Miami Gardens, FL – The monkey is officially off the Patriots back after a massive 33-27 victory over the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
By now, you all know the trends. A five-game losing streak in Miami. 0-7 vs. Tua. 46-straight games scoring under 30 points (ends the longest active streak in the NFL): all of it came to an end on Sunday in the first win of the head coach Mike Vrabel era — man, does that feel good for these Patriots.
Along with the team finally slaying their Michael Myers (Tagovailoa), second-year QB Drake Maye has a signature win under his belt in a tough place to play for the boys in the North coming down to South Florida. Maye was magnificent, accumulating nearly as many touchdowns (3) as incompletions (4) against the Dolphins defense. He has a signature moment, a 55-yard completion to RB Rhamondre Stevenson followed by a six-yard touchdown scamper, and a complete game without any turnover-worthy plays to speak of on Sunday.
As much as we're all flying high after the big win, the Patriots still have work to do to clean things up before Week 3. Although all that matters is the scoreboard, Tua still had plenty of success with 315 passing yards and two touchdowns. New England was also called for 12 penalties, including several pre-snap penalties offensively, and special teams was once again a mixed bag. Later this week, we'll discuss the corrections. We also know that Miami has its own issues right now. Still, what stood out to Vrabel about the win was that the Patriots aren't frontrunners, with a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown leading to a fourth-quarter comeback victory in a game that featured five lead changes.
"I'm just excited for these guys. I'm really excited that they could fight and compete, come on the road and be in a game and get off to a good start, not be frontrunners," Vrabel said after the win. "We're not frontrunners, and that's big in this league."
Here are nine takeaways as the Patriots head home with a massive first win of the Vrabel era to improve to 1-1 on the season.
1. Play of the Game I: RB Antonio Gibson's 90-Yard Touchdown Return Wins It
In resilient fashion, the Patriots special teams followed up allowing a 74-yard punt return touchdown with a huge play of their own: a 90-yard return touchdown by Antonio Gibson on the ensuing kickoff.
For this scribe, seeing back-to-back return touchdowns was a first – what a crazy swing in the game. Since training camp, Vrabel has been telling reporters that the Patriots need their returners, Gibson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson, to be weapons for this team. Henderson housed a 100-yard return on his first NFL touch in the preseason. Now, they have a kickoff return touchdown in a game that counts in the regular season.
"I was talking to myself before the play like 'make a play right here, AG.' I asked and received," Gibson said post-game.
With the league tweaking its kickoff rules to invite more returns, Gibson and Henderson seem to be huge weapons, as Vrabel noted was crucial for New England this season.
2. Play of the Game II: QB Drake Maye to Rhamondre Stevenson for a 55-yard Completion
Although the Gibson kickoff return touchdown was the game–winner, Maye gave the Patriots the lead by putting the offense on his back for a touchdown drive in the third quarter. The young quarterback hit a 55-yard completion to RB Rhamondre Stevenson and then ran the ball in himself for a six-yard touchdown run.
On the Stevenson play, the Patriots caught the Dolphins with LB Jordny Brooks in coverage on Stevenson out of a single-high safety structure. On the outside, Boutte's vertical route clears out the right sideline for Stevenson's wheel route with nobody helping Brooks over the top. Maye then shrugs off the edge rush by Jaelen Phillips, who gets around a short corner set by RT Morgan Moses, keeping his eyes downfield to hit Stevenson in stride for the explosive play.
"Just trusting [Stevenson]. We work those throws, those kinds of routes, all the time in practice. I throw them to him after practice, working on him catching it over the shoulder. I thought I overthrew it at first, and he made a great play. I thought he was about to score on it," Maye told Patriots.com.
At that moment, it felt like the Pats franchise quarterback had arrived, as those are the types of plays elite quarterbacks make in close games – the 55-yarder was a special play.
3. QB Drake Maye Delivers First Signature Win with Great Performance vs. the Dolphins
The Patriots second-year quarterback was due for a signature win, and it came by snapping a five-game losing streak at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
Maye had four incompletions the entire afternoon with zero turnover-worthy plays – the complete game performance we've been clamoring for from him. The second-year QB finished 19-of-23 for 230 passing yards and three total touchdowns, adding +0.57 expected points added per drop-back (96th percentile). Statistically, the numbers speak for themselves. As for the eye test, my view saw a more on-time Maye throwing in rhythm rather than "rushing" throws like the young quarterback mentioned during the week after the loss in Week 1.
After saying he was rushing his passes last week, the first positive sign for Maye was a fourth-down completion to WR Stefon Diggs when the Pats went for it on 4th-and-3 from the MIA 43. New England cleared space for Diggs to sit down over the sticks by running TE Austin Hooper vertically through a Tampa-2 zone coverage. Maye has to wait for Hooper's route to clear out the pole-runner to create space for Diggs, and the offensive line handles the four-man rush to give Maye time to allow the play to develop. If that's a rushed throw, Maye would be throwing into a cloudy picture. Instead, the timing is crisp, and the Pats move the chains.
The other schemes the Patriots ran to get Maye into a groove involved bootlegs. Moving the pocket cuts the field in half to simplify the read for the quarterback, while Maye is very comfortable throwing on the move. The Pats opening drive touchdown came on a simple boot-action concept where the flat (Hooper) and corner (Hollins) work to present a low-to-high read for the quarterback, and with Dolphins CB Jason Marshall biting on the run action, Hollins wins the foot race on the corner route for a touchdown.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels found an early groove with the play-calling by finding clear pictures and moving the pocket for Maye, a good bounce-back for the coordinator and quarterback.
4. Patriots Struggle For Three Quarters vs. Tua, But Get the Last Laugh on Sunday
Although the headline is a Patriots win, New England's defense didn't exactly "solve" its Tua problem, at least for the first three-plus quarters.
