This is easily the strangest opening to a season that I can remember. I don’t recall knowing this little about our team at this point of the season, just 3 days before our season opener. What I do know is our team is a very young team, 2 of the young ones pictured will likely determine our success or demise this Sunday. Rookie starting LT Austin Jackson is getting his first start of hopefully a very long successful career but it will be difficult task going up against a Bill Belichick team. It doesn’t matter what the names are on the New England defense, he will disguise and confuse even the savviest OL, so both Austin Jackson (LT) and big Solomon Kindley (RG) will have to be on point. If you were to subtract the age of our starting QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, we’re trotting out a very young team. Jackson (21), Flowers (26), Karras (27), Kindley (23) and Davis, the elder statesman at 29. Devante Parker (27), Preston Williams (23), Jakeem Grant (27), Mike Gesicki (24), Durham Smythe (25), Jordan Howard (25) and Chandler Cox (24). The average of the 12 listed (including both TE Durham Smythe and FB Chandler Cox) is 25 years old. Throw in these important factors, very little practice time, no preseason games, a lot of new faces put together, facing a seasoned master in Bill Belichick and there is a chance that many things can go wrong. On the other hand, I think Flores will have our team prepared and I do believe we can see success against the Patriots this Sunday.
That was just our offense, our defense is quite young as well. I’ll spare you the lists with ages but the average age is 25.5 years old. LB Kyle Van Noy is the elder at 30 on the defense. The depth is really young as well, on both sides. It’s a great start in year 1 of the rebuild, it really is. Yes, it was disappointing to jettison Raekwon McMillan who no longer fit our needs because we’ve been doing this for a long time, drafting talent, changing schemes and then purging the talent that doesn’t fit. Hopefully with Flores and Grier we’re done with that cycle. Picking up WR/RB/QB Lynn Bowden from the Raiders make me think we’re not going to be the 1 WR, 2 TE rushing attack a lot of the time. I think we’re looking for playmakers all over the place and in today’s NFL, that’s wise. You have to score to keep up. Nothing like being able to run a game out but you have to be up in order to do that. You can’t stop the best teams from scoring, that’s a fact. You have to be able to keep up. I don’t really know what to expect from our defense. I know we have really shored up the back end with a quality secondary by adding Byron Jones to Xavien Howard for s shutdown duo of CB’s and a fine young rookie NB in Noah Igbinoghene. Bobby McCain will be the centerfielder while Eric Rowe will likely be closer to the LOS. What will be interesting to see how we use the LB’s and DL and in what combinations. Baker and Roberts will patrol the middle with Ogbah and Van Noy on the outside. Of course there will be various formations and Lawson and Strowbridge and Van Ginkel will be a part of. Looking forward to seeing all the pieces in play and even if we’re not successful this Sunday, at least hoping we see signs that things are going to be better.
I look forward to seeing DeVante Parker starting strong and seeing Preston Williams all the way back from injury. Can Jakeem Grant hold off the competition for slot play from Mack Hollins, Malcolm Perry and Lynn Bowden? Will we actually be able to run the ball effectively? Will our young OL be able to pass protect for Ryan Fitzpatrick or will he be running for his life as he did last season. Will our front 7 be able to generate a pass rush for a change? Will the three headed CB combo of Howard, Jones and Iggy be one of the NFL’s best? Can Rowe make the switch to safety and is Bobby Mac ready to resume his role of safety and stay healthy? A lot of questions loom, as the even bigger question that is silent at the moment, but you know when does Tua play is lurking not so stealthily in the shadows. It’s there, because as soon as Fitz has his bad day, it will rear it’s ugly head and be right there in the forefront. For now at least, it hides.
Keep in mind that Bill Belichick desperately wants to answer the question “Was it Belichick or Brady” with a resounding Belichick! Tom Brady, sickeningly so has been anointed NFC MVP and is already in the fucking Superbowl against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. It’s disgusting! I guess the NFL needs a storyline and now instead of seeing New England Patriots 24/7 it’s the freaking Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Brady every second. I think Brady has the better chance to succeed with all that talent on the roster but never count the master Belichick out. True, he won’t have his stalwart QB Brady running the offense anymore and I’m not much of a Cam fan, I think he’s been one of the most overrated QB’s in the game. I don’t think he deserves a marquis, he’s a JAG. If he’s healthy, he’s a threat to run and I think that’s where he’s most dangerous to the opposition. If he’s back there slinging it, I think he’s more dangerous to his own team. It’s going to be fun watching this game, so many angles to come together to make this game a must watch.
