Pats Pulpit
When he was introduced as the New England Patriots’ head coach in January, Mike Vrabel mentioned that he wanted his team to play “aggressive but not reckless.” Against few opponents is that more approach important than the Miami Dolphins.
While the Patriots’ Week 2 opponent suffered a lopsided 33-8 defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, Vrabel is well aware of the team’s potential. That is particularly true on the offensive side of the ball, where Miami features some game-changing speed at the skill positions.
How do the Patriots plan to combat it? By being aggressive but not reckless.
“Pick and choose your spots to try to be aggressive,” Vrabel explained on Wednesday.
“We’re certainly going to have to make them earn it, and we’re going to have to find ways to get the drive stopped. You either have to do what the Colts did, which was turn it over, or you’re going to have to make a play along the way and make them earn it.”
In order to make Miami “earn it,” the Patriots will need to find a way to limit the team’s array of weapons — from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to fullback Alec Ingold.
“They’ve got a fantastic orchestrator. I mean, Tua does a fantastic job of knowing where he wants to go with the ball. Quick delivery, he’s extremely accurate,” Vrabel said about the sixth-year QB. “Then the speed with [Jaylen] Waddle, Tyreek [Hill] and the whole team. Then again, they have a fullback that has versatility and can play on the inner line of scrimmage, motions. Usually every big play, he’s kind of in the run game, he’s somewhere near it.”
In Week 1, the Colts defense managed to set the tone early by registering turnovers on three of the Dolphins’ first four possessions. As a result, the AFC East side found itself a whole it never managed to get out of. The Patriots also registered a turnover in their opening day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, but relying primarily on takeaways is a dangerous way to play a team like Miami.
Instead, as Vrabel pointed out, his team also needs to find a way for the individual units to complement each other better than they did last Sunday.
“We try to bring three phases together and put the return opportunities that we have to help our offense, to then our offense is able to score or flip the field, provide our defense with opportunities,” Vrabel said. “We can get some turnovers, take care of the ball. That’s the formula to winning.”
