John Ahern: Patriots Lost the Battles at the Lines

John Ahern

There are at least three certainties after the Dolphins drubbing of the Patriots. One, New England will not go undefeated, two, they will not win every game played within the division, and three, they have, albeit only one game in, major problems on their offensive line. 

A unit that at times looked so over-matched that they appeared to have roller skates on while being turned around as much as they were. Miami prepared themselves better at halftime, for years a non-happening against a Bill Belichick coached team, and pounded the Patriots on both the offensive and defensive fronts in the second half.  Any NFL novice will tell you that if you lose the battles on the line of scrimmage, you will not win in the league. If you are a Pats fan, you have to wonder what your team's offensive line would have looked like with their best player, leader and captain not having being dealt off to Tampa Bay.

Maybe not as big a difference on the field, but from a mental and competitive standpoint, they seemed to lose their composure. Tom Brady and New England's offense had no answer, and the final score of 33-20 didn't seem that close.

Game Notes:

• New England was outscored 23-0 in the second half while being out-gained by Miami, 222-67 in yards from scrimmage (37 by the Patriots on their final drive).

• Patriots were 16-1 in their previous 17 games when leading by double digits at halftime.

• New Pats albatross Knowshon Moreno had 91 of his 134 rushing yards in the second half, an average of 5.6 for the game. Moreno ran for 224 a New England in a loss while with the Broncos last season.

• The Patriots had won their last 61 games when their opponents turned the ball over three times. The Dolphins had three yesterday. The last loss was in week 10 of the 2001 season to the St. Louis Rams

• Brady had a total QBR Rating of 32.2. In divisional games since 2010, he has posted such a rating under 40 four times, all in the past two seasons.
  

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