Shane Foley
Connector Editor
For years, NFL analysts and fans alike have debated over a method, if one exists, on stop- ping Tom Brady. A popular offering, discussed several times on Sports Center and similar sports programs, has been to run the football, and keep Brady on the sideline. This method only really works however, if the opposing team can play defense, a challenge Cameron Wake took personally.
Knowshon Moreno, recently traded from the Broncos, took care of phase 1 of the “de- feat Brady” method, rushing for most of his 134 yards in the second half, including a touchdown. Lamar Miller also had 59 yards on the ground, combining for a team total of 191 rushing yards (Ryan Tannehill ran for -2). This translated into limited time for Brady and company to touch the football.
It is also hard to blame our defense considering Ryan Tannehill’s performance. He only threw for 178 yards, plus an intercep- tion. He did score two touchdowns, but one was after a Cameron Wake in- duced fumble and the other follow- ing a blocked punt. Tannehill had short distances for both scores.
If anything, this shows that the Patriots definitely have offensive line problems. Cameron
Speaking of Tom Brady touching the football, the Patriots only had 3 first downs in the entire second half. They were all completed in Brady’s nal drive, with a 33-20 deficit, and likely an apathetic Miami defense at that point.
number of times Brady was pressured, or hit after the ball was thrown, which having watched the game, was quite a lot.
Many people will blame the Patriot’s defense for the loss. However, the stats above should be the most disheartening for Patriots fans. Giving them short fields, Miami scored a touchdown after the first fumble, and a field goal after the next. If you take away those 2 scoring drives, Miami would have only been a field goal ahead of New England.
Wake played most of the game at left tackle, being blocked by Nate Solder, who is returning from in- jury. Perhaps his health may be in question. If he isn’t one hundred percent, this could spell out bad for the Patriots, since they said goodbye to veteran Logan Menkins in the off season.
The Patriots play the Vikings next Sunday. Some may consider it an easy win, but protecting Tom Brady should be a major concern if they want to get their first win of the season.
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The other Patriot drives resulted in 4 punts, save two drives, where Cameron Wake had sacked Brady, forcing him to cough up the ball and pos- session. In general, Brady got sacked 4 times in the game for a loss of 23 complete yards. Keep in mind as well, that this statistic does not account for the
