Pats Pulpit
A Week 1 loss has been flushed by the New England Patriots as the attention now turns to a matchup against the Miami Dolphins. While the division foes appear to be trending downwards, New England has not won in Miami since 2019.
So before what is suddenly a big game for New England kicks off, let’s get right into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
Enough of the Doom and Gloom questions. I know it’s early, but did you see any schemes on our defensive side that surprised you? And what would you like to see changed scheme-wise on the offensive side? – GAPatriot
Sunday was a stark contrast from how defense has been played in New England the last quarter century. Instead of the bend-don’t-break nature of the old units, it was more boom-or-bust against the Raiders. That included a heavy blitz rate (40%) as they embrace a more aggressive nature which led to three sacks but nine explosive plays of 20-plus yards through the air. Still, they only allowed 20 points and did enough to win the game.
While Vrabel’s units in Tennessee did not feature a high blitz rate, he did not have the man coverage talent in the secondary to hold up. I’d imagine they stay aggressive throughout the year, especially when Christian Gonzalez returns.
It seemed like McD was brought in and applauded for evolving his scheme. Incorporating new influences and growing his game. Did you see anything in this past game to suggest he has, indeed, changed his game? It felt eerily familiar and I suppose this worries me the most. – PatsHowYouDoIt
The Week 1 pass concepts and downhill run style were typical parts of McDaniels’ offense. Perhaps the newest wrinkles came in QB run game as New England ran an RPO-zone read, speed-option, and a power-read shovel (1Q, 2:57). The latter — which was one of their better runs of the game — was something they did not even run during the Cam Newton era.
Moving forward, I wonder if they incorporate more outside zone as they did this summer and we’d push for more pre-snap motion. The Patriots ranked dead last in the NFL with a motion rate of 18.5 percent in Week 1 — something McDaniels was asked about on Thursday.
“Using [motion], it’s fun. It can be something that, if you’re not careful, can hurt you. It will certainly change what you’re looking at over there on the defensive side. With such variables in Week 1 and some of the unknown and uncertainty that goes along with an opening game, there’s definitely some pros and cons to it. There will probably be weeks where we use it more and weeks where we don’t based on what we think is hopefully best for the team.”
***Miami was arguably the worst NFL team in week one and they are in disarray. The Raiders were a 4 win team last year. Is this week’s game a must win? I believe it is...
