Bedard's Breakdown (Defense): Despite appearances, Patriots' defense was far from good enough vs. Miami - again

If you looked at just the scoreboard and the stats on Sunday, you would have thought the Patriots' defense played great in the 17-16 loss to the Dolphins.

The Patriots, in fact, did not play well.

Not at all.

When it came to impactful plays and drives in this game, the Dolphins did whatever they wanted — the same Dolphins who are average at best on the offensive line with a decent but unproven QB who was last seen putting up this stat line in a must-win finale against a Bills team resting up for the playoffs:

Against the Patriots' defense with a revamped front seven, those same Tua-led Dolphins:

• Took the opening kickoff and scored a walk-in touchdown after 10 plays and 80 yards;
• Scored 10 points — holding the ball for 17 plays and 130 yards — to wrap around halftime, which effectively limited the Patriots' offense to one drive in 16 minutes of game action;
• Despite facing a 1st and 14 from its own 5-yard line with 3:31 left, had no trouble making five successful plays to burn the Patriots' three timeouts and close out the game at Gillette Stadium;
• On all four of those drives, the Dolphins were forced into just five third downs, and only two were of 5 yards or longer.

So, yeah, the vaunted Patriots' defense, with many reinforcements, that was supposed to be the backbone of this team and aid a rookie quarterback, did not exactly impose its will on a Dolphins' offense that ranked 15th in points and 22nd in yards last season. 

If you needed further evidence that it's not just me being overly negative ... FootballOutsiders.com's defensive rankings have the Patriots 16th after Week 1 (one spot behind the Jaguars), 8th against the pass, and 29th against the run.

What was the issue?

Let's start with personnel.

The Patriots, atrocious a year ago against the run, were supposed to be better on the interior with the addition of Davon Godchaux, return of Lawrence Guy and the drafting Christian Barmore. The results were no better as all three were regularly pushed around and helped the Dolphins' top running backs to rush 14 times for 65 yards (4.64 average).

The edge players didn't help much as Matthew Judon brought pass rush, but he yielded three killer edges in the running game — which is something John Simon did similarly a year ago.

On the other side of the line, Bill Belichick's infatuation with Deatrich Wise and his arm length continued as he logged more playing time (46 percent) than Josh Uche (28 percent) and Henry Anderson (6 percent) combined. Wise, mind you, did not appear on the official stat sheet with even an assisted tackle. Uche had a dominating third-down sack — one of the few plays the Patriots made in this game — and Anderson had a half run stuff in just four plays.

The linebackers were a mess, as Dont'a Hightower looked like he took a year off and may have gotten hurt in the process, Ja'Whaun Bentley couldn't figure out how to cover anyone, and Kyle Van Noy, while solid overall, had his own coverage issues as the Patriots linebackers looked slow and not close to making consistent big plays.

In the secondary, Kyle Dugger was barely noticed, and the cornerbacks couldn't figure out how to combat repeated read-option slant passes.

And this isn't even on the players. The coaches decide who plays and where, and can someone figure out this riddle ...

The Dolphins come out on that fateful 1st-and-14 play with a running back, two tight ends and two receivers. How is Jalen Mills opposite JC Jackson and not Jonathan Jones? Jones makes $8 million the next two seasons. The Eagles couldn't waive Mills out of town quickly enough. The Patriots gave him 4 years and $24 million.

The Patriots decided their best option was to put Jackson on rookie Jaylen Waddle, and Mills on DeVante Parker. 

The game was over as soon as Mills opened his hips to play bail technique, allowing Parker to make a 13-yard catch.

Look, it's Week 1, no one's going to overreact because there's still a lot of talent on the team and PUP (Stephon Gilmore). But this defense couldn't finish at the end of 2019 or all of 2020, so this was not a good start. This season was supposed to be different.

This team needs a great defense. Things need to change quickly, or the offense could be the unit asked to carry this team.

Here are the positional ratings against the Dolphins:

DEFENSE

Pretty putrid rates all around: low pressure, barely blitzed, didn't stuff the run. Take it away, Jules...

Defensive line (2.5 out of 5)

Judon had a really nice first half and his combined knockdown of Tagovailoa with Adrian Phillips rushed the QB into a terrible decision that nearly cost the Dolphins the game, but Judon had a lot of edge issues in the second half. This was a bit of a surprise. He was a good two-way player for the Ravens, and he practiced against Lamar Jackson every day. I assume this is going to get cleaned up quickly. ... Rookie Christian Barmore was out of his gap on his first play,  Gaskins' 15-yard run while Jonathan Jones was running the other way on the same play. On his second play, Barmore was shoved back. ... Lawrence Guy played the same as an uninspiring preseason. ... Godchaux brought surprising pass rush, but he's here to stuff the run. ... Deatrich Wise was invisible. ... There is no way Uche should get the Chase Winovich treatment. This front seven needs as many young and fast legs as possible. They play like they're in mud.

Linebackers (1 out of 5)

At the 7:33 mark of the 1Q, Ja'Whaun Bentley was completely lost on his pass drop and appeared to think he was needed playing safety. ... It's been some time since I've seen Dont'a Hightower play a game with less impact. And it looked like he twisted his left foot at some point, and he was not on the field as the Dolphins closed out the game. If that's not a bad sign ... Kyle Van Noy picked up where he left off here, and he may have to carry even more of the play. 

Secondary (1.5 out of 5)

First play was the same as the last play — read-option slant — they just ran it back side the final time because Mills was so far off. The reaction by teammates after that play could lead to doubts about whether they believe in Mills. A lot of avoiding eye contact. ... On Salvon Ahmed's 18-yard quick screen to the left, the Patriots were lined up wrong in the secondary. No one went in motion or moved. The Patriots were completely out-flanked on the play. Hard to believe they didn't prep for that kind of play with Tua at QB. It's a college staple. ... Outside of Adrian Phillips, who was the one defender to seemed determined to make plays and was outstanding, everyone had their issues. ... Mills had that nice PBU in the end zone, but the ball was late and Mills was beaten on the play. ... Joejuan Williams does not appear to be a viable option. He played 13 snaps, was part of two big pass plays and Waddle was his man on the touchdown. ... Patriots' stats looked better thanks to Waddle's drop on 3rd and 10 when he was wide-buck open. Should have been a huge play. 

TWO UP

S Adrian Phillips: If Guy doesn't improve, Phillips is going to be my next guy who can seemingly do no wrong. He's been great since his first day with the Patriots. Five impactful plays in the second half.

Edge Josh Uche: More time for Uche, less time for Wise seems like a good trade.

Couldn't pick a third.

THREE DOWN

CB Jalen Mills: If it wasn't for the fortunate end zone PBU, this would have a Philly-esque debacle.

LB Ja'Whaun Bentley: Played like a chicken with its head cut off most of the game. He needs to be a lot better than this.

Edge Deatrich Wise: Good playing time, zero production.