GO DOLPHINS!!
#staythecourse
Finsmob Unleashed 
Ken, did you see that play where Kindley didn’t even get close to making the block? He looked really slow. He’s probably a good run blocker creating some space right in front of him. He may also have to adjust to the speed of the NFL, he may have thought he had more time. We’ll see how he does going forward.
I didn’t see that but I did see him push people off the line run blocking
IF SOMEONE were to tell me that Fitzpatrick would have one of his worst games as a Dolphin (3 interceptions, NO Touchdown passes) I would have responded “We’re gonna get killed.” If the same person had told me we’d be outgained on the ground by almost 4 to 1, I would have said “WE’RE REALLY GONNA GET SLAUGHTERED!” Well, we didn’t. We were in the game until there were about 2 minutes left. THIS ISN’T the 59 point slaughter Young Stanger and I saw a year ago. It was a competitive game, for the most part.
——————
The loss of Parker was a factor. But not a HUGE factor. Ford made a couple of nice plays while he was in there. The bigger factor was Miami’s inability to control the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. Now we DID DRAFT players to address these issues. And some of them (maybe MOST OF THEM) figure to become reliable players in the future with the help of an upgraded coaching staff. I BELIEVE Miami, with its plethora of young players, suffered the most from a lack of preseason games. But, as the Fins get further through their schedule, the staff will figure out who can play right now and who CAN’T PLAY RIGHT NOW. So I definitely expect some improvement next week, even tho’ we’ll be playing maybe the best team in our division (BUFFALO).
—————–
FITZY doesn’t figure to stink it up this bad next week. He’ll be better. Our O-Line and D-Line will make adjustments. And, with a bit of luck, we’ll have a chance to WIN THIS GAME in the final quarter. THAT’S a BIG IMPROVEMENT over this time last season!
I was OK with what I saw, but then wasn’t expecting a SuperBowl year either. Gotta stop the run though.
D’Andre Swift just dropped the game winning TD. Easy catch too.
I had a feeling we were going to have trouble containing Newton. I didn’t fear him passing on us because he sucks, but he’s a load on the ground when healthy. We also guessed wrong a lot on RPO’s which was killing us. We did adjust, but next time I expect it to be very different.
Everyone crying in their beer?
Nah!
I didn’t let my expectations overshadow the lack of practice on a 40% turned over team!
Looks like Brady & Bill got joint custody of the Ref’s!! 😦
😆 do they have rights to conjugal visits?
I can’t picture Bill giving out favors!
But Brady?????????? 😉
I think Bill gives but doesn’t receive
😲
NOT ME: BRAYDEN POINT is playing and The Lightning just took a 2-1 lead over the NYI in the second period!! GOO-O-O Bolts!
I cant stand that roach antenna hairstyle of Newton.
Overall against a team they couldn’t really prep for with Newton in a new scheme no tape no off-season games even. It wasn’t the worst game, though they have a lot to clean up. We will see with our next meeting if we improved any against them
OL was much improved though if we are looking for silver linings. Running game was ok to start off but we had to kinda abandon it.
Defense had a rough time but there were a couple positives with Baker and Igmahogany.
This is my main problem: “The Dolphins gave up 217 rushing yards on 5.2 yards per carry.” Are those coverage LBs just not built to stop the run?
And add in the lack of a thumper safety.
Yeah but that’s not how we are using safeties and I really agree with that decision. We should have gotten a lot more from the DL
DL wasn’t great. I don’t think you can put that in the LBs too much. It’s was going to be tough on them with Newton and it was pretty rough until they made adjustments
Saw lots of 2nd level mistakes….. and yeah put that on the people back there. Same time understand Newton is a most different kind of QB. Even if he doesn’t have the ball he impacts the play.
One of the tougher teams to beat. Bill’s, too.
Let’s see them grow. C’mon Fitz!
I didn’t think the line was stout. Struggled.
Wilkins was a beast!
Yeah he had a pretty solid game with pressure and swatting down passed but he wasn’t perfect, he didn’t help much congesting the LOS against the run. Had a couple of big runs right through his gap.
Godchaux a little better against the run but a little less against the pass.
I thought Kindley did pretty good outside the one play Mike mentioned where he didn’t pick up the right guy. One big mistake on the rookie isn’t something to worry over, not yet at least.
