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<\/p>\nFOXBORO, MA — Everyone knows the Patriots\u2019 recent history when they travel to Miami to take on Dolphins.<\/p>\n
Over the last 18 seasons, Tom Brady is 7-9 against the Dolphins on the road, one of four venues that he has a losing record, and the Patriots have lost four out of their last five trips to South Beach.<\/p>\n
Although the Patriots would like to reverse that trend, their fate this week is partially in the hands of the Miami coaching staff.<\/p>\n
When these two teams met ten weeks ago, it was difficult to find the logic in the Dolphins\u2019 game plan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Offensively, Miami attacked the Patriots\u2019 defense vertically, with nearly half of Ryan Tannehill\u2019s passes traveling over ten yards in the air, and they only ran three crossing-style patterns to go along with five run-pass options after the New England defense was carved up by those schemes in back-to-back losses early in the season.<\/p>\n
And the RPO has been a staple of the Miami offense this season as they\u2019ve ran the concept 13.7 percent of the time this season (fifth in the NFL).<\/p>\n
On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins abandoned their approach from their Week 14 win last season.<\/p>\n
[arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/663im\/wpfurm” \/]<\/p>\n
In that matchup, Miami\u2019s game plan was to play aggressive man coverage to throw off the timing of the Patriots offense, especially on third down where the Pats failed to convert a single first down (0-11).<\/p>\n
The Dolphins played cover-1 or cover-3 on 50 percent of New England\u2019s plays on offense, jamming the Patriots\u2019 receivers at the line of scrimmage while stacking the box to stop the Patriots\u2019 rushing attack.<\/p>\n
However, when these two teams met earlier this season, the Dolphins played mostly off-coverage in their single-high looks and played with two deep safeties 25 percent of the time.<\/p>\n
In their win last season, Miami played either cover-2 or quarters only seven times the entire game (16 percent).<\/p>\n
The bad news for the Patriots is that recent history would tell you that Gase and the Dolphins always have a better feel for New England the second time around.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019ll be a different game. It certainly was when we played down there last year. They had a totally different game plan,\u201d said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.<\/p>\n
Below, we\u2019ll go through some of the tape from the Patriots 38-7 win over the Dolphins in Week 4 to explain why Gase will likely revert to the plan that worked in their Monday night upset a year ago:<\/p>\n
As stated in the introduction, the Dolphins defense backed off the Patriots offense at the line of scrimmage in September, and that made things easy for New England both in the passing game and on the ground.<\/p>\n
PASSING GAME<\/em><\/p>\n With the Miami defensive backs playing off-coverage, the Patriots receivers on the outside had a field day on speed patterns and quick hitters such as slants and comeback routes.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/25×58\/zpgxjl” \/]<\/p>\n On Phillip Dorsett\u2019s touchdown before the half, Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard gave the speedy wideout an eight-yard cushion, giving Dorsett a free release at the line of scrimmage. That allowed Dorsett to build up speed on the \u201cblaze\u201d out, and he torches Howard for the score.<\/p>\n Why would the Dolphins defense give a smaller receiver with 4.3 speed that much room to maneuver? That\u2019s a question for Gase and the Miami coaching staff.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/bnh28\/etvrcp” \/]<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another example with Josh Gordon against Dolphins corner Torry McTyer. This is a third and three in the second half \u2014 third and three, and the Miami corners back off. Gordon runs a slant, and Brady hits him for the easiest first down of his life, and Gordon adds insult to injury by breaking two tackles to gain some yards after the catch.<\/p>\n The Dolphins\u2019 decision to play off-coverage, especially against the Patriots\u2019 smaller receivers like Dorsett, is something they have to change this time around if Gase has a clue, which I think he does.<\/p>\n RUNNING GAME<\/em><\/p>\n On the ground, the Dolphins defense paired a lot of their off-converges on the perimeter with split safeties on the backend, and the Pats were more than willing to hand the ball off to their running backs who ran for 175 yards in the win.<\/p>\n James White\u2019s highlight reel touchdown run in the second quarter was a great example.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/qxntc\/dxdrao” \/]<\/p>\n From the overhead view, you can see that the Dolphins are in a nickel defense with six defenders in the box due to the split-safety coverage. The Patriots are in 11-personnel with Brady in shotgun and White next to him in the backfield. The Pats run a power gap scheme with left guard Joe Thuney pulling in front of White, and the Pats running back, thanks to a devastating cut, goes untouched into the end zone from 22 yards out.<\/p>\n In the second half, the Patriots continued to pound the rock against Miami\u2019s light boxes.<\/p>\n One of the schemes the Patriots used to run all over the Dolphins defense was an outside toss.