Game #2 Dolphins vs Patriots 9/18/2016

[BigKen]

I watched almost the entire Seattle Seahawks/Miami Dolphins game yesterday. The commentators were extolling the "Great Defensive" play by both teams. Final score 12-10 Seahawks.

From my seat, I didn't see great anything. Horrible offenses and mediocre defenses. The Seahawks really miss M. Lynch and his ability to run the ball against anyone as well as his ability to catch a pass and run like a road grader. The Dolphins were just the Dolphins. They didn't look like they had a game plan at all.

The cameras spent more time focused on the head coaches than the game itself.

JG handled himself well against the Cardinals and an above average defense. If the Dolphins come to Foxboro with the same game they had in Seattle, they may as well stay home.

If Gronk and Solder are back this could be a rout.

 

[NEhomer]

Def have more confidence after watching Jimmy last night. Should have been a loss but the kid hung tough and made good decisions.

 

[Old Lion]

Ageed. Pats coming home and should be able to run the ball. That will be the key. Could be trouble if they cant do that.

 

[SDGuy73]

Schefter reports Gronk could miss first few games. Get healthy Gronk!

 

[ohiopatsfan]

Good game last night. JG looked calm and poised. We will need more help in the run game, however. Blount ripped off several good gains but then was also stopped several times for no gain or a loss. Really miss the change of pace back and no one knows what Dion will be like after he comes off PUP. BB seems to be high on Bishop Sankey. I wonder if DJ Foster develops a convenient season ending injury and Sankey gets activated. I am told he can run between the tackles as well as outside. Also hope Solder is back for the Phins. Then Scar can move Fleming back to RT and bench Cannon, who didn't look as good as I hoped he would.

 

[redseat]

Feel more confident now after watching Jimmy G last night and how well the D did. Add to the fact this game in at Gillette!

 

[CreepCreep2014]

BigKen... Was Sea issue more of the OL than the RB? I thought that was a concern with them? I mean honestly, Miami has a great DL who can after it. If Sea OL was struggling, I can see why they made a game of it.

Miami offense is not on the same level as AZ. AZ has big (Floyd), fast (Brown), amazing (Fitz) WR's and we did pretty good vs those guys. We are now looking at smaller, quicker WR's in Landry, Stills. I think there biggest WR is Parker. I think we match up very well. Mia missing their starting C, Brown and CO should beast.

Then again, it's the NFL. Can't take them to lightly...

 

[SDGuy73]

This is the uniform for the Thursday night game against the Texans.

 

[BigKen]

Posted September 13, 2016 at 5:00 am
By: Ian Logue

Here’s a quick look at this morning’s top stories:

Cardinals GM: Loss “Unacceptable” – Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff got a lot of praise on Monday after having Jimmy Garoppolo prepared well enough to go out and beat the Cardinals in their house to open the 2016 season, but in Arizona, the story was quite different.

Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told Arizona Sports radio 98.7 FM that he was “embarrassed” by Sunday night’s loss, and it’s obvious that losing to a wounded New England team that was missing both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski didn’t sit well.


“You wake up Monday morning with a loss. You’re angry, disappointed, embarrassed, and that’s the way we should all feel,” Keim said via ESPN. “Just didn’t get it done, and a lot of reasons why we didn’t get it done. And that needs to improve. That’s certainly unacceptable.”

Keim blamed the loss on bad execution, especially on third down where the Patriots went out and converted 10-of-16, with Garoppolo completing 8-of-10 with seven first downs, which went to six different receivers. Meanwhile, the Cardinals converted just 6-of-12 on third down and despite not committing any turnovers while also committing fewer penalties, they just didn’t make enough plays when it counted.

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians felt the Cardinals blew a terrific opportunity to start 2016 off with a win, although part of that can be attributed to questionable clock management late in the game. However, the opportunity was there as the game ended up coming down to a missed field goal at the end, which cost them.

“We should have won the game,” Arians said. “As poorly as we played, we still should have won.”

