The Dolphins’ vaunted passing game came out swinging in Week 1, recording 17 explosive plays against the Chargers (nine more than the next closest teams) in a 36-34 victory.
Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill combined for two of the opening week’s best performances, with Tagovailoa throwing for 466 yards with three touchdowns and Hill catching two of those scores in a 200-yard performance.
The Patriots’ defense is coming off a disappointing loss to the Eagles, but should feel confident after holding Philly’s stacked offense to just 18 points and giving its offense two late opportunities to steal the game.
Tagovailoa is a perfect 4-0 as a starter against the Patriots, but has only managed 30 points once and was held to 20 points last season, albeit in his first game with Hill on the roster.
Here are three keys for New England’s defense to continue their track record of success against the league’s fastest offense.
1. Don’t Let Tyreek Hill Take Over
After mostly containing the Dolphins’ offense in their 2022 meeting, the Chargers trusted their corners on an island against Hill several times during their 2023 rematch, and the receiver made them pay.
That said, Hill also shredded LA’s zone coverages, thanks in no small part to Tua Tagovailoa.
Playing man vs Tyreek Hill is obviously a gamble, but Tua's eye manipulation, crazy anticipation, and elite accuracy can shred zone and put Hill in open space pic.twitter.com/2SyvniSAwH
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 12, 2023
Jonathan Jones spoke about how difficult Hill and his fellow receivers force defenses to pick their poison, saying “They stretch defenses out if you play zone if you play, man, you’re running around all day chasing them.”
Few defenders have as much experience defending Tyreek Hill as Jonathan Jones, who’s been the receiver’s primary shadow in their matchups since the 2018 AFC Championship game.
Jones has kept his matchups with Hill competitive thanks to long speed and relentless effort, but the All-Pro receiver won more often last season than his numbers suggest. New England favored single-high shells against Tagovailoa in the 2022 opener, pitting the two in 1-on-1 combat consistently.
With Tua, the #Patriots majored in single-high looks vs Tyreek Hill with Jon Jones as his main shadow. I’d say Hill won their matchups.
Went with more split-safeties in Wk 17 as they did often late in 2022 and largely contained Hill (albeit with Bridgewater and Thompson at QB) https://t.co/lZXoehY4eg pic.twitter.com/XCc8GVsRfg
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 13, 2023
With staying over top of Hill being a clear emphasis, his lateral cuts deep downfield were virtually impossible to defend.
When asked about defending the league’s fastest man, Jones emphasized physicality and being able to keep up in a footrace. This strategy, while sometimes back-breaking, served the Chargers well at times in Week 1.
Jon Jones on defending Tyreek Hill: "You just try to be physical. Try to hit him when you can, slow him down, and try to match speed with speed. That's your best bet."
Also applies to Jaylen Waddle pic.twitter.com/zgALHVWQ0T
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 14, 2023
But even when defenses want to play physically, Mike McDaniel knows how to scheme his receivers breathing room. The best example is Miami’s infamous wheel motion, which the offensive guru has added a different layer to this season.
Tyreek Hill was already impossible to defend on wheel motions where he breaks laterally, but now the Dolphins made it tougher to defend
Instead of Hill coming from across the formation, McDaniel put him in short motion where he instantly goes from 0-80 pic.twitter.com/u3ktOo6JEc
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 12, 2023
Jones touched on how it complicates an already difficult task, saying, “It makes it hard to get your hands on those guys. You put a guy who’s already fast and put him in motion, he’s getting a head start. It’s like almost Canadian football to an extent of having a guy running at your full speed from the snap of the ball.”
Whether Jones travels with Hill or Gonzalez and Marcus Jones are in the mix, I think the Patriots can keep up with HIll underneath and in a straight line. But taking away his downfield in and out-breakers will be a team effort.
2. Play Complimentary Pass Defense
To slow down the Dolphins’ downfield pass game, the Patriots will need their coverage and pass rush to complement each other. That already tall task will be easier said than done. Miami’s receivers aren’t strangers to difficult grabs, and Tagovailoa found room to escape pressure and thread the needle several times in SoFi.
On top of the elite traits we've come to expect from Tua, he had several off-platform dimes against the Chargers
I know dunking on the Chargers is fun and tbh fair, but give the man his flowers for a really impressive (if somewhat inconsistent) performance pic.twitter.com/iwRIYl9VKs
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 12, 2023
The former Crimson Tide’s performance on Sunday was the best of his NFL career, making more impressive off-platform throws than I’ve seen from him in the past few years. Tagovailoa was already one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks under pressure, but this added dimension to his game could make a scary Dolphins offense even more frightening.
To compete with that kind of talent and precision, the Patriots will need to minimize their margin for error. That means taking away the quarterback’s first and even second reads, bringing pressure before routes can develop, and sometimes making up for the other side’s failures on a play.
Here’s an example of New England’s defense firing on all cylinders against the Eagles.
Jalen Hurts’ first read is a deep out to A.J. Brown, but Christian Gonzalez sticks to his leverage and takes away the route. Hurts moves to Quez Watkins on the crosser, where Ja’Whaun Bentley gets great depth to slip under the route, but Keion White and Christian Barmore flush him from the pocket and Josh Uche gives chase for a sack.
Being perfect against a well-coached, talented squad is nearly impossible, But being perfect in the moments that matter most will decide this game.
3. Minimize Yards After the Catch
Of course, none of the aforementioned keys will matter if the Patriots can’t tackle Miami’s receivers, whose 165 yards after the catch in Week 1 trailed only the Patriots (194).
This typically isn’t a concern for the Patriots, who ranked 2nd-lowest in missed tackle rate last season. They also didn’t miss a tackle against the slippery duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith last week, though Christian Gonzalez did take a poor angle on one play against Smith. That said, New England struggled in this area against the Dolphins last season, missing five or more tackles in each matchup.
Besides the obvious coaching point of "Get the F*ck Back" vs a speedy Dolphins receiving corp, the biggest areas of emphasis for the #Patriots defense have to be tackling and pursuit angles pic.twitter.com/3vZcQ5wGAl
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 13, 2023
This issue led to a worst-case scenario before halftime of last season’s first matchup, with a bad angle from Kyle Dugger turning a 4th & 7 into a 42-yard Jaylen Waddle touchdown. Waddle had 78 receiving yards last week against the Chargers, but nearly half of that came on one play.
Jaylen Waddle closes space against old friend J.C. Jackson and beats the cornerback inside on a slant, then immediately hits top speed and outruns the safety’s angle for a 35-yard gain.
As dangerous as Miami’s offense can be downfield, their underneath passing game cannot be overlooked. I’m sure pursuit angles and form tackling will be near the top of New England’s list of priorities in preparation for the Dolphins, and it will be a major key in slowing down their lightning-fast attack.
