Any given blowout: Miami Dolphins embarrass New England Patriots 38 - 13
When the New England Patriots opened Patriots Hall last week they apparently also opened a vortex in time that sent the team back to 1990.
Holy God, the Patriots looked terrible in today’s loss 38-13 to the Miami Dolphins,
Let’s see… Our first receiver has quit on the season, our third receiver was our fourth receiver last year and our fourth receiver this year is a Sam Aiken who plays like Clay Aiken. Kevin Faulk was neutralized by the Dolphins fearsome weapon Matt Cassel who monkey wrenched every drive New England attempted. Now that he’s healthy tight end David Thomas produces just as much as he did on injured reserve. The Patriots front seven with “The Best Defensive Line in Football” was completely overwhelmed by four plays the Dolphins probably installed last night after catching a couple of college games on ESPN on their way up to GilletteStadiumPatriotsPlacePatriotsHallTheCBSSceneDanaFarberFieldHouseRedRobins, home of the occasional snap of football.
I’m mad as Hell but I will take it for another 13 weeks because I love seeing the Patriots win and I’ve never let 12 losses come in the way before.
Patriots squandered advantage in field position
In the first half, when there was still a game being played, New England had 36-21 advantage in field position (meaning the Patriots’ average drive started at their own 36 yard line while the Dolphins’ started at their own 21). On top of that, New England’s very first drive started at Miami’s 49-yard line after a magnificent return of the opening kick-off by Ellis Hobbs. But the extra yards did nothing for the Patriots and were no hurdle for the Dolphins. Patriots managed to score all of two field goals in the first half while the ‘Phins racked up three touchdowns.
In-game adjustments did nothing to stem the tie
Bill Belichick and his coaching staff failed miserably at making adjustments as the game went along. Miami won the first quarter 7-0 and the second 14-6. The third was a 7-7 tie but then the Dolphins tacked on 10 unanswered points in the final quarter. At no point did the defense appear to have any kind of handle on how to stop, slow down or even respond to the Dolphins’ college style, no-quarterback running plays. On the other hand, when you’ve been as thoroughly beaten in the pre-game preparation as the patriots were it’s not realistic to expect a handful of in-game adjustments to turn things around.
Too much celebrating, not enough football
Here’s a partial screenshot of Patriots.com from last Friday:
To top it off, it linked to the wrong sound file.
More venom later.
