By Michael Vallee
-The Shot Heard Round the World: Sometimes all it takes is one play to summarize an entire game. One play that embodies an entire afternoon of football. One play that represents the best of one team and all the worst of another. One play that tells you everything you need to know about the final numbers on the scoreboard. But first let’s set the stage…
The New England Patriots started the game by thoroughly dominating the overmatched Miami Dolphins. New England scored on their first four possessions. In the first quarter they outgained Miami 154 to -1 in total yards. The Dolphins didn’t run a first half play in Patriots territory until after the two-minute warning. In the land of Dave Barry and drag queens the Patriots were rolling, 20-0.
Then a funny thing happened on the way to the presumptive blowout……Miami made a game of it. And they did so in the most Miami way possible. There were no spectacular plays or performances. There were no unforgettable SportsCenter top 10 moments. There were no big gains. Only the Dolphins have a way of producing without seeming to actually do anything. Somehow, Miami managed to string together two long scoring drives, cutting New England’s lead to 20-14. Then on the ensuing drive a penalty had the Patriots facing a 3rd and 7 from deep in their own territory. One stop and Miami had a chance to take the lead. The docile Miami crowd was even starting to make noise. Despite New England’s dominance this was starting to feel like another one of those nightmare in Miami games that have sporadically haunted the Patriots during the Belichick/Brady era.
At 7:05 of the 3rd quarter Brady lined up in shotgun with WR Julian Edelman in the slot. Then, in one of those moments where you are reminded how bad some of the coaching is in the NFL, Miami’s defense inexplicably left Edelman uncovered. A strange move considering Edelman is not only Brady’s favorite receiver he is a first-down-making machine. Brady, who is as sharp as he has ever been mentally, recognized this and immediately fired the ball to Edelman for an easy first down. At least that’s all it should have been. But then Edelman broke a tackle, turned up field, and was headed for big gain, but certainly not a touchdown, as Edelman had Dolphins cornerback Tony Lippett baring down on him…..closing in……almost at arms length……and then….
BOOM.
Out of nowhere, newly acquired receiver and emerging TMZ star, Michael Floyd, explodes into the play like he was shot out of a Howitzer and levels Lippett. With the last line of defense eliminated in the most violent of fashions, Edelman was free to gallop untouched into the end zone for a back-breaking, highlight-making and for all intents and purposes, game-clinching 77-yard touchdown. Patriots: 27, Miami: 14……….but it might as well have been 127-14 because their was no way Miami was coming back after a play like that. In one instant the Patriots had not just separated themselves from Miami on the scoreboard, they had broken their will. The Dolphins players knew it, their coaches knew it and the few fans that bothered showing up knew it.
One play. Or, more accurately, one throw, one catch and one monumental block.
And as Edelman danced in the end zone and Lippett lay dazed and confused on the sub-par Miami Dolphins turf, a sort of visual metaphor emerged. This play was not only emblematic of the Patriots dominating 35-14 victory over Miami, but in so many ways it encapsulated both franchises. There’s Brady and the Patriots, always prepared, always focused, recognizing an hole in another team’s defense and immediately exploiting it. And there’s Edelman scoring the touchdown, a player whose entire career just screams Patriot: mentally tough, versatile, competitor, overachiever. A guy right out of the Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison mold i.e. guys that live for this shit. And then there’s Michael Floyd, who apparently took all of five minutes to buy into the Patriot Way. Despite being cut by his last team and dealing with what appears to be a bevy of personal problems, Floyd has managed to stay so focused and committed to the concept of team, that within two weeks he understands the offense enough to play meaningful minutes and is willing to sacrifice his body for the little things that Belichick obsesses over, like downfield blocking.
And then there’s Miami. Poorly prepared (seriously, how do you not cover Edelman), missing tackles, always a step late, always a step behind. And just as Miami thinks they have narrowed that gap with New England, just as they think they have the Patriots in their grasp….
BOOM.
The Patriots remind them of the oceans of space that separates these two franchises. The Dolphins can make all the strides they want but as long as Brady and Belichick are at the helm they will be relegated to second class status; a scrappy underdog forever chasing the big bully, hoping they can catch him, reaching, grasping, lunging…….and praying that some waiver wire pickup doesn’t emerge out of nowhere and knock them into next Tuesday.
