Bedard: Don't panic, Patriots will be restocked for Steelers showdown

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Forget it.

Burn the film.

Delete it from the DVR.

Don't even talk about it.

That's what I would do if I was a Patriots fan who's waking up extra grumpy this morning because your football team made you stay up late on Monday night/early Tuesday morning only to watch Jay Cutler and Tom Brady seemingly switch brains somewhere between South Beach and Everglades.

And I'm willing to bet Bill Belichick is going to do the football equivalent — after he gives the appropriate tongue lashing for that putrid performance — sometime today.

Final: Dolphins 27, Patriots 20. Only it felt like 37-10.

Not exactly the way most wanted to prepare for Sunday's Showdown in Steeltown. Figured the Patriots would use the Dolphins as the final preseason game before having to worry about the Steelers, but a funny thing happened. The perennial AFC East champs failed to show up again in South Florida — what do the Patriots do on these trips, anyways? — and are now one game behind the Steelers and must win to gain home-field advantage in the playoffs.

You know what? It doesn't mean a darn thing. On to Pittsburgh.

There are no excuses for the way the Patriots played against the Dolphins — and that includes Mr. Brady (somebody tackle him before he launches another underthrown deep pass, please) and the coaches (who apparently worked ahead on Pittsburgh because their gameplans looked like the kind of a last-minute cram jobs I produced in college) — but the fact of the matter is that was the Less-Than-Patriots on the field on Monday night.

When the scene changes to Heinz Field on Sunday afternoon, we'll be looking at a vastly different Patriots team. They might not be the biggest names in the world (except the first one), but the returning players will make a world of difference against the Steelers.

The list:

Rob Gronkowski: I shouldn't have to explain to anyone what he means to this offense, and it was apparent for all to see against the Dolphins. It was one thing to lose Julian Edelman, but this Patriots team can't function without both its slot receiver and its Hall of Fame tight end. (This is part of the reason why I pleaded for more tight end help at the trade deadline, and it was great when they had Martellus Bennett for two games). The Patriots have to have a presence – two is optimal — in the middle of the field to make this offense sing. For one thing, they are quicker and shorter throws for Brady. Two, players of that ilk make the defense pay attention. Even without Edelman, every team knows you have to contain Gronkowski to have a chance at slowing down the Patriots. That means every coverage is tilted toward No. 87, if he doesn't draw two coverage players (he often does). Without Edelman and Gronk, defenses are free to play whatever coverage they want and Brady can't get his usual amount of pre-snap data to make the defense easier to pick apart after the snap. Put Gronkowski in the middle of the field (or anywhere else) against the Steelers, and he'll take the attention of at least two Pittsburgh defenders. Having Gronkowski back also means that we don't have to see any more of Brandin Cooks being Brady's top option on third down. No one wants to see that again.

Trey Flowers and Kyle Van Noy: In the first matchup with the Dolphins, the two ends (Van Noy has increasingly played outside) generated 44.8 percent of the Patriots' pass rush, which was below average to start with (30 percent for the game despite seven sacks). Without both, the Patriots had to resort to special teams standout Marquis Flowers and poached practice squadder Eric Lee. Willing to bet the Patriots didn't approach 30 percent pressure and even if they did, it's because they had to blitz a season-high 51.2 percent of the time to get there. If you have to blitz, that's one less player Cutler has to worry about in coverage. No wonder there were guys running free all night.

Marcus Cannon: It's been a fun, cute and different storyline to marvel at how LaAdrian Waddle and Cam Fleming have done an acceptable job in the Pro Bowler's place, but enough is enough. It's time for the Patriots to stop having to mix up blocking assignments and keeping backs and/or tight ends in to help their right tackles. It's time for Cannon, who apparently has the world's worst sprained ankle to take his position, play up to this level and let five eligible players go into a route.

Look, this isn't to say the Patriots are going to waltz into the 'Burg and deliver a victory. Past history indicates they will, but this Patriots team hasn't followed the same script as most of the former teams.

We've seen them allow six-straight 300-yard passers, an NFL record. We saw it take much longer than normal for their defense to look even close to respectable. Without an injured Dont'a Hightower and a retired Rob Ninkovich, which front seven player is going to show off the clutch gene that has assured many a big Patriots victory? If Gronkowski is double covered, where is Brady going for that gotta-have-it, third-down conversion? Who did James White tick off?

 

The only other comparable game to this — and I ruled out the Dec. 15, 2013 loss to the Dolphins on the same field because the Patriots led that game at halftime and in the fourth quarter — was the 35-28 home loss to Eagles on Dec. 6, 2015. The Patriots grabbed a 14-0 advantage but then allowed the next 35 points. You know, the Mortar Kick Game. That team lost their final two games (including another down here) to blow home-field advantage, and that led to a loss at Denver in the AFC Championship Game.

It's also not a great sign that the last two Patriots teams that won Super Bowls — '16 and '14 — went a combined 7-0 in meaningful December games.

How will this Patriots team respond? There are a lot of new faces on this team compared to year's past and after cruising for eight games, they have to deal show how they deal with adversity. Not even team captain Matthew Slater could say for sure how they'll respond.

"This is a different team, so I can’t say what we’re going to be able to do and what we’re not going to be able to do," Slater said. "But we’re certainly going to know by this time next week.

"We’ve got to be able to control the things that we can control. We have to do a better job of communication, assignments, composure, and just the things we can control. Football is football. Sometimes you’re not good enough and I don’t want to take any credit away from Miami, but there were a lot of things that were very uncharacteristic of us."

After a forgettable performance that should be expunged immediately, it's time for this Patriots team to make its own history.