Brady Soars, Patriots Squish the Fish in Miami

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

John Rooke, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

The Patriots took their former battle cry of “squish the fish” to a new dimension last season, dominating Miami in two games by a combined 58 points.

But a new year usually brings new results, doesn’t it? Not for the first match-up of this year, at least.

Led by a career-best 517-yard performance from Tom Brady, New England literally passed by their AFC East rivals 38-24 in Miami Monday night. It was, however, an inauspicious debut for the new-look Pats’ defense, as Miami took the opening kickoff and moved to the Patriots’ two yard line before the “new look D” made their presence felt. A sack by Andre Carter and run stuff of Reggie Bush by Albert Haynesworth was followed by QB Chad Henne keeping on a draw up the middle to score from nine yards out…the Dolphins traveled 12 plays, 84 yards and 7 ½ minutes on the opening drive of the season against the Pats’ defense.

However, the Patriots looked to be in mid-season form on offense for their first drive of 2011, as Brady led a 6-play, 78 yard drive capped off by a BenJarvus Green-Ellis run from 5 yards out to tie the game at 7 with 4:14 left in the first quarter. The drive was highlighted by a Brady-to-Matthew Slater completion of 46 yards, Slater’s first career NFL reception…the first quarter ended with the Patriots moving the ball almost at will against the Miami defense, at the Dolphin 12-yard line…7-7 after the first quarter.

Two plays into the second quarter, Brady found TE Rob Gronkowski in the end zone from 10 yards away for his first TD pass of the season to make it 14-7, :51 seconds into the period. Brady completed his first eight passes of the game over the first two drives…With 1:18 left in the first half, C Dan Koppen went down with an apparent injury to his lower left leg, and he did not return…Chad Ochocinco pulled in his first catch as a Patriot with 1:11 left, on a 14-yard sideline route…Brady hit Gronkowski on two big completions late in the quarter, and while the officials missed an obvious pass interference call (holding) on Dolphins’ DB Vontae Davis, they didn’t miss one on Nate Solder. Coupled with a sack on Brady by Cameron Wake, the Patriots had to settle for a 48 yard FG attempt from Stephen Gostkowski that sailed to the right. The Patriots took a 14-7 lead at the half, despite rolling for 265 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.

On the opening drive of the second half, Brady had his NFL record streak of 358 regular season passes without an interception snapped with a tipped ball intercepted by Jared Odrick, and returned to the Pats’ 10 yard line. It took two plays for Henne to find Brian Hartline for the score that tied the game at 14.

It was a rare turnover for New England - which led the league in fewest mistakes last season. But the hiccup mattered little in the end.

Using the no-huddle offense, Brady led the team on a 10-play, 73-yard drive in 4:06, capped off by a three yard TD pass to Wes Welker to put the Patriots back on top 21-14.

The lack of a consistent pass rush put the secondary in several one-on-one matchups with the bigger Miami receivers. Devin McCourty, a Pro-Bowler as a rookie last year, particularly struggled Monday night. He dropped a sure interception in the end zone in the 3rd quarter, just before the Dolphins cashed in on a chip-shot FG of 20 yards from Dan Carpenter with 3:36 left in the quarter to make it 21-17. Using the no-huddle offense on the ensuing drive, Brady found Aaron Hernandez wide open up the right side from 30 yards out to set up a one yard scoring pass from Brady to Hernandez again - to make it 28-17 at the end of the period. To that point, exactly half of the offensive plays run by the New England offense were from the no-huddle, hurry-up set. On the drive alone, Brady completed six consecutive passes for 75 yards, including the TD toss to Hernandez.

The Patriots made it 31-17 with 11:02 left in the game on a 20 yard FG from Gostkowski, only after the relentless pressure put on the Dolphins’ defense by the Patriots’ offense was diffused a bit, stalling a drive at the two-yard line. From there, even though they showed plenty of fatigue, the Dolphins weren’t quite done. Henne led his team on a drive to the Patriot one, where he misfired on a 4th and goal pass to Hartline in the end zone. The coup-de-grace came on the next play, when Brady found Welker up the near sideline for a team-record 99-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown to close the door at 38-17. Miami did get a rather meaningless score with 3:39 left on a swing pass to Bush to make it 38-24, but the damage to the Dolphins’ defense had been done.

Brady’s night totaled a mere 517 yards passing (32-48, 4 TD, 1 INT) – a career and New England franchise record for single-game passing yards (Drew Bledsoe threw for 426 in a 1994 game) – and the total is also a record for a Monday Night Football telecast. The 517 yards is also the highest single game total in the NFL since Boomer Esiason threw for 522 yards in 1996, and the 5th most in a game all-time. The Patriots’ 622 yards of total offense broke the franchise record of 619 yards, set two years ago in a 59-0 win over Tennessee.

