Diminished role for Rob Ninkovich?

As a Patriots fan, I was completely humbled by Sunday's 33-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. When I return back to Florida, I am sure that I will hear it from the fans down there. However, I will keep my head high and know that the Pats will not play like this again.

After the devastating loss, I wasn't the only person humbled after yesterday's game. Rob Ninkovich, the Patriots up and coming linebacker, played 35 out of 74 snaps during Sunday's game. In 2013, Ninkovich played approximately 90% of the snaps on the defensive side. After painfully watching the highlights on ESPN, I quickly learned that the team could have used his pass rushing abilities since Ryan Tannehill faced no pressure from the Patriots defense.

Lack of pressure on the quarterback was only half the problem from yesterday's game. The Patriots made Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller look like Pro-Bowl running backs. The Patriots opted for three man fronts and rushing with an extra defensive back. I am not going to sit here and say that I am a defensive specialist like Belichick, but I would rather see Ninkovich rushing or filling gaps then a defensive back.

If the Patriots look to right the ship in time for their next game against Minnesota, they might want to consider keeping Ninkovich on the field for more than 50% of the snaps. Let's not forget that Adrian Peterson is 20x better than both of the running backs (Moreno and Miller) from Miami.


It makes you wonder why the Patriots gave Ninko a three-year, $15 million extension and elected to cut his snaps by half. Once again the Patriots faithful will have to put our trust and faith with the hooded one! Let's see how Ninko is used against the Vikings next week.

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

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