Missed opportunities. The Patriots lost their game on missed opportunities. The offensive line play was abysmal. The team struggled to stop Dolphins’ running backs Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller. But after the game, Brady admitted there were passes that he should have made — particularly in the deep game.
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The most notable one was in the fourth quarter with the score still close, Dolphins leading 23-20. Brady saw Edelman deep and streaking on a route in a soft spot of the Phins’ secondary. He overthrew the receiver considerably. If the ball had been thrown well, it may have gone for a touchdown.
“When we’re open down the field I’ve got to hit them,” he said, via Comcast SportsNet New England. “I think that’s how I look at it. We’ve got to make more plays down the field to get more chunks, to shorten the field a little bit. It certainly wasn’t our best day passing the ball yesterday. Our execution and our efficiency was poor, really, over the course of the whole day. It comes down to us being on the same page and our communication and our anticipation and all of us working harder to try to get the outcome to be better than what it was yesterday.”
Brady admits that the Patriots should perform better as a team. The game was winnable if things had gone their way — but such is true of every losing NFL team. The Patriots will reevaluate their situation during the week. Bill Belichick is unhappy with the team and will attempt to whip them into shape. He’ll no doubt starting with the offensive line. But I bet he’ll get after his quarterback, too.