Jackson had a decent game but there is a lot to improve on. Lots to work with though.
Again they are rookies there just isn’t any way to expect much more from them.
The only question I have is about the RB rotation????
WTF is up with that?????
Actually seem to work okay. Gaskins looks good, Jordan did what you want him to do but we need more Breida
Gaskins looked just fine, but if I was Breida would be pissed off……probably Howard as well.
Dude I was gonna mention that. We going RB posse? At one point was thinking Howard must be hurt but then they trotted him out for the short yardage goal line stuff. He’s supposed to be our work horse back.
I think it’s too early to think that’s how all the games are going to be. They were testing them all out, and a lot of that will play into later in the season. If we establish we can do it with whomever we have in there the better off the offense will be later on.
Rotating the RBs makes sense early to kinda see how best to use them.
LBs had the toughest job this game. They had to help contain Newton and yet try to protect the zone against the middle routes and with no real prep they were solid I think. New England has an offense that runs multiple plays from the same looks and with Newton that makes things even tougher than with Brady.
Lots of learning in this game but it wasn’t a blow out and we saw a lot of good signs. I wasn’t thinking it would be a blow out but I did kind of think it was going to be a rough game. It wasn’t sloppy and all the bad I saw are fixable so just is what it is.
We didn’t get burned in the secondary. We didn’t get a lot of pressure but we got some. Containment wasn’t too bad which that is why we sacrificed some of the outside pressure.
Losing Parker hurt a lot because we are already skinny at WR. I would have put Brieda out there in the receiver spot some when Parker went out but that’s the kinda adjustments that are for the coaches to figure out. The coaching was solid but improvements to be made on handling some of that too
Leading rushers versus the Pats
(And Laird got 2 receptions, even if no rushes)
Myles Gaskin — 9 for 40 yards.
Matt Breida 5 for 22 yards
Ryan Fitzpatrick 5 for 18 yards
Jordan Howard 8 for 7 yards (TD)
Brady just picked 😃
Lazy ass Evens quit the route! 🙂
I’ll have to give the NWO overlord of American Football a call about that. Clearly was a mistake. Or maybe all bets are off about Brady this year since the Evil One is on the global ruling council. So much politics in any entity. 🙂
Well at least Fitz didn’t lead us in rushing!
I didnt hear Shaq Lawson or Ogbah’s name all day. Van Noy also a non factor
I didn’t hear anyone’s name
They were running an offense from 1955
There aren’t going to be a lot of standout defensive plays in that kind of game
LOL
Ya, we didn’t set the edge very well!
But I think it was the hesitation on the RPO! Instead of just burring Cam!
Burying!
Brady sacked 😀
BOLTS BEAT ISLANDERS 4-1. BRAYDEN POINT scored one of the goals. Dallas Leads the VGK 3 games to 1; and Tampa Bay leads the NYI 3-1. IF it ends up Dallas vs, Tampa Bay in the FINALS, I like the Lightning’s chances IF they can stay healthy
Then again the Browns played today. LOL
Am sure Prof Lou was watching. Miss that crazy cat. 🙂
Do you really?
He was alright. For sure interesting.
He could go cry on his blog that he is not being fairly treated
The Dolphins next game will also present the problem of a big QB who happens to be a VERY effective runner. And the Pride of FAU, the one and only Devin Singletary, will be looking to have a big day running the ball for the Bills in front of many of his “BOYZ”–his fellow football players at FAU, past and present, who reside in south Florida.. MIAMI MUST CONTROL ALLEN AND SINGLETARY if this game is to be competitive!!!
Cam was upset we broke his necklace
Did it have a locket with a picture of his mother in it😏
It wasn’t a talent issue today. We got out-coached. Bill was inspired to shove it up Brian’s ass after last year. We acted like Cam wasn’t the QB. WTF?!!!
Brady pick 6. 🥰🤡😍😎😋🤩
What happened with the time out the cheats called in the first half? Did it go something like this, ref walks over to Belicheat during the commercial and says, you know, if you don’t take the TO the first qtr will run out. Ok, then I don’t want the TO. 5 minutes after the TO was taken it seemed like they just ran the clock out.
I had no sound, so I don’t know.
Brady with 3rd pick six in last 3 games.
Brady with a pick six!
Odds are improving for a Billecheat was the genius!
Why would you say that? Belicheat with no roster wins by 10, Brady with a loaded one down by 17🤔
I’m a hater????? 😉
They both suck
Saints player goes in motion, when he gets to the end of the OL he turns upfield just before the snap and doesn’t get set. I’ve seen us get an infraction for that many times.
