That’s a truth we all have to face.
–I expected a slow start.
That’s happened in some of the most successful season this team has ever had.
And things may, and I suspect will, improve as we move forward.
There’s not a single notable thing about this edition of the New England Patriots.
They’re neither fish nor fowl.
They’re the NFL’s ultimate middle child.
I forget who ended up doing it.
LikeI said after the game, the Patriots are finding ways to be just not quite good enough.
To not convert on the majority of those dozen or so 50/50 plays that decide virtually every game.
To lose every critical replay challenge.
To come up inches short on the have-to-have-it plays.
To not be able to close out a come-from-behind drive.
To never pull an upset, despite the reality now that they’re commonly underdogs at home.
Seriously, when was the last time they won a game you weren’t expecting?
They play well enough for moral victories against the elite teams, but not actual victories.
Which is the most un-Patriots thing you could say about them in the 21st century.
Meanwhile defensively, they had to deploy every weapon in their arsenal just to slow Miami down.
–The Belichicks played a variety pack of coverages.
It’s a whole thing I don’t fully grasp.
But a real scene, man.)
Basically keeping the Death Star ray-shielded from the transmitter on the planet surface.
Some variations on their standard Cover-1 scheme.
What should’ve been a huge momentum shift didn’t even register.
And Mike McDaniel took full advantage.
Flats, curls, sit routes.
That jet sweep hand off thingy that counts as a pass for whatever reason.
So McDaniel attacked them on the edges and had the patience to keep taking what was being made available.
And this is no exception.
The killing stroke was just an inside power run.
Matthew Judon brought his A-game once again.
He’s now filling that Kyle Van Noy role, toggling from off-the-ball Sam to up-on-the-line Will.
Including, to some extent, Demario Douglas.
Though he does understand why:
But anyone who complains about the decision is missing the larger point.
This isn’t some New Testament Belichick, all about forgiveness, atonement, and redemption.
We have Old Testament Belichick, who’s all about punishment for sins, retribution, and vengeance.
“And it is good.”
They’re simply not going to defeat man coverage much, if at all.
DeVante Parker had one of his best games as a Patriot.
And winning the jump balls on back shoulder/fade routes are how he earns a living.
But if he made others, I can’t recall them.
Certainly not with my current lack of sleep.
If anything, he’s throwing on the run better than we’ve ever seen him.
Mike Gesicki ran what looked like a Middle Read inside a deep Dagger by Henry.
But which is getting more common.
Partly out of self-preservation.
I can’t imagine him being that ineffective otherwise.
I refuse to believe it.
–From an aesthetic viewpoint, these throwback unis are the best in the league.
From an emotional perspective, they bring back a lot of PTSD from my Patriots childhood.
You see Mac Jones wearing the crap out of a gorgeous red No.
Part of my primitive reptilian brain seesTom Flick.
–This Week’s Applicable Movie Quote: “These things are hard on your heart.”
–Except we do have the Jets coming next.
They’re always the cure for whatever’s ailing us.
