Dolphins at Patriots: 3 things we learned
By Matt Kerns
Sunday’s home opener provided a thrilling ending as the New England Patriots were able to hold off a delayed comeback from the Miami Dolphins.
Sunday’s win over the Miami Dolphins was a bittersweet one for the New England Patriots as they lost quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a sprained right AC joint just five minutes into the second quarter. By that time, however, Garoppolo had thrown for 234 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Despite the injury, New England has yet to rule him out for Thursday night’s game against the Texans. Houston is 2-0 and that defense is no joke, so you could see why the Pats would love to have him available. However, it’d be senseless to risk a further injury if he’s not ready for Week 3.
Miami now sits at 0-2 after being competitive in their first two games. They’re not the worst team in football, but they don’t look much better than they did a year ago when they went 6-10, finishing fourth in the AFC East. In two games, middle linebacker Kiko Alonso also looks no better than he did last year in Philadelphia, where he played himself out of a job.
Jacoby Brissett will soon become a household name. It appears that he’s in line to start Thursday. He finished the game 6-of-9 with 92 yards, he was also sacked twice. Two of his incompletions were dropped. Brissett, a rookie from NC State, was drafted in the third round of this year’s draft.
Short weeks are never fun, but if the Patriots have to insert a new quarterback over the short week, that’s even more of a disadvantage. Don’t ever underestimate head coach Bill Belichick however, as many learned that lesson in Week 1 in Arizona. But let’s get back to the classroom for our three lessons of the game.
1. New England has a top five cornerback corps
Don’t call me crazy just yet, I get that New England has allowed 321 yards per game via the air. But of the 389 that Ryan Tannehill threw for on Sunday, about 300 of them came in the second half when the game was well out of hand. And let’s face it, if Garoppolo doesn’t get hurt this game isn’t even close.
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What I love most about this secondary is all of their corners can play press coverage. Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler, along with the rest of the secondary, were locked in during the first half. Both are great tacklers as well, and Ryan might just be the best tackling corner in the game.
Miami didn’t convert on third down till their last drive of the first half, where they ended up scoring a field goal right before the half, giving them some life going into the locker room. New England zoned it up on the drive, and let Tannehill throw quick completions to his very good corps of receivers.
Despite slot corner Justin Coleman giving up a 24-yard touchdown to receiver Kenny Stills in the third quarter, Coleman had an excellent Week 1 when he primarily went up against Cardinals receiver John Brown. He held Brown catch-less and had two pass breakups as Palmer was 0-3 when he targeted Coleman.
2. Despite the injury, Garoppolo is the real deal
What really stood out to me on Sunday was the efficiency and poise Garoppolo had in the pocket. On plays when he was blitzed, Garoppolo was 7-for-10 for 103 yards and a touchdown. Give credit to New England’s O-line — in particular, center David Andrews, who did a phenomenal job handling Ndamukong Suh.
On all three of his touchdowns, Garoppolo looked off either a safety, linebacker, or both and delivered the ball in the opposite direction. His eye manipulation is a trait of an elite quarterback. Being able to look off a defender like that and deliver a well-thrown ball in another direction goes a long way in a quarterback’s development.
Losing Garoppolo is a big blow to this team. They will have to figure out what to do for the next two games until Brady returns. But if you’re a Pats fan you have got to be happy with what you have seen in Garoppolo thus far.
The future definitely looks bright in New England. He’s done a fine job getting the ball to his receivers, tight ends and backs while slowly slicing up defenses. When throwing in the middle of the field, Garoppolo was 15-for-19 for 200 yards, including all three of his touchdown passes. He’s confident in his ability to look one way and throw to a receiver on a drag or deep post in the middle of the field.
3. Adam Gase will make this team a contender, at some point
Despite what the record says for the Dolphins, a lot of credit has to be given to the resiliency of this team. Say what you want about how Garoppolo got hurt and that’s the only reason why this game was close, but Miami could have easily checked out and packed their bags. They didn’t and nearly forced overtime in this one.
The defense was on the field for basically the entire first half after four three and outs by Miami, and two four-and-outs. Gase is a first-year head coach. Change doesn’t happen overnight and the brutal reality of being an NFL head coach has already hit Gase just two weeks into the season.
Things will get better for Miami. They’ve been competitive and while there are no moral victories in professional sports; ask any Dolphins fan if they would’ve rather lost that game 31-3 or 31-24 and you’ll see what I mean. They have Cleveland coming up and should be able to snag their first win of the season.
The quarterback play must improve for Miami however, and it all starts with No. 17. The Dolphins will go as far as he takes them, but with the guidance of Gase I think they will be relevant sooner than later.