Image courtesy of BC Athletics
FOXBOROUGH – Record aside and stats be damned, Miami’s defense can pose some problems if the Patriots aren’t careful on Sunday.
Sean Duggan – who played for BC and was Jeff Hafley’s defensive coordinator – is serving in the same role in Miami.
On Thursday afternoon during his usual weekly media availability, Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had high praise for what he’s seeing on film.
“I’ve known Jeff (Hafley) for a number of years and he’s a really, really good football coach,” he said. “You can see what they’re doing. It’s a different scheme, obviously, than what we played last year. Using their players in a lot of different ways to create negative plays, negative situations. Aggressive at times, sound. Mostly a zone team, play with tremendous effort. You can see the culture that he’s trying to instill in their defensive unit.
“They’re going to run and chase to the ball. I don’t think we’ve seen one team this year try to punch and hammer the ball out from the ball carrier as well as you see Miami do that…every time you get tackled, somebody’s going to swing to try to get the ball loose. (They’re) trying to create turnovers and takeaways. They’ve got guys that can rush.
“You can see the culture he’s trying to instill down there. They’ve played with great effort this season, played a lot of really good offensive football teams…so, big challenge. It’s always different playing them down there than up here because you know you’re going to deal with heat, you’re going to deal with potential rain, those kinds of things.
“Big challenge for us on the road.”
While Patriots QB coach Ashton Grant is a local guy, he’s never crossed paths with Hafley or Duggan. Nevertheless, he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from the Miami defense thus far as well.
I had the chance to speak with Grant on Thursday afternoon about what he’s seeing when it comes to the Hafley-Duggan unit ahead of Sunday’s meeting down in South Beach.
“Variety. They do a lot of things. They fly around, they’re young,” said Grant. “They have some experienced guys up front, some savvy veterans like (Zach) Sieler. Jordyn Brooks has led the league in tackles multiple years. The safeties are playing well, they’re physical, they come downhill. The corners are long and aggressive and physical.
“I think they play well. They play good together. I think they’re trying to build a program there. They’re in their seventh game, so they’re still trying to learn each other a little bit. The effort is there. the strain is there. They disguise very well, so it’s going to be a challenge.”
As far as a particular identity Grant sees from this Dolphins defense, it’s what you’d expect from a staff trying to establish a new culture.
“I think there’s an identity with these guys. They play physical,” he added. “Every time 10 and 20 make a tackle, they try to punch the ball out. They’re aggressive, they’re physical. They’ll pop you a little bit and they’ll let you know they’re there.
“It’ll be a fun matchup.”
With Miami having such an emphasis on takeaways and turnovers coming at an alarming rate for the Pats this season, it’s been a point of emphasis (as usual) all week.
“I think we definitely bring it to light for the players and just show them the examples of it,” Grant said. “Now, if we have the right technique and the right habits that we’re practicing each and every day. hopefully it’s not going to be an issue.
“But, again, it’s something at the forefront of our mind every week, the turnover battle. Protect the football. So, when you see teams actively hunting it like the Dolphins do, it’s definitely on the forefront, but nothing changes with our process in terms of us practicing it.”
On paper and by just about every metric, the Patriots shouldn’t have much trouble with the Dolphins on Sunday.
But, with Hafley and Duggan scheming up for McDaniels and Maye and a young team coming off its first win playing with reckless abandon – coupled with the bad juju that’s been down there for decades – don’t be surprised if this one is a little tighter than we think.