-The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Patriots defense gave another strong effort generating two turnovers and allowing just 14 points. Despite this they continue to be the unit that generates the most concern regarding New England’s Super Bowl chances.
-The Good: The Patriots finished the regular season 8th in total defense and 1st in scoring defense, allowing just 15.6 points per game. In their last six games they have caused 14 turnovers.
-The Bad: They allowed relatively easy back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives and failed to sack Matt Moore once on 34 pass attempts.
-The Ugly: The following is a list of every starting quarterback New England has faced: Carson Palmer, Ryan Tannehill, Brock Osweiler, Tyrod Taylor, Charlie Whitehurst, Andy Dalton, Landry Jones, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jared Goff, Joe Flacco, Trevor Siemian, Bryce Petty and Matt Moore. Not exactly a murderers row of arm talent. Not a single QB they faced finished in the top 10 in QB rating and the only elite quarterback on the list, Russell Wilson, carved them up for 31 points and handed Brady his only loss.
And we might be adding a name to this list of flotsam and jetsam in the divisional round of the playoffs where New England could face Tom Savage or something called Matt McGloin. Either way, after the quarterbacks the Patriots defense has faced this year there has to be some concern about whether they have what it takes to beat a Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers in back-to-back games to win a Super Bowl.
-”I’m Going to do What’s Best for the Team”: With Jamie Collins the Patriots allowed 16.5 points per game, without him they allowed 14.7 points per game. Maybe that Belichick guy knows what he’s doing.
-Sunday was a big day for receiver Michael Floyd who not only made that monumental block on Edelman’s TD but scored a highlight reel 14-yard touchdown where he fought through half dozen Dolphins to get to the end zone. Prior to the Miami game, the most significant tape on Floyd heading into free agency was a sad drunken video of him snoozing at a red light and mumbling his way through a police interview. I still have no idea if Floyd has a drinking problem, and if he does, if he is addressing those demons, but certainly replacing the TMZ tape with some serious game tape won’t hurt his case in the offseason.
-Pork Barrel: The fatal flaw of Miami’s roster is that they have 42 million tied up in an underperforming punk, Ndamukong Suh, and a slightly above average Ryan Tannehill.
-Born to Run: After finishing 30th in rush yards last year and after the debacle in Denver where the Patriots rushed for just 44 yards and had no counterpunch for the Broncos pass rush, New England made a commitment this year to run the ball more often and more effectively, and it has paid off. The Patriots ran for 81 yards in the first quarter against Miami and for the game crossed the 120-yard threshold for the seventh time this year. Last year, including the playoffs, they ran for 120+ yards just twice.
-Bonus Babies: The Patriots offensive line had another clean game, allowing no sacks and in the process depriving DE Cameron Wake of an $875K bonus. Wake finished the season with 11.5 sacks leaving him half a sack shy of reaching his incentive. It was a rough day all around for players trying to reach incentives. Old friend Adam Vinatieri entered week 17 with an 89.7% success rate on field goals and needed to get that up to 90% to secure a $500K bonus, but lost out when he clanged one off the upright in the second quarter. And Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree needed 90 receiving yards to earn an extra $300K but lost out when he only managed 47 yards Sunday. Of course, his starting QB was Matt McGloin, which is sort of like losing a relay race when your partner is Chris Christie.
-54 Things I Hate about You: If you find yourself wondering why the rest of the NFL hates the Patriots and doesn’t come to their defense when they get railroaded by a duplicitous commissioner think of this: The Patriots have won 54 straight against AFC opponents in games that Brady has started and played the majority of the snaps. 54-0, isn’t going to make you many friends around the league.