For now what happened Sunday night wasn’t the performance Keim was hoping for in front of the home crowd, and he made it clear that they need to turn things around and quickly to make sure they don’t let another opportunity like that slip past them again.

“We got to regroup,” Keim said. “It’s the-sky-is-falling Monday, and that’s the feel that all of us should have and use that as a chip on our shoulder to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Color Rush Uniforms To Be Unveiled – The team is set to unveil their Color Rush uniforms Tuesday morning at 9am, which will be the first alternate jerseys for the Patriots since 2003, which saw them wear silver jerseys with blue pants.

A couple of rumors that surfaced Monday revealed that the Patriots may be wearing all-red when they play the Texans on September 22, while the Texans will wear dark blue. The Patriots had previously worn all blue back on October 27, 2002 in a game against the Broncos where they lost at home at Gillette Stadium, 24-16.

If you’re going to be near the stadium Tuesday, the Patriots ProShop is planning on opening early this morning at 9am for the launch of the jerseys.

Ninkovich Extended – The Patriots redid Tom Brady’s contract during the offseason to help minimize the financial impact of his four game suspension, and it appears they may have done the same for defensive end Rob Ninkovich.

According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the veteran, who was suspended by the league for testing positive for a banned substance, signed a one-year contract extension with the club through 2017 that helps him avoid losing what could have been as much as $475,000 in base salary and bonuses.

Ninkovich’s suspension reportedly stemmed from an ingredient that was in a store-bought product that contained a substance the defensive end was “unaware” was banned.

“Any supplement I’ve ever used was bought at a store. I was unaware something I bought had a substance in it that would give me a positive test because it wasn’t listed [as an ingredient],” Ninkovich told ESPN earlier this month.

“One thing I have learned is that if a supplement is not NSF certified, there are no regulations that ensure that what is on the label is 100 percent accurate. That is a hard lesson for me to learn at this stage in my career, but I take responsibility for it. It’s a mistake I made and it hurts that I won’t be there for my teammates.”

Ninkvoich will rejoin the team the same week as Brady when he returns for Week 5 against the Browns.

Brady on Garoppolo, “it was a great night for him” – Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was interviewed on Westwood One on Monday night for his weekly segment and was impressed by Garoppolo in his first NFL start.

“I thought he was great,” said Brady via WEEI. “I thought it was a great night for him and our whole offense. I think the one thing you realize as the quarterback is everyone being in sync and being on the same page and the communication with your teammates is so critical.”

“For us to go in there and get a win like that, it was great for … obviously our offensive football team. The defense played great. Special teams. It’s such a team sport. And Jimmy did everything he was asked to. It was a great way to start the season for our team.”

One of the biggest things Brady pointed out was the fact they got off to a fast start, which is something he said is always one of the things the team focuses on and it obviously helped put the Patriots in control of the game early, which played a part in the victory.

“It was great to see the offense get off to a great start with a great first drive,” said Brady. “A lot of great plays from Jimmy and the skill players. The offensive line did a great job. To get up, 10-0 like that is huge. I think that was a great way to start the game for our team. We always talk about starting fast, and we certainly got off to a fast start last night.”

Belichick Praises CB Coleman – Defensive back Justin Coleman played well on Sunday night and made a couple of key pass break-ups, including one at the end that helped ensure a more difficult field goal attempt for the Cardinals that ultimately sailed wide left.

His performance drew some praise from Bill Belichick on Monday, with the coach saying that the play likely played a part in keeping Cardinals QB Carson Palmer from looking his way again during that drive.

“I thought that Coleman gave us some real quality plays and that one at the end of the half that you mentioned was good,” said Belichick. “The one at the end of the game where they were, it looked like, trying to run the ball to get it into field goal position to get the ball a little bit closer and we had our safeties down to defend the run, and so [Carson] Palmer threw the fade up outside and Coleman made the play on that, which was another big play because it stopped the clock which kind of worked in our favor a little bit in that particular point in time and also no yards gained.”