Belichick is the master. He always changed things up and adapted to make things easier for Brady and Brady always flourished with those small, quick receivers who made things happen after short passes. Plus, the Patriots always had a good defense. Brady was great with Belichick but not sure if he would be as good as Kirk Cousins if he was drafted by the Team formerly known as the Redskins.
Mondo is a dick!
I am glad I’ve muted Omar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brady getting hit 😍
Any other season I would be rooting for Tampa Bay Bucs. Just can’t do it this year.
Lol kickoff
Always pisses me off when the Fins kickoff from midfield and blast it thru the endzone. Pouch that bitch or do something creative, like the Saints just did.
Wow Burrow just did a great drive and FG missed chip shot FG to tie game
Brady 2 TDs 2 Ints and not many yards, bet they wish they still had Winston 😉. He threw the picks too, but had lots of yards.
So much for the TB SB hype
It’s only 1 week, but yes, I’m enjoying the fact that all that SB hype was pretty silly.That roster definitely has talent but I don’t think Brady is the thing they were missing.
^^^^^^^^
Looks like Canadian bacon today, no Pig roast. Oinkinator scoring big
It was quite the chit show at the local sportsbook. The guy sitting next to me, long wrap around bench, was doing more walking around than sitting, he was with 2 other guys saving his seat, so people kept asking if the seat was taken. On the other side was a guy about 4 feet away.
One guy asks about the seat on my right, I said taken, then he asked about the space on my left, I said we’re social distancing. He said well there’s no place to sit, so I said get here earlier. He said I’m going to talk to security, but got no where. What an asshole he thought, because HE didn’t have a place to sit he could squeeze in.
Another guy in front of me, not sure what his problem was, but after the 4th time security had to visit him they threw him out.
Another to my left front kept trying to steal people’s chairs, they had him move along.
Well, not sure about everyone else, but nflbite was overloadedwith traffic when the game began and I couldn’t get on, but sportsurge worked perfectly for me all game. A couple times it froze up, but when i hit refresh it quickly started right back up. NFL bite worked for me in the afternoon. I use the Markeyy stream on both sites.
As for the game, we got bad Fitz today, and boy did he stink. This is why he doesn’t stick on teams. He’s very consistently up and down, lol.
Overall we played a crappy game from top to bottom. I’m not surprised at all. I didn’t really expect us to go in and win that game. We have a very young team with a bunch of new faces. It’s probably going to take few games for all the pieces to start clicking. The encouraging thing is, we really played bad but we were in it at the end. We really should have lost this game by 20.
I’m extremely frustrated with Parker. Every year with this guy. And it’s a hammy, so this will probably be an issue all f^cking season unless we sit him for a month, smh.
Our offensive scheme looked pretty damn basic. Part of that is being a very young team, part of that is Gailey. I’m not confident in Gailey.
Refs were terrible today, but that is nothing new.
brady is pitiful in tampa, lol the old man is just milking the bucs for a paycheck
the DOlphins run defense was not ready for prime time today, but much of that was due to cam playing very well,
the team is going to be good, but still missing some pieces and the defense has to make plays and not watch plays
we may as well start Tua,
FITz is a complete waste of time, he isnt good throwing or running, and hes a human interception machine
i watched the game on CBS access, its $5.99 a month, but it was high definition on the big screen, with no fooling around on the puter or hoping for internet
the Dolphins fox broadcast games are free if you sign in with your provider
That works because it’s your local broadcast. That won’t work for us west coasters where the Fins games are almost never national, and rarely local.
You could probably get those same broadcasts for free with a HD antenna, although if I remember correctly, you built a new home in a more remote location, so maybe HD antenna won’t work for you.
Miles Gaskin was a much bigger part of the offense than I expected and he certainly played like he wants it to stay that way. Not sure why Preston Williams kept slipping, it’s fucking turf, not grass. I’m not on the start Tua train just yet, I think Fitz deserves a little time and there’s nothing wrong with letting our O-line jell a little before he gets thrown in there. Fitz makes stepping up and avoiding pressure look easy because he sees it and understands how to counter it. Tua won’t be able to do that and I don’t need to see our big investment getting crushed quite yet.
oops, Myles Gaskin
Gaskins was one of the few dolphins that looked good all game.
