Josh McDaniels: Dolphins took Julian Edelman away in second half

CHARLES TRAINOR JR / MIAMI HERALD

Julian Edelman was on fire in the first half, catching six passes for 95 yards, one which was a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch while being double covered.

But then came the second half, when the wheels fell off in every aspect of the Patriots' game, which included the disappearance of Edelman.

He was held without a catch during the second half and ever since, everyone and their mothers have been wondering why.

Enter Patriots offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels.

Per Tom Curran of CSNNE:

“Any time a player has a productive stretch – I’d say maybe a very productive stretch in a game – certainly there are elements on the other side that they may change to force the ball to go to other places,” said McDaniels. “We’ve dealt with that before with different players, whether it had been [Rob] Gronkowski or our slot receiver or whoever it may have been. So, I think sometimes where the ball needs to go based on the plays that are being called and the routes that are being run forces the ball to go some other places.”

By all accounts, until Rob Gronkowski gets back to full health, Edelman is the Patriots' best wide receiver, so it's no surprise the Dolphins tried to take Brady's top target away.

Tom Brady then had to rely on the likes of Brandon LaFell, who played terribly, Kenbrell Thompkins, who did some nice things, and Danny Amendola, who only had one catch. With that in a mind, and a very shaky offensive line and a running game that didn't show the dominance it showed last season, it's not hard to see why the offense sputtered.

McDaniels also noted that there were a few plays where Edelman was not the main target or had no affiliation with.

“I think we had some opportunities that we didn’t quite connect on in the second half too where Julian was in the pattern and certainly involved in the play and we just didn’t quite get it to him or went somewhere else on the play,” said McDaniels. “We don’t necessarily go into a game saying, ‘We have to get this one guy the ball or these two guys the ball.’ We try to do the best thing based on what the defense does. We have a quarterback who does a great job of that. Hopefully we can continue to give him a lot of options and be productive as we go forward.”

Moving forward, the Patriots are going to need to continue to rely on Edelman to make plays, which he has done time and time again. He was the Patriots leading receiver last season with over 1,056 yards receiving and 105 catches.

The Patriots very rarely string together two bad games in a row, so expect to see a better effort from everyone, from Brady, the defense, the coaches, etc.

Are you concerned with Julian Edelman's disappearance in the second half? Tweet me your thoughts - @JesseGaunce

For more of my articles, click here.