“I think we were opportunistic at times, but we made plenty of mistakes too,” Brady said after the fireworks had subsided. “Miami is always a tough place to play, we’ve got a short week and San Diego will be ready to go. It was a good night in the sense that we executed pretty well at times. Those guys were catching the ball and guys stayed aware of the situations, and we made enough plays to win.

“I always feel great winning, that’s what we set out to do,” Brady added. “This team has had a focus since training camp, and we were all about coming down here this week to win the game.”

Post Game Notes

The Patriots have now won eight straight opening day games, dating back to 2004...Brady had his 3000th career completion to Deion Branch in the first quarter, becoming the 6th player in NFL history with 3000+ completions for one team…Brady also had completions to 8 different receivers, 4 of those players had at least 5 receptions. Welker had 8 catches for 160 yards and two scores, including the franchise-record 99-yarder. It was the 12th such 99-yard play from scrimmage in NFL history. “Wes is an incredible player, and we’re lucky to have him play for us,” Brady understated. “He’s unbelievable; he’s an incredible guy and great friend.” Welker said “It’s key to have a bunch of guys that can get open and make plays out there. It’s key for all of us to get involved. I definitely feel great. It was great (during camp) to train and not have to rehab…we just have to push through and keep grinding.”

The Patriots announced prior to the game that OL Thomas Welch has been signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. To make room for Welch on the active roster the team released Iowa rookie free agent LB Jeff Tarpinian…Welch was originally selected in the 7th round of the 2010 draft by New England…

With 7:32 left in the game, ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski let loose with an apparent obscenity on the television broadcast, slipping it in during the regular course of trying to explain the reasoning behind a play call…

Five different games in the NFL on the opening weekend had both quarterbacks throw for more than 300 yards each…including the Patriots and Dolphins. Chad Henne’s total of 416 yards (30-49 with 2 TD’s, 1 late interception by Kyle Arrington) against the Patriot secondary is the most allowed since giving up 456 to Dan Marino at Miami in 1994, and 488 yards of total offense put the teams’ combined total at 1110 yards, the second highest total in a single game in NFL history, and the most in a game by two teams since 1950...the 933 combined passing yards by both quarterbacks set an NFL record for most combined passing yards in a single game…Aaron Hernandez also went over 100 yards for the night, with 7 receptions for 103 yards and one touchdown…RB Reggie Bush’s Miami debut was less than spectacular, as he was held to 11 carries for 38 yards. He did score a touchdown…

New England now has nine straight regular season games scoring 30 or more points, dating to last season. They are five games shy of matching the record of 14 such games, set by St. Louis in 1999-2000...the Patriots are 62-2 when scoring 30 or more points in a game under Bill Belichick...

Brady on his offensive line play – “The offensive line did an incredible job. They did a great job of protecting. For new guys being in there, I thought the communication was pretty good.” Nate Solder started at right tackle in place of an injured Sebastian Vollmer, while Dan Connolly stepped in at center after Dan Koppen went down in the second quarter…

One and One: A “nitpick” and a superlative

Nitpick: Tough to find when you consider the offensive numbers overall, but let’s go with the secondary. They were repeatedly punished in man coverage by the Miami receivers – much of it due to an inconsistent pass rush up front. For a team that appears to be prepared to play a lot more man-to-man defense this year, Chad Henne’s passing numbers are a sobering statistic.

Superlative: Really? Brady’s performance carries the day…literally one for the record books. Although, Welker’s 99 (and a half) yard catch and run will also be unforgettable.

Sneak Peek at Next Week

The 1-0 San Diego Chargers will travel to Gillette Stadium for the Patriots’ home opener next Sunday, with the kickoff at 4:15 pm. The two teams have a championship history that began as far back as 1963, with the Chargers beating New England 51-10 in that years’ AFL title game. More recently, the Patriots topped the Chargers 21-12 in the 2007 AFC Championship, putting the Pats in the Super Bowl against New York. Last season, the Patriots edged San Diego 23-20 on the road in October, the Chargers eventually coming undone with four first half turnovers. SD is considered not only an AFC West divisional favorite this season, but perhaps a legitimate threat to reach the Super Bowl as well…for the Chargers to keep up with the Patriots, not only will the offense need to bring their track shoes, but the defense will need to find a way to get to Brady – which Miami could not do...San Diego came from behind to beat Minnesota 24-17 on Sunday, but lost kicker Nate Kaeding for the season with torn ligaments in his left knee, suffered on the opening kickoff trying to make a tackle…San Diego allowed 17 first-half points and trailed in the fourth quarter, but a second-half surge by the defense gave Philip Rivers and the offense time to exploit a stubborn Minnesota defense…DL Luis Castillo was also injured against the Vikings, and is likely to miss significant time as well…