38-10 win over the Miami Dolphins<\/a> on Sunday featured a lot of the first. Still, if the coach wants to look at his team through all three of those categories, who are we to disagree? Let\u2019s break down the regular season finale in exactly that manner.<\/p>\nThe good: Run game dominance<\/p>\n
Facing off against a Dolphins defense that has had its issues against both the pass and the run this season, the Patriots decided for an even approach. They called 29 dropbacks and 27 runs, finding success in both areas.<\/p>\n
That said, the run game in particular stood out. Not counting two Joshua Dobbs kneel-downs to end the game, the Patriots gained 245 yards and scored four touchdowns on 32 combined designed runs and quarterback scrambles. New England averaged a massive 7.7 yards per run, and finished with 0.20 expected points added (94th percentile) and a 56% success rate (95th percentile).<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d better be able to do that in the tournament, and you\u2019d better be able to take care of the football,\u201d said Mike Vrabel about his team\u2019s success on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d better be able to create some turnovers, and you have to have efficient quarterback play. That\u2019s no secret. And you\u2019re going to have to execute in situations like we did at the end of the half, whether that be at the end of the half or the end of the game to get some points. That\u2019s what it comes down to.\u201d<\/p>\n
A majority of the Patriots\u2019 rushing yards came via three players, running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson as well as quarterback Drake Maye. Maye finished with 41 yards, Henderson with 53 and a couple of scores, and Stevenson with 132 and two touchdowns \u2014 his most productive day on the ground since the 2022 season.<\/p>\n
While the opponent was anything but stout, the Patriots\u2019 run game as a whole has started hitting its stride lately. With the playoffs coming up, that is good news for the team and its offense.<\/p>\n
The bad: More field goal miscues<\/p>\n
New England\u2019s special teams operation had its highs and lows throughout the season, and Sunday was more of the same. While the Patriots received some solid contributions from its coverage units as well as punter Bryce Baringer, they also had another problem in the field goal department.<\/p>\n
After Andy Borregales hit the right upright on his lone attempt last week against the New York Jets, he hit the arms of Dolphins rusher Zach Sieler in the second quarter on Sunday. Of course, that miss was not on him but the protection up front: New England\u2019s blocking on the left side was not up to the task, allowing Siegler to find a crease and disrupt the kick.<\/p>\n
The Patriots were able to prevent Miami from returning the block for a touchdown, but the damage was still substantial. Unsurprisingly, Mike Vrabel was not happy about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just frustrated with the blocked field goal,\u201d he said after the game. \u201cWe went all 17 weeks, and all we did was become the 38th or 39th blocked field goal in the NFL this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Patriots, improving the field goal operation has to be a priority. Points are at a premium in the playoffs, and leaving three on the board could end up as the difference between the season continuing or ending when all is said and done.<\/p>\n
The s\u2014t that gets you beat: Another slow defensive start<\/p>\n
Despite going up against a seventh-round rookie quarterback making only his third start in the NFL, the Patriots defense once again looked suspect early on in the game. The unit led by acting defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr allowed Quinn Ewers and company to drive deep into the red zone on its first two drives, which could have changed the nature of the game entirely.<\/p>\n
To its credit, when it did bend, the Patriots defense rarely broke; outside of a touchdown on Miami\u2019s second drive as well as a field goal in the second quarter, the visitors failed to get on the board. Part of it was due to opportunistic play, with New England registering a pair of turnovers and a fourth down stop to end the Dolphins\u2019 first possession at the 8-yard line.<\/p>\n
Still, the Patriots\u2019 defensive issues early in games rose their ugly head once again. Against a superior opponent, such as a the Los Angeles Chargers, another slow start could end up fatal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of this year\u2019s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,1095,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-656273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-new-england-patriots-opinion","12":"tag-newengland","13":"tag-newenglandpatriots","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115843364576189483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}