I agree it’s too early for Tua talk. It’s one game with no preseason. Let’s give it a few games before pulling that trigger.
“TRIGGER?” – – Did someone say “TRIGGER?”
I think “Trigger” was stuffed and is now standing
on Roy Roger’s Farm somewhere out west.
Lol
Big win for your Lightning. Only need one more of the next 3…
No need to rush Tua
CAVKONG: GLAD you got a chuckle out of that one. I figured you were old enough to know who “Trigger” was!!
BTW, your boy Pat Maroon, who won the Stanley Cup last season with your Blues, is playing a very key role in The Lightning’s playoff success this season. NO ONE from the other side wants to rumble with Pat Maroon, do they??
Breida also looked pretty strong. One run in particular he showed some nice running power, I think it may be been disqualified because it may have exceeded 10 yards though. Shame . . .
YOU CAN LOOK at this game and wonder “What might have been” if two plays had turned out differently. PLAY #1: Miami punts after their first series and the Pats kick receiver fumbles it. The ball went directly to another Pats player who recovered it. Had the ball moved in ANY different position, Miami may well have had a 1st and 10 near New England’s 15 yard line. That’s at least 3 points for the Fins and maybe 7.
PLAY #2: GESECKI IS TACKLED on Fitzy’s last interception!! Had pass interference been called, Miami would have had 1st and goal at the Pats’ ONE YARD LINE! That’s 7 points for Miami in my book!
YES, you can play “WHAT IF” until the cows come home. BUT THIS MIAMI TEAM REALLY WAS a couple of plays from being “RIGHT THERE” as they played down to the wire. You certainly can NOT make that statement regarding The Dolphins first game last season where they gave up 59 points to the Ravens. IF the Fins can improve their line play in next Sunday’s game vs. BUFFALO, they may be “RIGHT THERE” at the end of THAT GAME. AND I THINK there’s less chance of some mysterious penalties or some mysterious NON-CALLS next Sunday in Ross’s Palace.
OUT FOR TONIGHT.
I think the game was lost by the coaching staff they shat the bed badly. On both sides of the ball the calls made were pretty vanilla.
Also Fitz throws 3 ints, 2 of which were PI, and the other came shortly after a bad call holding penalty.
So the crowd noise was pumped into the Pets stadium. After watching that, then watching the same thing with the Niners game, I can say I’m not a huge fan of it. The noise isn’t dynamic, so it’s not situational.
Fan noise gives contextual clues throughout the game that you come to expect, but with generic noise, it’s slightly off at times. It’s subtle, but annoying. After a few games to adjust, it’ll probably get better, but it was definitely something I noticed.
Of course, I’ll take the generic noise over no noise, so I guess there’s that.
OD, losing Maroon was a big blow for the Blues. We’ll probably lose Pietrangelo this offseason, which means our ‘run’ is over, lol.
Is that really him? This picture looks like the Hulu commercial with Mayfield and Barkley in scrawney kids bodies with their face.
I’m almost embarrassed to say that OPI at the end of the Dallas vs Rams game was a good call, but what the hell, if the cheats can get away with all of those calls/non-calls…
Kong
I had no issues with nflbite today. But I’m going to give that sportsurge a try too.
As far as the game. Meh. Lol.
No way Tua starts unless Fitz has a few more games like this one. Again….new team and offense with zero preseason…
I did expect the D to play better, especially when I can even see what’s coming.
The Rams win the worst uniform contest. At least the dumbasses could’ve gotten some feedback before throwing that God awful union on us. Looks like a div II uni.
I think they’ve had that award wrapped up for years!
Well at least this didn’t happen to the Fins!
Wow, losing Vander Esch will really hurt
Here’s what I got from that;
Also, the Miami defenders had difficulty getting off of blocks which gave Newton plenty of momentum to get his 6’5″ frame moving downhill.
It’s very difficult to stop this type of RPO, especially against the cheats, when you can’t get off of blocks. Based on how I saw the game officiated, I assume the typical cheats holding was allowed without getting called.
i had seen shaq lawson totally getting fooled by cam newton, he doesnt set the edge very well thats for sure!
Not setting the Edge against an RPO doesn’t mean you can’t set the edge. I saw the same against RG3 by Pro Bowl DEs.
I agree with the 3 takeaways mentioned above in the post Wyoming put up.
I would add that the OL did look respectable, and if that continues, I would like to see Tua get his chance sooner rather than later. That might help increase those explosive plays.
