Film Study: How Dolphins exposed Pats' poor schemes, weak line play
The score said the Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots 33-20. The stats said the same.
But the tape said something else: They beat them up -- bad.
If you're wondering how the Dolphins defeated the Patriots 33-20 last week in the season opener, all you need to do is watch the tape to see that it was Miami winning both lines -- the oldest football mantra out there -- that was the difference.
The Dolphins outgained the Patriots in yards (360-315), first downs (25-20) and rushing yards (191-89).
Those numbers don't do the domination up front on both lines real justice. It was far worse than that.
The Dolphins were able to sack Tom Brady four times and hit him six other times. They also forced Brady to lose fumbles on two of those sacks.
On the other side of the ball, Miami ran it easily on a New England defense that was supposed to be much-improved against the run with defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and linebacker Jerod Mayo back healthy again.
Not only that, but the Dolphins were supposed to be weak on the offensive line, with five new starters in the lineup against the Patriots.
So what happened?
For one, the Patriots had a crappy scheme. Yes, the great Bill Belichick was outcoached in terms of what he did on defense. New England used a 3-4 look much of the game, or 3-3-5 when in the nickel, and they kept their safeties back.
That miscast Chandler Jones inside as a 3-4 down end. He should be rushing the quarterback from the edge. He had two late-hit penalties, likely out of frustration for being used the wrong way.
The plan didn't work and Miami took advantage of it. The Dolphins ran it right at them. The Patriots never seemed to adjust to the Dolphins' zone runs. Time and time again, the Dolphins blocked it well and there were big holes for the backs to run. The cutback runs were even better. The Patriots never had gap control to control the backside runs.
Miami also did some things scheme-wise on offense to make it easier to run. Here's a look at one of those plays.
Play: 2nd and 10 at the Miami 47 with 5:47 left in the third quarter
Offense: Posse (three WRs, one TE, one back)
Defense: Nickel -- 3-3-5 front
Miami played starting OTs Branden Albert and Ja'Wuan James on the same side. (NFL Game Rewind)
Albert and James opened a huge hole for Knowshon Moreno. (NFL Game Rewind)
I love what the Dolphins did here, flipping right tackle Ja'Wuan James to the left side and moving left tackle Branden Albert outside of him for an unbalanced look to that side. They then ran it that way. The Patriots didn't adjust. The two tackles then got a hat on a hat and created a huge hole for Knowshon Moreno to run through for a 13-yard gain. That's nice scheming by Miami and bad defense by New England.
The Patriots didn't offer much in terms of pressure, either. Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill had a lot of clean pockets but only threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns in part because of how easily Miami ran it.
Tannehill missed a big touchdown shot to Mike Wallace, and Charles Clay dropped another sure touchdown pass. But Tannehill was efficient in large part because the Patriots did little to disrupt him.
New England had the one sack. Dont'a Hightower did get some pressure from the outside, but the only sack came on a blitz by Mayo. Tannehill had time most of the day.
On the other side, that wasn't the case. Miami got after Brady. Even when the Dolphins weren't sacking him, they were disrupting him inside the pocket.
The Dolphins won a lot with just a four-man rush. They didn't blitz much at all. But I liked some of the scheme things they did to get their pass rushers in single-block situations.
Here's one of those:
Play: 2nd and 8 from the New England 37 with 9:33 left in the third quarter
Offense: Regular (2 WRs, 1 TE, two RBs)
Defense: 4-3 overloaded to the left with an eight-man box and a single-high safety, man under coverage
The Dolphins loaded up the left side with Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon. (NFL Game Rewind)
Wake wins the edge. This does not end well. (NFL Game Rewind)
I loved what the Dolphins did here. They took their two best pass rushers, Cameron Wake (No. 91) and Olivier Vernon (No. 50), and put them on the same side. They also showed blitz with safety Louis Delmas (No. 25). At the snap, right tackle Sebastian Vollmer locked up with Vernon. That left Wake in a one-on-one situation with tight end Michael Hoomanawanui. He got a great jump against him, and the tight end had no chance. Wake got a sack-fumble-turnover on the play. The scheme forced the Patriots to block one of the league's best pass rushers with Hoomanawanui. Good luck with that.
The New England tackles weren't much better handling the edge rushers. Take a look at this play where Vernon got a sack. If he hadn't, Wake would have.
Play: 3rd and 8 from the New England 34 with 13:23 left in the fourth quarter
Offense: Posse (3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 RB) shotgun
Defense: Nickel two-deep look, four-under, four-man rush
As you can see, the New England tackles had big problems here with the two ends, something they did all game long. Vernon whipped Nate Solder inside to get the sack.
The New England offensive line really struggled. There seemed to be little in terms of continuity. There was also some rotation up front, which is odd for a unit that needs to gain consistency.
With Logan Mankins traded to Tampa Bay, the Patriots started Solder at left tackle, Marcus Cannon at left guard, Dan Connolly at center, Jordan Devey at right guard and Vollmer at right tackle. They rotated in Ryan Wendell at center and moved Connolly to right guard for 20 or so plays.
There wasn't one player on that line who played well. Playing together and growing is something they need to improve their play. Here is a look at a play that shows what I mean.
Play: 1st and 10 on the New England 26 with 1:53 left in the second quarter
Offense: Regular (2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE)
Defense: Base 4-3, two-high safety look
This was a 2-yard run by Stevan Ridley to the left. On the play, Cannon and Connolly get a double on nose tackle Earl Mitchell to open the play. If Cannon thinks Connolly is handling Mitchell, his job is to leave the double and get to the next level. He did that. The problem was Connolly wasn't handling Mitchell, who made the play. After the play, you could see Connolly putting up his hands to say something to Cannon. It was clear the timing wasn't there.
That's what the Patriots have to get back to on the offensive line. They have to get better working together, starting this week against a Vikings defense that looked dominant against the Rams.
On the other side, the Patriots might want to change up the scheme. Jones and linebacker Jamie Collins -- who is dinged some this week -- are two athletic players who seemed restricted by the front last week. Set them free.
It's not often that the Patriots get handled on both lines like what happened in Miami. If it stays that way, we just might have a season-long battle to see who's the best in the AFC East.
My instincts, though, tell me that New England will get it right this week in Minnesota.
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