in inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr on Sunday. Still, based on his post-game comments, Vrabel is well aware that the pass defense must improve for this team to keep winning.

"We'll have to do better. We won't be the only team that they get explosive plays against, and we'll just have to continue to be better. I know that. I understand that. There were times where we did, where we took away those throwing lanes, and there were times that we certainly didn't," Vrabel said post-game. "We had to be willing to give up some of those plays outside the numbers. They hit a couple of those sevens and those corners. I told the team that that was what we were going to make them hit. They probably hit too many."

After watching the film, it confirmed my belief from watching the game live: the Patriots defense hasn't yet been competitive enough in coverage. That's not to say there isn't effort being shown, but the coverage needs to be much tighter moving forward to allow a defensive line that has shown flashes of dominance to take over. I don't care if you have the best defensive line in football. When the opposing quarterback gets the ball out on average in 2.24 seconds, as Tua was in the first three quarters, it's nearly impossible to have an impactful pass rush (21.1% pressure rate). In the fourth quarter, his average time to throw rose to 2.97 seconds (66.7% pressure rate, four sacks in the fourth quarter).

As the head coach said, the Patriots were willing to concede out-breaking routes to Tagovailoa, which makes sense. In the lead-up to the game, we wrote about how the Dolphins have generated the second-most EPA on in-breaking routes (slant, in, post) since pairing HC Mike McDaniel with Tua in 2022 – that's their bread-and-butter. New England's coverage plan was to lean heavily on cover two, playing some variation of cover two on 14 of 37 drop-backs (37.8%), their most used coverage in the game. While playing two deep safeties over the top to take away the deep part of the field, cover two with a four-man rush also allows for a five-man short zone distribution to flood the middle of the field.

In theory, it was a sound game plan by the coaching staff. However, in practice, Tua, to his credit, was excellent at attacking the flats and "honey hole" between the flat defender and half-field safety, a very vulnerable void in this particular zone coverage scheme. Tagovailoa completed 12-of-14 passes for 145 yards, a touchdown, and +0.46 EPA per drop-back on flat, corner, and out routes. On the throws that New England was willing to concede, Tua averaged 10.4 yards per pass attempt, which is why the coverage plan failed for three quarters.

The Dolphins QB was particularly dangerous throwing corner routes, with completions of 23 yards, 22 yards, and an 18-yard touchdown. We highlighted another "game within the game" heading into Sunday's matchup: how would the Patriots match Miami's two-back formations (21-personnel)? The Pats decided to use a three-safety nickel package to match the Dolphins heavy personnel with FB Alec Ingold on the field, and Tua was 6-of-7 for 65 passing yards throwing out of 21-personnel. Above, the Pats fall into cover two while Miami runs the corner/flat concept, and Tua hits WR Jaylen Waddle in the "honey hole" for 23 yards.

When the Patriots introduced CB Carlton Davis as a key free-agent signing, Vrabel said he wanted to play "cat coverage" with Davis and Christian Gonzalez, meaning man-to-man. Along with the struggles in spot-drop cover two, the Pats defense sans Gonzo didn't play much man vs. the Dolphins. According to NextGen Stats, the Patriots only played four-man coverage snaps in Week 2.

A big reason was that they struggled to cover in man-to-man, with Tua completing all four of his passes for 48 yards and a touchdown against man coverage. For example, here is a rare snap of cover-one man defense for the Patriots on 3rd-and-5. Miami runs a mesh concept between the numbers with WR Tyreek Hill motioning into his out on the outside. Despite the Dolphins leaving LB Robert Spillane unblocked through the A-Gap, the ball comes out so quickly that even a free-running Spillane can't affect the pass (2.04s).

The Patriots also played a few downs in cover two (man) coverage. The Pats matched the Dolphins three-receiver sets with standard three-corner nickel, which meant that at least one linebacker had to cover the back or tight end in man coverage. On a 29-yard touchdown, Spillane was covering speedy RB De'Von Achane on an option route, and Achane set him up nicely to win the route.

To sum it up, Tua deserves credit for making the Patriots pay for majoring in cover-two by efficiently attacking the holes in the coverage. Then, the Pats couldn't easily pivot to man coverage without their All-Pro corner. That said, Kuhr gets flowers for saving some of his best play calls for last, pivoting to more quarters and cover six zones late.

For example, the Dolphins tried to flood the sideline again, likely anticipated cover two, with two vertical routes paired with an out from the No. 3 receiver here. This time, the Pats play cover six, or quarter-quarter-half, where they have two defenders deep over the three-receiver side. The initial read isn't there, so Tua is forced to hold the ball, and edge rusher Harold Landry wins with a two-hand swipe rush to climb the pocket for a sack.