I’m looking for Tua against Buffalo, but to be fair to Fitz PI should’ve been called on his first and last ints.
Let’s not judge our team too hard based on what grandmaster cheat threw at them and what the refs continue to do year after year in Foxboro and every place else they play.
Brandon Jones had 10 tackles yesterday
It’s good to see him active.
It won’t matter if we give up 200 yards rushing
But it’s nice to see him contributing early
Jones, Kindley and Jackson are off to a pretty good start
Noah I. Was on the files a lot too. 37 snaps on D and 8 on ST
A lot of playing time for these rooks out of the gate
rams unis were great back in the day, with the simple blue with the white horn, roman gabriel, they then went to the gold horn which wasn’t good, they went back to the blue and white last couple of years, they looked great. last nights unis were horrific! a 5 billion dollar stadium with a rag suit!
I don’t know why they went with fluorescent
their blue color looked like the chargers powder blue, something about those traditional unis, i think miamis sucks as well, go back to the old unis
^ 100%
we got crushed in the run game, our run D gave up a lot of yards, had it not been for ne fumbling the ball out of the endzone it wouldve been a blowout.
our D couldn’t get off the field and our O looked sluggish at best.
And if it wouldn’t have been for NE luckily landing on the fumble of our first punt, and getting 2 ints that were PI…
But yeah I’m with you, we were dominated.
We just better respond with a win in week 2.
ORob,
I wasn’t impressed with either expensive addition at DE. No sacks, not enough pressure and neither set the edge well. Their OL manhandled our DL.
See all of my posts above about RPO.
People were asking “where’s Xavien Howard” yesterday
He was actually on the field for less snaps than both rookie dbs yesterday
Which in interesting. Not sure what to make of that
Bringing him back slowly.
It was nice to see the confidence in the rooks
It kind of went unnoticed bc the game was so miserable to watch
But a lot of rookies got a lot of playing time yesterday
13 for Smythe, SMH at the U75s that couldn’t figure out he was at the top of the depth chart, because he was going to be on the field for our first offensive play or do they just like to make a mountain out of…
I saw him on the field on our first Offesnive play too
And my first thought was that some one had reported he was clinging to his job.
We will see over the course of the year if they like the smythe/gesicki combo
But being on the field on the first play for Smythe kind of speaks to what the coaches think of him in a positive way
I don’t know if it’s too early to say this
But we have 7 picks in the first 4 rounds in in the 2021 draft
You sure about that?
The 4th we had for a week from the Raiders went back to them in the Bowden trade.
I put out the number of 1-4 year players yesterday and it was about 30. Next year we may get younger, which means we need to have patience.
We should just take the positives from game 1 and move on. Gaskin looks like an NFL RB, Wilkins looks great, Baker all over the field. The rest of the guys need to forget about NE and move on to Buffalo.
Also remember this D is setup to be better as a unit, then a bunch of individual stats, so it may take a few works to get synched up.
The incident at the end of the game with cam crying about someone going after his chains. What an asshole, he started talking smack, got in someone’s face, pushed him away, then another Fin got in cam’s face and that’s when I think the chain got tugged on, but he wasn’t going after your chain dipshit.
Then you can see cam walking away holding his hamstring. He’s not going to get thru the entire season trying to play RPO.
He held Baker down too when Baker was trying to get up and then Baker pushed himself off and got the flag. Cam is a fucking asshole and always has been.
It’s wasn’t as bad a game as y’all are making out. I mean I’m guessing I’m playing Tim today and trying to talk some sense into y’all but it really wasn’t that bad broke down.
The OL was actually a good bit better than it has been. That’s with 4 out of 5 players new to the team and two rookies.
The DBs kept everything in front of them. I thought they played pretty well overall.
The LBs saddled with a tough game were ok, but again, tough assignment any game, they were the weak spot, along with the DL as far as run protection goes. We did get decent pressure from the middle of the DL.
The outside pressure was there on occasion but like I said yesterday you lose outside pass rush when you are trying to contain a mobile QB especially out if run formations which most of their passing comes out if run formations. That’s the beauty of the NE offense.
I don’t see a ton to complain about no one was 100% but no one was 50% or less really.
I kind of agree, but I don’t think we were prepared for RPO and that’s on the coaches.
Really hard though to play a team like NE week 1, coming off of this offseason, with so many young players.