In the first three quarters, Tagovailoa was his usual sharp self against the Patriots defense, adding +0.66 expected points added per drop-back through three frames. In the fourth quarter, the Pats made adjustments, with Tua's efficiency dropping to -0.26 EPA per drop-back with an interception and four sacks, so maybe the fourth quarter is something to build on for this unit. It should also be noted that the Pats defense was without DC Terrell Williams all week, while inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr called plays on Sunday – that's not a small thing.
From this perspective, the story for the Patriots defense in this game wasn't that they only pressured Tua once in the first half. On the surface, that would be an alarmingly low number. However, the real culprit for the lack of pressure was Miami's quarterback getting the ball out on average in 2.17 seconds. It's nearly impossible to get home in under 2.5 seconds, meaning the issues speak more to the coverage not being tight enough to get Tua to hold the ball. Even Tyreek Hill's 47-yard catch took 3.03 seconds to throw – it's a coverage issue.
The Patriots spent most of the game spinning the coverage dial to get into different zone structures, primarily "tricky" cover two zones where they'd change up who split the deep part of the field in half. Tua responded by attacking the flats with quick passes or hitting the "honey hole" between the deep safety and flat defender along the sideline.
In the final drive, Patriots free-agent addition Milton Williams said he and captain Harold Landry made a call on the field to run a stunt up front. Williams said the Dolphins had been chipping on the left side, which they did on the play, so he and Landry knew they'd have the matchup to run a game. Williams then earned his big payday by taking down Tua to seal the win.
Although the first three quarters were shaky, the Patriots defense made plays when it counted, led by Williams (two sacks) and Landry (sack), two of their biggest free-agent additions.
5. Patriots Offensive Line Holds Up in Pass Protection, Must Reduce Penalties
As always, we'll have to watch the film to evaluate the offensive line fully. However, the pressure stats look solid on live viewing. Rookie LT Will Campbell had a clean sheet, mostly working against Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb, while Maye was only under pressure on six of his 31 drop-backs. The only blemishes were pre-snap penalties, with Campbell and veteran Morgan Moses combining for four false start penalties. Based on his post-game presser, Vrabel indicated the operation could help with the false starts. Overall, it's been two solid weeks of pass protection for the Patriots new-look offensive line.
6. Sorting Out the Patriots Running Back By Committee on Sunday
During the week, there were lengthy debates about the Patriots going away from the run game in the second half last week. There was also some disagreement about how they divided up the snaps. On Sunday, the Pats ran the ball traditionally 19 times, so not much more than last week's 18, but New England did hit a few plus-runs. As for the snaps, here was the distribution: Stevenson (39), Henderson (19), Gibson (10).
As for their positive runs, the Patriots had good inside-outside play sequencing to start creasing the Dolphins defense. After starting with heavy outside zone, New England got into their gap runs to get downhill. Above, the Pats use WR Mack Hollins to kick out the playside edge, allowing Hooper and RT Morgan Moses to block down on a double team while rookie LG Jared Wilson pulls. The scheme leaves the furthest defender from the point of attack for Stevenson, and the Pats running back breaks the tackle in the hole to gain 21 yards.
For the backs, the one blemish was some rookie moments for TreVeyon Henderson, who allowed two sacks and was called for a hold in pass protection. New England still didn't have the volume in their running game, but it was a place to start.
7. WR Kayshon Boutte Continues to Make Plays, Pats Use Different Three-Receiver Set
The Patriots went in a slightly different direction at wide receiver on Sunday. The Pats three-receiver sets mostly featured Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, and Kayshon Boutte with a reduced role for slot receiver DeMario Douglas. After only catching two of his seven targets in the opener, the Patriots went away from Douglas (15 snaps), which also could've been to get Hollins on the field more for his run blocking. Although he only had one catch, WR Kayshon Boutte continued to make plays on Sunday.
In a rare man coverage rep for the Dolphins in the first half, the Patriots ran two vertical routes to Maye's left with Boutte and Douglas (slot fade). Maye goes right at old friend Jack Jones' single coverage, and Boutte makes a great catch by finishing through contact for a touchdown. Boutte hasn't created a ton of separation on his targets, but he's running routes with excellent play strength to win the ball at the catch point, while Maye seems to trust the third-year wideout to make a play on the football.
The Patriots mix at wide receiver was good enough to produce one of Maye's most efficient performances, with the group stepping up to make gritty plays in key moments.
8. Patriots Need CB Christian Gonzalez (hamstring) Back ASAP
Although it's unfair to pick on one player or position group, the Patriots defense needs their All-Pro corner to return. Gonzalez's replacement, CB Alex Austin, allowed a 47-yard reception and an 18-yard touchdown to Waddle. But it really goes deeper than that. New England can't play the "cat (man) coverage" Vrabel wanted to deploy when the team signed CB Carlton Davis in free agency to form a formidable duo with Gonzalez. The Pats tried to apply pressure with a blitz-heavy plan in Week 1 and then played soft zone coverage without blitzing in Week 2, with uneven results in both games. The trickle-down effect felt by Gonzalez's absence has loomed large for the Patriots defense – they need him back ASAP.
9. A Seesaw Game for the Patriots Special Teams in Every Sense on Sunday
What an absolutely crazy game for the Patriots on special teams. It comes out in the wash following a win, but it still needs improvement. Rookie kicker Andy Borregales missed two extra points, then drilled a 53-yarder to give the Patriots a six-point lead with 1:52 left. Punter Bryce Baringer had a 71-yard boomer, but then the Pats gave up a 74-yard punt return touchdown. They were also called for three penalties in the kicking game – wacky. Overall, special teams need to be much more consistent, but there are positive flashes.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
