Film School: Patriots vs Dolphins


This one is an easy of an A as you're gonna get all semester. So grab a seat in the back of the auditorium and take a nap! Who cares? There's no homework, there are no quizzes, just a mid term and a final, and they're both take home. Class is officially in session.

Even in a 38-7 blowout there were some learning moments in this one. I kind of want to show the great coverage by the Dolphins on Brady's first pick. McCain coming off of his man (Hoags) to release the deep route to the safety allowing him to jump Flip's in cut was beautiful. Rarely do you see Tom fooled like that. He thought that completion was pitch and catch. He was under a little pressure, but I'm not sure how much that mattered.

But it was a fun win and we haven't had one of those yet this year, so I'm gonna keep class light. Since we play Thursday this is basically Friday afternoon and everyone is checked out already anyway.

Wiggle had a monster game, with no better play than his 22 yard tuddy run that left Robert Quinn thanking the old gods and the new that his ACL was still attached to his body. The cut back heard round the world is what everyone is talking about, but I want point out what actually made the run possible.

It starts with the OLine. You've got Cannon and Gronk lined up on the ride side of the line. The Miami front is going to stunt left (our right) on the snap. So you can see Cannon and Gronk ready to pick up the two guys on that side of the formation with their hand in the ground. Behind them in the second level is linebacker who is going to fill the whole on that side, which by the way is where this run is supposed to go. You can see that by Joe Thuney pulling from his LG position, sliding over to blast that linebacker.

Once Shaq Mason sees the movement of the Dolphin front and realizes that Cannon/Gronk/Thuney are in a 3 on 3 situation, he is able to leave the man in front of him and bounce up to the next level and pick up Kiko Alonso rushing in from the second level.


And of course by "pick up Kiko Alonso" I meant DESTROY Kiko Alonso. Look how long Mason holds this block! This is an absolute wash out. Text book stuff from Shaq Diesel right here.




But you know where we really make our money? How we get a table with reservations for 6? By the wide receivers blocking downfield. That's how good runs turn into game changing runs. First off you have Flip picking up his corner in the secondary, and he will end up driving him all the way across the field and out of the play once Wiggle cuts back. And then you've got Hoags picking up his DB who motioned with him. This still leaves the safety in the middle of the field, but as Bill always says you can't block em all. Wiggle is gonna have to make someone miss. Luckily both the safety and Quinn crashed the middle of the field and Wiggle made them look stupid.


And finally, the piece de resistance. Look at my guy Josh Gordon finishing the play like a born and bred killer. This is how you gain the respect of the coaching staff! This is how you earn more snaps! Become wrath! Nature vs Nurture, Lodge. NATURE ALWAYS WINS.


On the defensive side of the football I feel there is one play in particular I simply MUST highlight after I did this man dirty last week.  Kerryon Johnson rushed for 100 yards against the porous Pats D on SNF and made HIGH look like he was asked to run the Boston Marathon twice immediately before playing the game.

Well on Sunday HIGH had an answer for his critics, most notably me. He had the green dot back on his helmet and he had the swagger back in his heart. The run D was instrumental on Sunday because it put the Dolphins in so many third and longs. I don't want to take away from the secondary, who ran deep with speedy receivers and covered crossers all day with expert level execution. But it's undoubtedly an easier job when the first 5 Dolphins third downs were all 8 yards or more.

Here is a play on 2nd and 10. The Fins line up in shotgun with their slot receiver off the line to the left. They are going to have their RT, RG, and C pick up Van Noy, Guy, and Brown respectively. That leaves HIGH in the middle of the field to shoot the gap between the tackle and the guard. To counter act this the Dolphins will pull their LG over to fill the hole and block HIGH. They are also going to run the slot receiver on a jet sweep, a play they used last week against Oakland to score a tuddy when they DID hand it off to the receiver. This week they fake it in an effort to pull Van Noy outside and let Drake go through the whole easily created by their RT as he helps Van Noy kick wide.


When the ball gets handed off to the back I want to first point out that Van Noy does a tremendous job of setting the edge. If that was handed to the jet sweeping WR, then Van Noy is in perfect position to either make the tackle or force him back inside towards the teeth of the defense. HIGH recognizes the play actually went to the back and is ready to fill the hole. I've highlighted the pulling guard, ready to blast HIGH, and the back who is intending to follow his blocker.


Here's the back view as the play reaches its inciting incident. The guard has his hands on HIGH. Drake has made the right read and appears to have all the daylight in the world to bust this thing for decent yardage before he meets Dev. Keep in mind this is 2nd and 10, so a pick up of 5 here is now third and manageable and everyone is happy. Anytime you can make it to the safety before you're touched its a successful run.


But HIGH says NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND. He sheds the guards and sticks Drake, forcing a third and long and eventually a Dolphins punt.


HIGH, you have my sincere apologizes for last week. It was just tough love babe. I needed to light a fire under your butt, and it sure looked like it succeeded. With Bentley dead, and Roberts possibly dead, I need the HIGH of old. He was spotted last Sunday at The Razor and it was sight to behold. 

Now to pay the piper.

Prediction: Tom goes 300+ / 3+ / 0
Result: Tom threw for 274 and 3, so not too shabby JO. I think I'll count that as a win! Wait what was that? He threw two picks? Nah, you're lying.

Prediction: Kenyan Drake will shit on us for at least 80 yards on the ground.
Result: Baaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahaha. MY BAD! Try 3 carries for 3 yards. That might be the most wrong prediction I've ever made. And hey, if the purpose of my life is to be a reverse jinx then so be it. I will use my powers for good. The way the run D had been playing did not inspire a lot of confidence, but they took that shit I predicted and rubbed Kenyan Drake's face in it.

Prediction: Two Gronk spikes
Result: Way off as he was mostly bottled up again. I knew the Fins would try to follow the model of late and attempt to double team him. I just didn't think they would have the personnel to pull it off. He had a few big first down grabs before he went out with the ankle injury, but he wasn't even looked at in the red zone.

Prediction: Pats hang on 24-20
Result: Pats in a blowout and its about time. Wish we had held onto the shutout, which we would have if Dev hadn't missed that tackle, but the way this year has been going I'm not about to complain about a 31 point win. Isn't it better when I promise you a dog fight and you get a snoozer???