“It’s a big breakup and I think it really probably discouraged Palmer from thinking about doing that again, so that was a key play for us as well as the one you said at the end of the half where we undercut [Jaron] Brown and was able to get his hands right up in the pocket of the catch and break it up. That was big.”

See the Patriots Celebrate After Sunday Night’s Win – This one is pretty self-explanatory. The Patriots posted video of the scene in the locker room following Sunday night’s win out in Arizona, and it was fun to see this group after kicking off 2016 with a win.

You can see Bill Belichick praise Garoppolo, telling him, “Great Job. That’s a tough place to play.”

Check it out via this link if you haven’t seen it.

Fake Brady Making the Rounds – Finally, in case you haven’t seen it, there’s a guy wearing a mask that looks so realistic it’s scary, resembling the Patriots QB.

He was spotted at the stadium in Arizona Sunday night, and it’s about as spot on as it gets, all the way to the quarterback’s hair.

Take a look:
scary, isn’t it?

 

[BigKen]

Sorry, the video of the fake Brady didn't transfer. It was a guy wearing a scary real Tom Brady mask and wearing 12.

 

[Southieinnc]

Sorry, the video of the fake Brady didn't transfer. It was a guy wearing a scary real Tom Brady mask and wearing 12.

Can you imagine?
Entire Pats tam shows up wearing a Brady mask. Goodell laughs it off.
Monday you float the rumor that the QB was Brady wearing a mask of himself!!!!!!

 

[Southieinnc]

Sorry, the video of the fake Brady didn't transfer. It was a guy wearing a scary real Tom Brady mask and wearing 12.

Can you imagine? The whole team wears a brady mask - Goodell laughs it off.
Monday you leak a rumor to ESPN that the QB was Brady wearing a brady mask!!!!!

 

[Dude]

Posted September 13, 2016 at 5:00 am
By: Ian Logue

Here’s a quick look at this morning’s top stories:

Cardinals GM: Loss “Unacceptable” – Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff got a lot of praise on Monday after having Jimmy Garoppolo prepared well enough to go out and beat the Cardinals in their house to open the 2016 season, but in Arizona, the story was quite different.

Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told Arizona Sports radio 98.7 FM that he was “embarrassed” by Sunday night’s loss, and it’s obvious that losing to a wounded New England team that was missing both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski didn’t sit well.


“You wake up Monday morning with a loss. You’re angry, disappointed, embarrassed, and that’s the way we should all feel,” Keim said via ESPN. “Just didn’t get it done, and a lot of reasons why we didn’t get it done. And that needs to improve. That’s certainly unacceptable.”

Keim blamed the loss on bad execution, especially on third down where the Patriots went out and converted 10-of-16, with Garoppolo completing 8-of-10 with seven first downs, which went to six different receivers. Meanwhile, the Cardinals converted just 6-of-12 on third down and despite not committing any turnovers while also committing fewer penalties, they just didn’t make enough plays when it counted.

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians felt the Cardinals blew a terrific opportunity to start 2016 off with a win, although part of that can be attributed to questionable clock management late in the game. However, the opportunity was there as the game ended up coming down to a missed field goal at the end, which cost them.

“We should have won the game,” Arians said. “As poorly as we played, we still should have won.”

For now what happened Sunday night wasn’t the performance Keim was hoping for in front of the home crowd, and he made it clear that they need to turn things around and quickly to make sure they don’t let another opportunity like that slip past them again.

“We got to regroup,” Keim said. “It’s the-sky-is-falling Monday, and that’s the feel that all of us should have and use that as a chip on our shoulder to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

That's not a very good attitude by the Cardinals - you're supposed to get over the loss immediately, gear up and set your sights for the next game. The fact that the GM was still steaming about it on Monday does not bode well for them. Really, did he think that game was going to be a pushover because Brady and Gronk were out?

“We should have won the game,” Arians said. “As poorly as we played, we still should have won.” What a tool.

