jammer wrote:
Well we've all had time to stew, complain about and analyze the crushing loss to Buffalo. Its in the rearview mirror so let's move forward.
How does Miami win this game Sunday? Will McKinnie be a factor?
I see some positives here. The Pats' o-line has been struggling so it presents an opportunity for Miami's pass rush. Get to Brady! He doesn't have his typical safety valves and he took some vicious hits against the Jets.
Unless Gronkowski is 100% this should be the weakest receiving group Miami has faced all season. Brady has still found a way to put some points on the board but Miami's CBs should be able to man up against this group.
Injuries have decimated the Pats' defense. No Wilfork, no Mayo and an uncertain Talib. Problem is they are still creating turnovers every game and Tannehill has hit a rough patch in 3 of the last 4 games. Fortunately the Pats are 31st in the NFL against the run and their edge rushers aren't as good as what Miami recently faced. Miami needs to pound the ball and use the play action pass.
Tannehill's picks aside, we saw 3 quarters of improved offense against a better than average Bills defense. HOPEFULLY a combination of McKinnie and Martin will give Tannehill a better chance to stay upright. Using more rollouts might buy time to get Wallace and Hartline deep. We've also seen that Gibson and Clay can do damage on short catches in space. The potential is there.
I'm not predicting it, but this is a winnable game. In fact, it is a must win to undo the unexpected loss to Buffalo. The running game was effective and Tannehill put up 3 TD passes in 2 quarters last Sunday. They have a chance to do something they haven't done all year...strike fast, strike hard and go for the throat early. GET IT DONE!
Great post jammer, I agree all across the board. If we don't manage to score more than 20 pts Sunday, our offense is in trouble and highly questionable. Their defense is not intimidating by any stretch of the imagination, and NO WAY Sherman is dumb enough to look at the stats and see "31st against the run" and NOT run the darn ball against that defense.
I want to see Lamar get at least 12 touches Sunday, only because I know they will end up giving a chunk of it to Thomas as well. Go 'Fins!