Dismantle the doubt
Pats put naysayers in their place
FOXBORO — The doubts had crept in. In some cases, it was more like panic after the Patriots’ less than stellar 1-2 start.
The defense was slow, couldn’t stop the run and couldn’t get off the field. Tom Brady’s receivers couldn’t gain separation from anybody. Even Rob Gronkowski’s brother Chris made that assertion publicly on a local radio station last week. But the criticism didn’t stop there.
Running back Sony Michel didn’t seem worthy of a firstround draft pick.
Both offensive and defensive lines were flunking the toughness test, losing the trench wars.
And, worst of all, was it possible the players were tuning out their head coach? After a loss to the Jaguars, Bill Belichick’s team laid an egg in Detroit.
But yesterday, facing the unbeaten Dolphins and the closest thing to a must-win game in the regular season, it’s like the Pats put up a collective middle finger to all of the naysayers and detractors.
If history tells us anything, the Pats have always been money with their backs up against the wall. This was no exception.
The season was on the line, at least we kept telling them it was, and the Patriots responded by destroying the Dolphins, 38-7, at Gillette.
“I thought we got what we needed from our team (yesterday),” Bill Belichick said with all of the emotion of a mannequin following the game. “We made enough plays to win in all of the areas … It was good to see our team respond the way they did. I thought they played really hard, played well. Hopefully we can do it again.”
So at 2-2, the Pats are back in business. After exposing the Dolphins as frauds, they’re back in the AFC East division hunt, even if not in the lead just yet.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said the team can talk a lot about what they are, who they are, and how they plan to improve, but talk only gets you so far.
“What you say is important, but what you do is more important,” said Brady, who threw three touchdown passes. “I think we gotta do more doing, and less saying, and just get the job done. We did a good job of that (yesterday). (The Dolphins) were 3-0. They played well. It was a big division game for us at home. It was great to win.”
In the doing department, they crushed it. They had some help from a woeful Dolphins team, but the Patriots came to play.
The defense that couldn’t stop the run and get off the field?
It held the Dolphins to 56 yards rushing. The Fins also converted just three times on 11 third-down attempts. It was a dominant effort to say the least.
Yes, it helped having Trey Flowers and Patrick Chung back after missing last week’s game with concussions. But it was more than that. The effort was there all across the board, and it showed the team could bounce back after being dominated the previous week.
“That’s definitely important. You don’t want to go out there and play some people who’ll go into a tank. That’s never good,” said safety Duron Harmon. “You want people who are mentally tough, and who will withstand the adversity of the times when adversity hits. We have those types of guys here. We were never in a panic mode. We just knew we needed to play better. That’s what we did (yesterday).” The receiving corps? Both Cordarrelle Patterson and Phillip Dorsett caught touchdown passes. Both made great plays for the scores, and both created separation, something that’s been missing the previous two weeks.
Dorsett made a terrific move to get past Xavien Howard in the end zone, then made a tumbling catch for the touchdown. Patterson, meanwhile, finally showed off his skills. He caught the ball while backpedaling, then faked Cordrea Tankersley out of his socks, cutting past him for a 55-yard score.
And then there’s the much-awaited debut of Josh Gordon. He caught passes (2 catches, 32 yards), drew penalties, drew attention, and made blocks to set up touchdowns.
The offense, which had trouble extending drives the previous two games, was 10of-15 on third down against the Dolphins.
“That’s what you need. I mean, if you lose guys, you’ve got to get the guys who come in to make plays and impact the game. They did that,” Brady said when asked about Gordon, Patterson and Michel. “So, it’s going to take everybody. I mean, it’s a long season. Everyone’s going to have to play a big role.”
Michel, who was practically kicked to the curb after his performance in Detroit, had a breakout game. With the help of an offensive line that was much more aggressive getting off the blocks, Michel looked like the stud running back they drafted out of Georgia. He had 25 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown.
“He missed preseason, so he didn’t get a lot of those reps,” fellow back James White said of Michel. “So the more he plays, the better he’ll get, and he wanted to come out there and attack the day from the first play. He played really well.”
So did White, who ran for a touchdown and caught one.
Bottom line, the Patriots attacked and showed the kind of fight, resolve and urgency that’s been missing. They weren’t about to lose three in a row for the first time since 2002, and cause a full-scale panic. They listened to their coach.
Said Devin McCourty: “It was just time for us to play as a team.”