Yeah the deck was really stacked against them. New look Pats with a new look Cam, no PS, lots of new players, lots of rookies. It woulda been tough if they had anyone out there, but the RPO turned the difficulty up a few notches. Woulda been the same had they had Tyrod in there instead of Newton
Josh Allen looked explosive yesterday at times, then missed a wide open receiver, high, in the back of the endzone. I think with him you balance the completion % with his ability to keep plays alive, then you’ll see he’s by far the best QB in our division. He’s a real threat running, throwing, and scrambling.
Think it was me and Ken that were ride or die with him that yeah for us in the draft. He was my favorite of that QB class and I’m generally not sold on small school prospects. Not an I told ya so, but he definitely is growing as a QB, not there yet but getting scary. Maybe by the time he gets there they will have to hit the team around him just to keep him.
Then there’s the how long can he run around back there before he gets banged up and has to rely on his arm.
Wilson and Moon are the only ones I can recall that did it for a long time. Wilson still gets downfield, but not as often as he used to.
Kinda look at him like an Elway. Elway wasn’t a runner but his pocket movement was really good and he would get out if the pocket shift around and then set and throw. Plus they have similarly strong arms.
Yeah that other 4th is gone to them we swapped there as well and I think got a 6th back in return.
Didn’t we get a 4th bc of the McMillan “trade”
Didn’t you read my post and Ds?
we gave it back for bowden
McMillan was a 5th trade up to 4th, then we traded for Bowden to them and did a 4th to a 6th swap. End result of both move, player swap and we net a trade down from a 5th to a 6th.
Omar is already gearing up his annual week 1 projection stat article. If you project out 16 weeks we’ll give up over 3200 yards on the ground, and throw 48 picks…
I’ve found my life much more pleasant after I muted him! 😉
I mean you can mute most of them and make your life more pleasant. I don’t know that I have seen a press group more in love with shitting on the local team. You do not see that in the NO media nor in the ATL media, I’m close enough to both to see those articles.
I totally missed the Bowden trade
Was a cut down day trade.
I totally missed it
He is like Perry and kinda swiss army knife-ish more athlete than position specific but we did get him because they drafted him with ideas of using him as a RB and that wasn’t working out for them. We are supposedly looking at him in a more natural role for him, WR.
I think in retrospect I’m a little disappointed that we weren’t better prepared for Cam running and the RPO. I would have made him beat us through the air. Like Belichick always does, he takes one thing away that you do well and makes you beat him a different way, we should have don the same. It’s also possible with so many new guys we just aren’t there yet.
Like I was saying on game day they didn’t seem to think they would do much of that. I don’t know if it was because he was coming off injury or what but they played like they were facing a Brady run Pats team. I was calling for them to shift to cover two or 1 and bring Jones in to help be a spy on Newton and the did sorta kinda make that adjustment which then McDaniels shifted it hitting us with the normal NE stuff out of the same formations. It was a tough matchup for a week 1.
Coaching was one of the strongest adjustments I think is needed before game two. Things were a big dull and it made it easy for NE to scheme to hit us where we were weak. Again, just a tough match up, got out coached, got out played in a few areas. Is what it is, we should do better next matchup.
D
He’s the only one I’ve muted.
It’s not his Dolphin “hating”!
It’s his other social views that I don’t care for.
Well yeah he is a blatant racist, and doesn’t seem to be of the mind he is or that it’s a bad thing at least. I tolerate him, definitely don’t respect him, I get what little I can from his “reporting” which is very little. Wasn’t really defending him in any way, I just feel similarly about a lot of the others too.
🍻
They were good at tackling, bad at guessing who was going to be the ballcarrier
I saw a lot of holding offensive guys up off the ground while letting other defenders try and strip the ball instead of just tackling the carrier to the ground. I understand trying to get a turn over, but I didn’t like giving up 1st downs while trying to do so!
The only thing on tackling that bothers me more is when a DB throws a shoulder at a ball carrier instead of wrapping up.
Every team in the league goes thru these same strip the ball drills, but I would think it would be better to use it less downfield and just make the tackle. When used too often you give up too many extra yards and don’t have the element of surprise.
Sometimes it’s better to lose the first game to keep the players focused. Don’t get me wrong, I never want to lose an opener, but by losing players put more effort into the next game and continue with more focus.
I’m just trying to find some positives here, that we can take into next week.
The play calling was way to predictable with Howard in the game, it was like short yardage running.
The focus of the D was, Jordan in with an FB or 2 TEs we’ll stack the box.
Come on man, you gotta give him a fighting chance.
