NFL Week 2 Game Preview and Predictions: Patriots at Dolphins

NFL Week 2 Game Preview and Predictions: Patriots at Dolphins

Welcome back to the show. Here’s a look at the NFL on CBS week 2 announcing schedule. It was great to have Evan Washburn with us to talk Rams Titans earlier in the show. Now, let’s focus on Patriots and Dolphins. Both teams lost their season openers. Here’s Drake May, the New England quarterback, on getting outscored 13-3 in that second half against Vegas. Yeah, I think we just got to get got to be better. I think um you know my decision on the the first drive coming out was was the one that killed the drive and then from there kind of from there got to get the first first down. I think once we kind of get the first first down I think we kind of move the ball move the ball well and uh you got in the rhythm and I think um just adjusting from halftime. I think I can do a better job of um you know getting the guys and making throws and um thought the guys up front battled hard. I think they they blocked him pretty well up front, you know, I thought. And uh like I said, just get the first first down and from there I think just just make some better throws, you know, be more accurate and um yeah, I think getting points out of that first drive would have been huge. It is a divisional matchup that Charles Davis will be able to see firsthand with Andrew Catalon, Jason McCordy, and AJ Ross at Hard Rock Stadium. Charles, fantastic to be with you. I’m curious to get your thoughts in terms of game prep because from both angles, it seemed like all of the talk during the summer was that New England was poised to make a step up and that Miami was poised to maybe take a step down. They’re both 0 and1. Let’s start with the quarterback, though. We heard from Drake May. What stood out to you about his play against Vegas last week? Well, what stood out was the interception he threw in the second half where things changed for him because he was playing with such confidence and there was a nice little bounce to him and things were rolling along and you know what I’m saying by that time. I didn’t mean they were scoring on every possession. Miami went through that last week with Indianapolis. But they seemed to have a little rhythm going. He seemed to have it and he was different after the interception. And that’s what has to change for him because as that quarterback and as that leader, you’re going to throw an occasional pick out there. I know quarterbacks have their busting Canton that maybe threw five in a game. Okay? But if you throw five in a game, your next throw should still be the type of throw that you feel like going to go for a touchdown or be the right throw in the right situation. What you find out about any quarterback, not when they go 28 of 32 for five touchdowns, no picks. It’s when they go 11 of 32, three interceptions, bad day, but they have one drive that maybe they can win the game and they pull it off. That’s when you find out that’s the next step for Drake May because he’s done a nice job and I’m a huge believer in him. But that next step has to be bouncing back from a little adversity and being the same guy you were before. And for those Charles that are bullish on this Patriots team, a lot of it also has to do in the back field here. How much would you like to see a rookie Trayvon Henderson also get going with the veteran Roandre Stevenson? Yeah, Tommy. I want him to play Where’s Trayvon this week? I want him to line up in the back field. I want him to line up in the slot. I want him to return kickoffs. I want him to touch the ball a bunch. Like last week, Raandre Stevenson and understandably so had the bulk of carries and plays. When you look at the number of times people on the field, Henderson was second and Antonio Gibson was third. It should be much more of an even balance about number of plays on the field with Stevenson. I want to find ways to make sure that Henderson touches the football. And it doesn’t have to be space. He’s not a total space player. He can run it inside, get it to him on a swing outside because he catches it well. I just want to find ways for him to have a chance to produce and get this Patriots offense into high gear. Who do you anticipate will be impact players in this Patriots Dolphins game from a New England perspective? Hunter Henry, the tight end. I think he’s a really good player. Not going to get a ton of uh interest in terms of people watching it and going, “Okay, who’s going to be that guy?” But he has over 200 catches in his Patriots career. Remember, he was good with the Chargers as well. And the Dolphins have struggled with tight ends. Last week, Tyler Warren, the rookie out of Penn State, seven catches, over 70 plus yards, caught the ball on three of the first four plays. Keep an eye out for him. Maybe Ma Fitzpatrick might have to occupy himself with Chasing Ral Hunter Henry in this game. And then on the other side of the ball, who has your eye? Harold Landry. You know what? Oh, actually it’s gonna be Rul Douglas um for for for the Miami uh Dolphins because he’s got a start now as Storm Duck, their number one corner out. And Russul just joined the team a couple of weeks ago. He’s a big- time veteran. Can he get up to speed and be ready to go? Kahan Booty had over 100 yards last week for the second game in a row going back to last year. And Stefan Diggs is ready to get into some full-time play. So, they will challenge Rasul Douglas on the perimeter. How does Miami get off to a better start when you’re getting ready for this game between these two teams, Charles? Tommy, they have to get off to an even start. You know, most time, every time we talk about it with someone, we talk to coaches and what’s the first thing they tell us, Tommy? Fast start. We want to get off to a fast start. But I don’t think this Miami team needs a fast start. They need an even start. They need a start without errors. They need a start without turnovers. They need a start without penalties. They need something where they can come back to the sideline and go, “Okay, all right. we’re into the game now. Something even, keep them going, all of that, and then maybe accelerate from there. I don’t think that they need to press right from the beginning because right now they feel like the little team is a little bit fragile. What’s the balance and how are they going to handle things? I just think get out of the gate clean would be good for them. And it’s such a tough thing from a fans perspective because the overreaction from this one loss against Indianapolis. And although it was tough, Charles, it just seems like the sky is falling from a Dolphins perspective. But again, offensively, they’ve got the guys. How do they get it done? Well, they’ve got to find a way to get get off of that clean start, Tommy. And then you’ve got to find these receivers on the perimeter. Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Wadd, you’ve seen the stats over the last couple of years. Things have really dropped in terms of number of catches, yards per catch. Neither one of them catching it for 100 yards very often anymore. 30 yard plays, the big plays that were their signature, they’re not getting those from them. How is Mike McDaniel going to scheme things up to give them a chance for these guys to make those types of plays? And that also of course helps get Tua Ton Valoa unttracked as well. This Miami team, we always call the Miami track squad, they have not been the track squad much lately. And that has to change. We’re seeing the graphic of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Wadd, four catches each, but 40 and 30 yards respectively. We’re used to seeing them both catch north of 100 yards receiving. From a Tua perspective, there was talk after the game from the Colts about getting him off his first look and that he would then be perhaps rattled afterwards. Did you see any of that watching that game against Indianapolis? I I think that that is often said, Tom, anytime you get a quarterback with a bad game, and let’s be honest about it, you want a quarterback to have first read and then okay, what’s going to happen from there? It all broke down, but we’ve seen two have better games. I’m going to chalk it up much more as a bad first game as opposed to he’s panicking back in the pocket. I’m not trying to dispute what what the Colts are saying. They saw it and they they had it out there a little bit more. But we’ve also seen him where he hasn’t been panicked. And by the way, he’s undefeated against the New England Patriots as a starting quarterback. So, he feels like he can bounce back this week. You had mentioned Rashe Douglas is an impact player who was a late ad. What do you make of the revamped secondary that had departures from Jaylen Ramsey, Jordan Puery, and Javon Holland? Yeah, they really thought that, you know, listen, losing Ramsey, no one loses wants to lose a great player, but they feel like they needed it for their locker room. To have Ma Fitzpatrick show up, a former first round pick of Miami, who made his bones in Pittsburgh as a Pro Bowl, allp pro secondary player. That’s a pretty good swap for you. And they’re going to need Minka to assume even more responsibility. They’ll probably put him all over the defensive uh alignment this in this ball game. They won’t just plug him in center field and let him roam to the ball. He’ll be near the line. He’ll be back. He’ll be blitzing. He’ll be doing everything in this game because they’ve got to get some great play out of him because the rest of the secondary has to come along. I already mentioned Russul Douglas having to start after he just came, you know, just got signed a few weeks ago. They’re starting Jason Marshall at the nickel position. Never played nickel in his life until he came to the pros. had always been an outside corner. So, you’ve got some youth, you got some inexperience, you got guys in positions they’ve never played before. Minka Fitzpatrick is the key to everything because Ma Fitzpatrick can make everything right when he’s on his game. In fact, Tommy, Indianapolis almost broke the opening kickoff last week. You know who made the tackle and prevented it? Ma Fitzpatrick. They’re going to need him to do a lot of that come Sunday. Charles, I get you out of here this and you hinted at Harland. It was actually my fault. Well, I didn’t set you up where, but an X factor because he had a good game against Vegas could potentially be a difference maker here this weekend. He certainly can. And remember, Mike Vrabel wanted him. He had him in Tennessee. A lot of people wonder if Aron Landry still had gas in the tank. Evidently, he does. And if he’s able to pass rush the way he did against Las Vegas last week, that means the Patriots may have to may be able to cut down on a lot of blitzing they did last week. If Landry can create rubble up front with just four, now you can use the rest of the guys to cover and do other things as opposed to putting him in harm’s way with a lot of zero coverage and extra people rushing at the quarterback. But Landry had a monster day. And it wasn’t just the sacks, Tommy. It was the pressure. He was the number one pressure guy in the league last week for anyone with 25 pass rushers or more. Great stuff. Have a great call, Charles. Certainly appreciate you hopping on HQ Spotlight, giving us your inside of the game between the Patriots and the Dolphins, part of an action-packed slate that we’ll have on the NFL and CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. Speaking of streaming on Paramount Plus, we’ve got that first ever all streaming pregame show with our friend Amanda Garrick Kyle Long, Matt Ryan, and Antonio Pierce. By the way, they’re going to engage fans through live YouTube chats, real-time interactions with viewers on social media, and dedicated social segments in alignment with content creators and influencers throughout this season.

Charles Davis joins CBS Sports HQ to preview the Patriots-Dolphins game in Week 2 of the NFL season.