Although they got some help from the sideline, the Patriots pass defense tightened up when needed. New England also only allowed 20 points per game on defense in the first two weeks, which nowadays is a top-half of the league scoring defense. Still, the Patriots pass defense needs to continue to improve.

Quick-Hit Film Notes From Pats-Dolphins

Offense

- My tape evaluation had Maye with 11 plus plays to only two minus plays, most of which were nitpicky (ball placement on leak, beat late to throw on a curl to Henry, tipped pass). Vrabel said there were some operational things on the pre-snap penalties that they can clean up, and there wasn't a huge amount of heavy lifting in the play-calling, but Maye was decisive and made it look easy, which might be why the "plus" plays are deceiving this week. The 55-yarder to Stevenson was the best in-game rep of Maye's as a pro, and the longest completion of his short NFL career.

- RB Rhamondre Stevenson was outstanding. The 55-yard fingertip catch was a game-changer. He gained 18 rushing yards over expectation on his 21-yard run and had a great catch-and-run on a 14-yard screen to convert a third-and-13. Stevenson forced six missed tackles while gaining 55 yards after contact. Plus, he has held onto the football through two games. The arrow is back to point up on the Patriots lead running back.

- Although the veteran pass-rusher isn't moving the same coming off an injury, LT Will Campbell was in complete control of his matchup vs. Bradley Chubb. Campbell climbed well to the second level, was explosive in his frontside reach blocks on outside zone, moved the line of scrimmage on his double teams, and had a clean sheet in pass protection. Besides a small flinch that led to a false start, Campbell was outstanding.

- LG Jared Wilson was also clean in pass protection. He got called for a hold falling off a double team in the run game, but battled with Kenneth Clark and Zach Sieler to have a solid performance. It's been good to see Wilson's progress on stunt schemes. He's getting better each week, with better balance and controlled aggression while firing off the ball to avoid the quick losses where he gets overextended. Overall, both rookies on the O-Line were great.

- WR Stefon Diggs's yardage output isn't telling the whole story of his impact. Diggs's over-the-ball reception to convert on fourth down is exactly why the Patriots signed him – a professional, quarterback-friendly route that makes a young QB relax on a high-leverage play. It seemed like Maye wanted him to stop/settle his route on a third-quarter target, signaling there's still some chemistry to build in the early going.

- WR Kayshon Boutte made a terrific catch on his 18-yard touchdown, fighting through contact from former Patriots CB Jack Jones to stack over the top through Jones's jam and finish at the catch point. Those gritty catches are nice to see from Boutte, but he was quiet the rest of the game.

- TE Austin Hooper continues to be a solid veteran for this team, who effectively blocked in-line and made a great catch on his 22-yard reception. That wasn't an easy catch given the angle Maye was throwing from and the high arc on the pass. Leak!

- TE Hunter Henry was unlucky with a sack allowed on a tough assignment, had a 13-yard catch wiped out due to a penalty, and was open on an end zone target, but the pass was tipped on the way to him. Henry also hit the "wham" block he and C Garrett Bradbury missed last week for a 15-yard run. The ball will find Henry in the near future.

- WR DeMario Douglas's role was reduced, with Diggs playing more in the slot and WR Mack Hollins having an increased role. Douglas only played 15 snaps, which might've been to get Hollins's run blocking on the field, but one other thought might be that defenses are playing so much zone coverage (70%) zone, whereas Pop is more of a man-beating receiver.

- RT Morgan Moses was playing through a foot injury, so we'll give him grace. He allowed two hurries, and his frontside reaches and second-level climbs were inconsistent while playing on the move/in space, which makes sense given the injury. He was also called for three false starts. On a positive note, Moses was moving bodies on his double teams, with a standout down block on Stevenson's 21-yard run. If that's him playing hurt, it was more than good enough from Moses.

- RG Mike Onwenu was quiet with one total pressure allowed when he let a stunting rusher get on his inside edge. He had better pull blocks, but Onwenu will have inconsistencies in outside zone schemes. Overall, he saw a mix of Sieler, Grant, and Phillips and got the job done.

- C Garrett Bradbury was clean in pass protection and more decisive in his run-blocking to present clearer rush lanes/blocking angles. His aborted shotgun snap was the lone blemish, which came in a big spot, so he'll need to clean that up.

- RB TreVeyon Henderson rode the rookie rollercoaster this week. He had plus plays on a 15-yard wheel route and a 15-yard screen reception. However, he also appeared to allow two sacks and get called for a hold in blitz pickup that wiped out a 13-yard completion. Henderson is a great talent with high-end explosiveness, and the wheel route was a nice design/call to get him loose on third down. But this film serves as a reminder that it's a marathon, not a sprint for all rookies.

- The blocking inserts they're using with Mack Hollins are a nice wrinkle, whether he's kicking out the edge to allow a second-level climb or inserting up to the linebackers on duo. It's very McVayish. Hollins also ran a good route on his touchdown. He has a knack for bootleg concepts.