 

[BigKen]

“We should have won the game,” Arians said. “As poorly as we played, we still should have won.”

Notice these assholes talk about the Cardinals playing poorly. Neither of them mention the fact that the Patriots were missing Brady, Gronk, Solder and Vollmer. The Cardinals didn't suck, they just aren't as good as the Patriots backups. The Patriots went to Arizona and played their game and took away the Cardinals' game. In my opinion, the Cardinals need to work harder on playing their game and not believing every thing they read or hear on the NFL Network.

 

[BigKen]

Wedenesday update......

Donte Hightower did not practice today

Rob Gronkowski did participate in the full practice

More to come

 

[CreepCreep2014]

Apparently Cannon and Butler were dinged up. The did take place in practice. Curious how Cooper is doing and if Karras get's pushed when Coop/Mason come back. IMO, no. He played his ass off vs a good def line. Another big test this week also.

 

[BigKen]

Dolphins Patriots Defensive Preview

Jake Whitehead
Yesterday at 12:24 PM

Jake Whitehead reveals his column. previewing the Dolphins' D/ST as they take on the New England Patriots.

Coming off of a very close loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Miami Dolphins will look to once again try and pull off the upset against the New England Patriots in New England, this Sunday at 1 PM EDT.

If the Dolphins can get the unlikely win they’ll improve to 1-1, if they lose they’ll have the unfortunate record of 0-2, where only 5 teams since 2007 have rebounded to make the playoffs.

After the Patriots upset the heavily favored Arizona Cardinals in Arizona without the big names of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Rob Ninkovich, it doesn’t look great for the Dolphins, but then again the Dolphins weren’t supposed to have a close game against the Seahawks either.

I’m sticking with my early prediction and I’m going to give the Dolphins the surprise win here. My bold prediction for this game is that the Dolphins defense continues to impress, as they don’t allow the Patriots to score more than a couple touchdowns. The Dolphins defense will likely be heading into Foxborough without some of its big names as defensive end Mario Williams, and defensive tackles Earl Mitchell and Jordan Phillips were all banged up during the Seattle game.

Williams is in concussion protocol so there’s no time-table for his return. Mitchell is week to week with a calf injury and currently on injured reserve. Phillips has an ankle injury but isn’t expected to miss any time. Should Williams miss the game the depth of the Dolphins will be put to the test early this season, as Jason Jones will look to replace him until he can return.

The Dolphins will also look to give new teammate Donald Butler a chance for a backup and potential starting role behind a questionable linebacking core to say the least. Judging from last week the Dolphins look like they’re getting ready to give return man Jakeem Grant the green light on the starting job as he returned 3 of the 4 punt returns and 2 of the 3 kick returns for the Dolphins as Jarvis Landry looks to become a full time receiver. All things considered you can make strong claims for why both teams have a chance in this one however anything can happen in the NFL and the Dolphins will look to prove that to everyone as they head into Foxborough to take on the Patriots.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

Damn, no HT at practice today. I hope BB is just being cautious and he still plays. Going to miss him in the run game.

 

[PatsFan2003]

IF the Patriots are still on a high after the win in AZ I'd give the Dolphins more of a chance but after listening to Belichick Monday that ain't going to happen. He was ready for bear.

I do think the Dolphin front will cause problem and may get to JimmyG but I think the big advantage for the Pats is their D against the Dulphins offense. The result will a good solid win for the Pats.

 

[BigKen]

Division opponent...this will not be a trap game. All of the so-called experts think the Suh, Lake and Williams will get to Garappolo and take away the Patriots offensive game. Last week the Cardinals' Super Bowl/Pro Bowl front seven was going to do the same in Arizona.

McDaniels is simplifying the offense and JG doesn't have to check down five receivers every time he drops back. The Dolphins will come hard and fast and JG will do exactly what he did in AZ, quick dump pass to the RB or short square out to Edelman. The Dolphins defense is not hard to figure out, nor is their offense.

I can't see the Dolphins scoring more than 13 points.