It is not necessarily a good thing that Brandon Jones made so many tackles. You want more tackles out of your LBs in particular Van Noy and Lawson
I think everyone agrees, but the point being made was he’s a good tackler and was engaged in the game. Brought up because we really don’t know much about him.
Also they allow the cheats WRs to get away with massive holding, so good to see his tackle nunbers.
D:
You are correct I was a big fan of Allen in the draft and still am. I would often compare but a better runner. He is still developing as a passer but had a real good game yesterday with the first 300 yard passing game in many years for the Bills
I think Allen will be able to have continued success after his legs get old.
Compare him to Elway
wow, Piggie put up a shit ton o points yesterday … 50 PTS from Connor tonight ?? Possible, not probable..
League single-game record is 194.60 points by Mike E in 2018. He only needs Connor to get like 20 points to break it.
Do you actually remember this stuff or is it on the FF site?
he’s finished at 174…. I have 126 with Connor to go ..
Mike E — just hit the history tab on the league’s front page, but I’m sure you remember that game. And Toba just informed my bad for not checking the game card and your record is safe.
“I still got my chain. I got two of ’em. They were reaching for my chain, though. They were reaching for my chain. And I think that kind of got under my skin.”
— Cam Newton on why things got heated in that scrum late in the game — did he really think someone could steal them on national TV?
So Jones was brought in lik ei was saying to help in run support, i would have literally had him focus on Newton by himself and then played D as usual, i wouldnt have brought everyone to the line, i would have played the shallow and had Jones spy. Still the reason Jones was brought in and the reason his tackle numbers were high was, thats eaxctly what he was asked to do, play shallow, and stop the run. Basically they went cover 0 and cover 1 most the night after they were getting blown up by Newton and the run game early. Again, i liked the adjustment and it was working until McDaniels started attacking the new weak spot.
Hate to give any props to NE but they definitely had a well coached game and a good swapping of offensive strategies to hit us where we were weak at any given point.
I thought we might switch back which i wasnt hoping for by how hard they were raping us previously, an thats probably why they didnt. We almost won, and if not for 3 turnovers we would have i think.
3 INT and only lost by 10 in Preseason game # 1
i’m hoping that will be the only game where we get FitzTragic this year , if it is I think we may be in good shape..
should improve each week.. DB’s should have a good ay against Buffalo next week.. just stop Allen from running and good shot ..
Especially given it was the Pats, they looked presentable. Rush D bugged the heck out of me, but understand was a most unusual situation. Waiting to see what we do against a passing team. Sorta of what we are built for.
yep no need to go all Chicken Little just yet ..
Brian Flores Monday 9/14 media availability thread
1:01 PM · Sep 14, 2020·Twitter Web App
Travis Wingfield
@WingfieldNFL
·
14m
Level 2:
Coach says there was some opportunities the team didn’t take advantage of Sunday. Quarterback was some of it but it was all positions. Players and coaches… everyone has to be better, coach says.
Travis Wingfield
@WingfieldNFL
·
11m
Level 2:
Coach Flores on pass protection. “It was solid, we had room to step up, time to throw it. We’re going to need similar protection this week against a really good front/defense (in Buffalo). The young guys got off to a solid start but it’s about consistency in this league.”
Travis Wingfield
@WingfieldNFL
·
10m
Level 2:
Parker is going through rehab and treatment today and tomorrow. Will have an update Wednesday, Flores says.
Travis Wingfield
@WingfieldNFL
·
15m
Level 2:
There were a lot of issues, Flores says regarding the run defense. Setting the edge, who’s got the QB on the zone read plays, miscommunication. Coach reiterates the communication issue. Says that falls on him.
Travis Wingfield
@WingfieldNFL
·
18m
Level 2:
Coach mentions some similarities between Newton and Josh Allen next week. Gotta get better in some areas, setting the edge, tackling, technique, fundamentals.
“Coach reiterates the communication issue. Says that falls on him.” — now ain’t that different from when Gase would essentially call his players stupid when stuff went bad?
Toba has been oinkinated
ITS NOT OVER YET !!!!
(its over)
Just one game but it is starting already. Whole lot of make a headline that will be clicked on guys are calling for Tua to start. Not talking about our beat reporters at this point at least, more the same people who were saying “Tanking for Tua.” Don’t think they need to know much about the team, just a way to get clicks.
But Fitz has been in the league a good while and went to Harvard….. am sure he knew what he was in for.