Scout's Take: If they want to reverse skid, Patriots need to bring attitude, physicality vs. Dolphins

FOXBOROUGH -- Energy matters.

That was one of the things that came through in a conversation with an NFC scout about the Patriots when I spoke with him Thursday afternoon. New England has been largely flat — especially at the start — of its last two games, both of which ended in losses. It's not the only reason for the defeats, but he said it's not completely coincidental, especially against aggressive young teams who are at home and have some success early.


“Football is an emotional game,” he said. “You’re in there, putting your body at risk. When you make a play, if you’re not passionate about that, that’s a concern in my mind. That’s your heartbeat. That’s your passion. That’s what you need to do, and that has been kind of absent from this team the last two games. … I mean, usually over the last few years, going back 10 years, if (Bill Belichick) didn’t have guys with that attitude, he’d do something drastic. He’d bench a guy, he’d cut someone. He’d want to prove to the rest of the locker room that you want to be getting up when you're out there.”

Honestly, there’s been an attitude that’s been lacking on both sides of the ball, and a lot of that comes down to being able to run the ball and stop the run. The Lions and Jaguars both ran relatively easily against New England, something multiple members of the defensive line noted earlier this week. On Sunday, the Patriots have another chance to set the tone.

“Against the Lions, they had to establish the run and the Lions had to stop the run. That’s the same thing here,” said the NFC scout. “The Patriots need to get people — in this case, the Dolphins — to respect the run game. That’s an attitude. If they can do that, they can get into some play action, and that can lead to some one-on-ones with (Rob) Gronkowski. But you can get that if your opponent doesn’t respect your run game.”

With the Patriots missing veteran running backs Rex Burkhead and Jeremy Hill, rookie Sony Michel should continue to get the bulk of the work between the tackles. He said he isn’t sure what to make of Michel.

“I loved Michel pre-draft, and unless there’s some injury stuff still there — they’re worried about the knee — I don’t know why they aren’t featuring him more," the scout said. "Maybe they’re just slow-playing him because of the time missed this summer. But if he’s healthy and I had him, that son of a bitch would be touching the ball 15 times a game — 12 rushes and three screens.”

Miami comes into the game at 3-0, but he said the Dolphins do have some vulnerabilities.

“I don’t think the Dolphins have a great base defense or pass rush, and so Miami is a little vulnerable there,” he said. “If you have six-protection for (Tom Brady) and can get a back out there in the flat, there will be some opportunities, and there will be some chance to pop some long runs, or runs after catches. But really, a team needs to bow up on this team and really hit them. Getting (Patrick) Chung being back will help with that. The Raiders looked weak. They were playing powder-puff. I like the Dolphins, but I think they need to be hit from whistle to whistle to see what they’re really made of.”