Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots’ first division matchup of the season will be a battle of 0-1 teams. Both the Patriots and Miami Dolphins lost their season openers, putting both teams under quite a bit of pressure already this early in the season.
In order to find out more about the Dolphins, we reached out to Kevin Nogle of Pats Pulpit’s sister site The Phinsider — the SB Nation community for all things Dolphins. Here is what he told us about the upcoming game and what to expect from New England’s Week 2 opponent.
1. How hot is Mike McDaniel’s seat in Miami after Sunday’s 33-8 loss? Did he put players in the best position to succeed?
I have no idea what the Dolphins did last week. They just looked they were playing preseason Game 4 instead of regular season Game 1. They started the game flat, never found any sense of energy, and the score reflects just an ugly performance all around.
That falls squarely at the feet of McDaniel — though you would think professionals would be prepared to do their job when it is required. McDaniel is definitely on the hot seat after a team-wide performance like that and if they do not come out with a better performance on Sunday, I am not sure he makes it to the half-way mark of the season.
And I say that as someone who thinks McDaniel can be a good head coach in the league. I see some of what he is trying to do, making the players more responsible for themselves, making them true professionals rather than relying on the term professional simply because they get paid to play a game. He has a great idea of how impactful an offense can be. But, since last year, we are not seeing adjustments and the spark is missing. He either needs to find a way to bring it back, or Miami will be looking for a new head coach fairly quickly.
2. Passer rating can be deceiving, but a 51.7 passer rating and two interceptions in Week 1 are jarring for a veteran like Tua Tagovailoa. Was there more to his stat line than meets the eye? Or is there a bigger issue at the quarterback?
Part of it was the team’s overall performance, but Tagovailoa had a particularly poor game. There is a difference between making mistakes but then bouncing back in an effective offense, and Miami’s abysmal Week 1 offense. The first interception was a badly overthrown pass. The second was Tagovailoa pressing and throwing a ball he should not have thrown. Both fall on him.
Former Dolphins, now Colts, cornerback Xavien Howard told the media after the game that they knew if they took away Tagovailoa’s initial read, he would go into “panic mode.” On Sunday, it seemed that way. The Dolphins’ offense is built on timing and quick decision-making. When the timing was off against Indianapolis, Tagovailoa could not seem to settle the offense and find...