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/0q9ps\/xwghvs” \/]<\/p>\n Once again, the Dolphins are in a two-deep coverage, but this time they\u2019re in base defense with a standard seven-defender box against the Patriots\u2019 22-personnel (two RBs, two TEs). With the corners playing off and the safeties back, the Patriots toss the ball to the perimeter to run Michel away from Miami\u2019s strength in the middle of the field. Michel gets great blocks from Gronk (cracking the end), Patterson (cracking the play-side linebacker), and right tackle Marcus Cannon (pulling to the corner), and Michel jogs for a first down.<\/p>\n The Patriots offense averaged six yards per play and coasted to victory thanks to a peculiar game plan from the Dolphins\u2019 coaching staff.<\/p>\n When the Dolphins offense had the ball, Gase appeared to be on the right track, but things went downhill quickly.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/22uzb\/trpudd” \/]<\/p>\n On Miami\u2019s first play from scrimmage, the Dolphins ran the Yankee concept for a 22-yard gain to Kenny Stills. Stills crosses with Danny Amendola in the middle of the field, and Tannehill threads the needle with a perfect pass between the Patriots\u2019 zone coverage.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/6t14e\/gxnxtx” \/]<\/p>\n The Dolphins went to similar crossing patterns twice after that, letting the Patriots\u2019 defense off the hook, and on one of those Chip Kelly mesh concepts Tannahill missed a wide open Kenyan Drake on a wheel route (top of the screen).<\/p>\n After that, the Dolphins forgot about the crossing routes and tried to beat the Patriots defense with vertical passing concepts.<\/p>\n One of those concepts, which the Dolphins ran multiple times in the game, was a level’s design that is often associated with the West Coast offense. The idea is to give the quarterback a short, intermediate, and deep option on the play allowing him to make decisions based on the coverage.<\/p>\n [arve url=”https:\/\/streamable.com\/s\/fkgvy\/ozdjie” \/]<\/p>\n On the bottom of the screen, the Dolphins send both receivers on intermediate curl routes. The spacing on these curls presents Tannehill with an option if the Patriots play zone coverage. On the top, Miami sends Stills on a go route, Tannehill\u2019s home run option on the play. Tannehill gets a one-on-one matchup with the Patriots in man coverage, plus the pressure from the pass rush forces a quick decision, and Gilmore is in perfect position forcing an incompletion on third down.<\/p>\n The Dolphins offense tried to take multiple shots downfield, and even their intermediate throws attacked the defense vertically rather than horizontally.<\/p>\n As every coach will tell you, ultimately, Sunday\u2019s game will come down to execution by the players regardless of the game plan or play calls.<\/p>\n The Patriots are a more talented team headed for the playoffs, but Miami is 5-1 at home this season to go along with their recent success against their division rivals at Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir whole defense is playing well, and it seems like they take on a different persona when they\u2019re at home. It\u2019s a lot harder to play them at home. Their record at home is crazy this year,\u201d Patriots right tackle Marcus Cannon told CLNSMedia.com this week.<\/p>\n However, if the Dolphins want to make this a game, they\u2019ll need the right game plan from head coach Adam Gase.<\/p>\n After a 35-17 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium last season, Gase completely changed his approach two weeks later to stun Bill Belichick\u2019s team on Monday Night Football.<\/p>\n If the Dolphins want to split the season series for the fourth time in the last five seasons, they\u2019ll need to reinvent themselves once again.<\/p>\n For all CLNS Patriots Videos\u00a0SUBSCRIBE to our CLNS Media YOUTUBE Channel<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n For the most in depth and comprehensive player and game analysis check out Patriots All-22 with host and Patriots beat reporter Evan Lazar.\u00a0Listen and Subscribe HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Get the inside scoop on the Patriots every week on CLNS Media\u2019s Patriots Beat Podcast with host Mike Petraglia. Listen and subscribe here\u00a0iTunes<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Stitcher<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Spotify<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n For all your Patriots content needs throughout the 2018-2019 season follow us on Twitter\u00a0@PatriotsCLNS<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0as well as\u00a0Patriots Insider Mike Petraglia\u00a0@trags<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and Patriots Beat Reporter Evan Lazar\u00a0@ezlazar<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FOXBORO, MA — Everyone knows the Patriots\u2019 recent history when they travel to Miami to take on Dolphins. Over the last 18 seasons, Tom Brady is 7-9 against the Dolphins on the road, one of four venues that he has a losing record, and the Patriots have lost four out of their last five trips<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":131993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[445,207,392,210,344],"class_list":["post-73395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-adam-gase","tag-bill-belichick","tag-dolphins","tag-patriots","tag-tom-brady"],"yoast_head":"\nPATRIOTS DEFENSE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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