- QB Pressures: Henderson (two sacks), Henry (sack), Moses (two hurries), Onwenu (hurry).

Defense

- Vrabel pointed to tackling as one area in which the defense also struggled, which he admitted is a difficult task against an offense with dynamic playmakers like Miami. Still, the Pats missed 14 tackles, with LB Robert Spillane having a team-high five missed tackles. The others: Elliss (3), one each (Woodson, Austin, Barmore, Chaisson, Jones, Davis).

- The Patriots linebackers have been shaky in coverage despite the personnel changes. Elliss, Spillane, and Marte Mapu combined to allow 148 passing yards and a score into their coverage, with Tua completing 12 passes on 14 attempts vs. the Pats linebackers. They were also lucky that Achane stepped out of bounds on his 18-yard catch because that was nearly a go-ahead 44-yard TD. The linebackers have had some tough matchups in space out of short zones or man coverage, but Vegas and Miami targeted them in the first two weeks.

- DT Milton Williams has been worth every penny so far, and any doubts about him being a three-down player or a product of the Eagles D-Line are being put to bed quickly. To complement his speed-to-power, the Super Bowl champion has established an effective punch-rip move to get on the guards' edges and is effective on stunt schemes. Williams had five total pressures, 1.5 sacks, and drew a hold vs. the Dolphins – nine total pressures through two games. Beast.

- DT Christian Barmore looks stronger with each rep as he re-acclimates himself to game speed. Barmore had three total pressures, twice winning as the penetrator on stunt schemes and winning a 1-on-1 with a swim move early. Barmore also swam over the left guard for a quick run TFL, and has gotten others free by setting picks on pass-rush games.

- EDGE Harold Landry III got going late in this one. He finished with a huge third-down sack and a QB hit, using a two-hand swipe rush to beat Dolphins backup RT Larry Borom. Landry has also earned his payday so far, logging 10 total pressures and four sacks in the opening two games – he doesn't look washed at all.

- EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson had issues lining up onside in this one (twice), but he logged three total pressures and got home with a cross-chop to record a sack. Chaisson also backdoored an outside zone reach block to his side, causing a run TFL by Marcus Jones.

- The Dolphins didn't test CB Carlton Davis much downfield, choosing to funnel the ball elsewhere, which was a wise choice. Davis was targeted four times for a whopping -0.4 air yards per target, allowing a few short catches, mostly as a flat corner in cover two. It'll be fun to see Davis paired with Gonzalez once the Pats All-Pro corner is healthy.

- CB Alex Austin had a shaky performance, allowing a 47-yard completion to Hill and an 18-yard touchdown to Waddle in coverage. The Waddle touchdown appeared to be two-man, where Austin was in man coverage on the backside. Hill ran by him on the go ball as a cover-three corner to that side of the field. Austin had a great summer, and it's too early to give up on him as a third or fourth cornerback.

- S Craig Woodson allowed two explosives into his deep zone coverage. It's possible that the Patriots coached Woodson to play vertical stems as deep as possible while giving up the corner hole shots, but Hill and Waddle ran him off in both instances to create large throwing windows. This will be a good tape for Woodson to learn from against two of the NFL's premier deep threats.

- EDGE Anfernee Jennings only played 11 snaps, but we had him with three impactful plays, setting the edge vs. outside runs. Jennings setting a sturdy edge led to three run stuffs, two by him and one by his teammate where he strung the ball into the sideline. You wonder if he'll get more early-down work against heavy outside zone teams moving forward.

- CB Marcus Jones made a great tackle to chop down Achane, coming from playing as a split-field safety in cover two down to make the stop. Achane might've scored if Jones hadn't made the tackle. He also had a run stuff. I wonder if Jones gets more reps at safety.

- Pressures: Williams (five, 1.5 sacks), Barmore (three), Chaisson (three, sack), Landry (two, sack), Austin (one), Spillane (sack). Run stuffs: two each (Elliss, Spillane, Jennings), one each (Barmore, Jones, Pettus).

- Coverage: Austin (7/6/98 yards/TD), Spillane (9/8/96 yards/TD), Woodson (2/2/45 yards), Elliss (3/3/34 yards), Mapu (1/1/18 yards/INT), Jones (2/2/14 yards), Davis (4/3/6 yards), Dugger (1/1/4 yards), Gibbens/Hawkins (1/0 each).

- The kickoff return TD was some great patience by RB Antonio Gibson in a crowd to stay behind his blocks and let the play develop. The Pats were holding their blocks, even if the Dolphins were compressing space, and Gibson stayed calm and waited for the crease. On the punt return TD, you'd like to see the Pats punt coverage unit have better width. They got bottled up in a pile and didn't contain much on a possible cutback.

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