-Brady’s MVP Chances put on Ice: Brady’s three touchdown passes Sunday gave him the NFL single-season record for touchdown-to-interception ratio at 14 to 1 (28 TDs, 2 INTs) but it won’t be enough to get him the MVP. This is my final top 5 MVP power rankings:
MVP: Matt Ryan: It was a career year for Ryan who finished the season second in the NFL in yards and TDs and first in QB rating with a whopping 117.1. Nobody was more valuable to their team than Ryan who carried a poor defense (27th ranked), an average running game (17th ranked) and a weak supporting cast (2nd best receiver had just 653 yards and four TDs) to an 11-5 record and a first round bye. Not only did Ryan’s offense finish first in scoring for 2016, it was one of the highest scoring offenses in NFL history (33.8 ppg). Ryan clinched the award weeks 14 and 15 when Atlanta went 2-0 and averaged over 40 points in two games without all-world wide receiver Julio Jones. Despite all that, with his dubious playoff history nobody will be surprised if Ryan throws two interceptions in the divisional round and the Falcons go one-and-done.
2. Brady: A monster year by even his high standards but Brady comes up just short to Ryan. Brady’s 4-game suspension won’t help but it shouldn’t cost him the award when you consider that Montana got almost 90% of the vote in 1989 when he missed three games. So Patriots fans can take some solace in knowing that Roger Goodell’s ego didn’t cost Brady an MVP, he was simply out-played by Ryan.
3. Derek Carr: At one time he was a legit candidate for the award but an injured finger and a broken leg derailed the final month of his season. He won’t win the MVP but his emergence as an elite QB changes the entire trajectory of the Raiders future. But it will be ironic if they move to Vegas because while Carr looks like a winner, Vegas is a town built on the backs of losers.
4. Aaron Rodgers: Nobody on the planet is playing better right now than Aaron Rodgers but the NFL is a 16-game season and Rodgers doesn’t simply get a pass for his struggles in the first half of the season. He also loses points for being a dick to his family.
5. The Dallas Cowboys offensive line: Yeah, the two rookies have been great but as the saying goes, once is a fluke, twice is a trend. Maybe everyone should focus less on which rookie should get ROY/MVP and focus more on the reason why both Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have been able to excel as rookies – because the Cowboys have three legit All-Pro candidates on the O-Line and might have the best unit the NFL has seen since…..well…..Dallas in the mid-90s.
-Women Love a Man with Staying Power: How last year’s NFL final four fared in 2016 speaks volumes about the Patriots historic consistency:
-Denver Broncos: 9-7, missed the playoffs
-Carolina Panthers: 6-10, missed the playoffs
-Arizona Cardinals: 7-8-1, missed the playoffs
-New England Patriots: 14-2, number one seed
-The Jets may have beaten the Bills week 17 but it was another rough year for the boys in green. Their rookie QB Bryce Petty looked overwhelmed, their subdued coach Todd Bowles looked lost and team leader Brandon Marshall said the idea of joining the hated Patriots was “intriguing”. Playing for the Jets and saying the idea of playing for New England is “intriguing” is kinda like being married to Lena Dunham and saying the idea of dating Kate Upton is “intriguing”, we get it, but it’s probably bad form to express it while you’re still in a committed relationship.
-What, No Dabbin?: What a difference a year makes. Last year Cam Newton was crowned the NFL’s MVP while leading Carolina to a 17-2 record and an appearance in the Super Bowl. This year Cam Newton finished 28th in QB rating and Carolina missed the playoffs with a record of 6-10. Newton will probably rebound next year but you have to wonder if there is some concern in the front office that the Broncos permanently broke Newton during Super Bowl 50.
-Commitment to Excellence: A funny story was splashed across the NY Post this week – well, funny unless you are a Giants fan, coach or owner – showing pictures of Giants players on a Yacht following a night of jet-setting and partying with Justin Bieber. This of course would be a non-story six weeks from now but the problem is the Giants are not the Jets and actually have a playoff game to prepare for this week in Green Bay. I suspect the reaction from Patriots fans to this story was an almost universal, “Something like that would never happen on a Bill Belichick team.”
-Speaking of Belichick, a strong case can be made for him to be the NFL Coach of the Year after going 3-1 without Brady and finishing with the number one ranked defense, however, it will be hard for Belichick to overcome Jason Garrett who took a 4-12 team to 13-3 with a rookie quarterback. It will also be hard for Belichick to overcome the rampant disdain the entire national media has for him.