Why the Patriots shouldn't be complaing about Sunday

     We all know Tom Brady is gone. We all know the patriots won't be able to meet those high expectations of going 16-0 or having a clear path to the Super Bowl. Now they have to battle for wins and the AFC East.

     The Dolphins brought a crushing defeat to the Patriots, winning 38-13. It wasn't pretty for the New England defense either. Ronnie Brown 113 yards with 4 running touchdowns. Not to mention his throwing touchdown. This offense was also thanks to clever plays by the Miami coordinator. Clever plays such as Pennington playing a wide receiver on some plays. Speaking of Pennington...

      Chad Pennington played incredibly. This was help to Fasano playing brilliantly on the tight end spot, finishing the game with 66 yards of receiving and a touchdown. Also, Camarillo with 60 yards. Meanwhile, Pennington and his front line controlled the defensive line and secondary. Chad ended the night going a brilliant 17 for 20 and 226 yards. Every cross that came past him he hit, and was on the verge of going perfectly. The most impressive part is that he also shared the ball with the running core.

It also wasn't only Ronnie Brown. Reggie Williams got 98 yards on only 16 attempts. The Miami front line kept the defense and espically the linebackers down. Which is to be expected with a lineup of 3 guys over 30 and one first round rookie (J Mayo). Of course, this is perfect for Mayo. Hes learning from guys like Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi. Still, it wasn't acceptable.

       Matt Cassel wasn't bad though. He went 19 for 31 passing with 131 throwing yards. While he did get a touchdown he also had one time that failed in the red zone. Also, he threw a interception and threw many tipped plays that could have been caught the Miami defense.  

        Then there was the running game. Without Maroney, it was awful. Sammy Morris went 27 yards in 9 runs, but 17 of those yards were on one play. That mean that on 8 plays he only got 10 yards! All I can say is I can't wait for Maroney. Meanwhile, LaMont Jordan only had 22 yards with about 3 yards per carry. The running game was brutal and I just hope it goes better next week.

        Meanwhile, the offensive line let us down. With David Thomas playing as a tight end instead of Watson, he isn't getting the job done blocking the linebackers. Joey Porter saw this in the game, and that is exactly how he got two sacks on Matt Cassel.

        The last problem with the offense is getting third down conversions. The Patriots went an awful 4 for 15. That was a big reason why they lost their 21 regular season game streak. Don't complain Patriots, because you need to realize you aren't who you were.

See you soon,

Tom