Fins vs. Pats postgame dissection

I will start by saying that Miami played a hell of a game against a Tom Brady team that looks poised to make another deep run in the playoffs. Next I will tackle a few different areas of the game.

The Pass Rush

I mention this one first because there was none. Tom Brady had all day in the pocket and it showed as he dissected the Fins throughout the game. He targeted seven different receivers and 5 of them had multiple catches. I know what you are thinking, that's it's the secondary's fault. That is not true, although they do share half the blame, I give a lot to the lack of pass rush. My question is, where is Joey Porter? He has been invisible this season and even more so today. He didn't even have a tackle today. He said he hates the Pats, but didn't show his intensity on the field today. Porter is done. JT was almost on non-factor on the other side. He hit Brady once and had a tackle, but other than that was quiet. Meanwhile our line was getting dominated. Moreny was getting 5-yard pops and the linemen where leading that charge by pushing the Fins line back.

The Secondary

332 yards, 1 td and 1 int. Honestly despite allowing more than 300 yards through the air, I believe that they played well. Tom Brady is going to get his and when he's allowed to sit in the pocket he will kill you. There is only so much coverage a secondary can provide before the quarterback and his receivers, who by the way are well in tune, break you down. The lack of pass rush did not help the secondary. Randy Moss simply played a great game. The one handed grab then the catch and stiff arm later were, well, Randy Moss. I did like the way Vontea Davis was aggressive and had a couple of defended passes for incompletions, and interception and key tackle on a screen play late in the game. He did get stiff-armed for the long touchdown, but my question is where was the safety help? You simply can't leave Moss one-on-one. Play after play they allowed the Pats to move the ball, but with a better pass rush and a little more experience this unit will be alright.

On a side note, I did not see anyone completely open in the secondary as they were earlier in the season. They are retuning and refining. But I think this unit could be solid next season, that is if we have a pass rush.

The Offense

I know that the numbers don't show this, but Henne played a hell of a game. This guy is making the right reads and the right throws. People will look at the numbers and say that Henne played a sub-par game, but I don't believe that. First off dropped passes killed the Fins again. This time it wasn't just Ginn, although he had a key drop on the fourth down. Every player had a dropped ball that could have kept a drive alive. Henne threw very good catchable passes. The most impressive was the third down conversion late in the game to Bess. He rifled it so hard that it went through the defender.

Then there is the running game, or the lack of one. I know that the stats sheets show that the Fins outrushed the Pats, but its a little misleading. Pat White had 45 yards on 6 rushes. Most of the rushing plays came out of a wildcat/Pat White formation. (side note: when he runs some plays they don't call it the wildcat, but that's what it really is) I already saw some posts that about getting rid of the wildcat, but that's where the rushing yards were achieved. On the conventional formation the team was abysmal. Ronnie and Ricky were getting met at the line and often behind it. I think the team does need to practice more in the base foundations to make the wildcat more of a threat again. The Fins simply have not run well out of regular formations and they need to.

Last comment on offense: FINS NEED RECEIVERS!

Special Teams

Patriots started in good position and the Fins were usually backed up. Enough said. I didn't think that last weeks miracle would suddenly make the special teams dangerous.

Coaching

Something needs to change on playcalling on both sides of the field. Sparano is a great coach and always has the Fins ready to play every week, but I don't think his coordinators are helping him out. The D-coordinator needs to go. No safety help, bad coverage schemes and the blitzes are terrible. Why do they always blitz from the outside? Especially with Brady, you need to move him out of the pocket and make him uncomfortable. JT and Porter are not fast enough to blitz from the outside anymore. Get them in between the gaps and force the line to adjust in the middle, not just push the blitzers around the outside giving the quarterback time.

Although introducing the wildcat, has kept this team alive, I don't like a lot of the playcalling. Henne makes a first down and they take him out for the wildcat. I understand that they want to make the defense think, but let Henne get in a role. I believe if you let him get on a role, he will have a much better game. I think they need to do a better job when they choose to run the wildcat. Then there is that screen pass that always goes to Bess and always gets snuffed out. Hey Coach, I think it's time for a new play! They threw a screen pass to Brown that yielded better results. I think that the Fins have become predictable on offense, because the other teams seem to know what the play is before the offense can even execute.

The Positives

- The Fins were in the game till the end against an explosive offense.

- Despite multiple drives to the redzone, only gave up two TDs

- Vontea Davis looked good despite Moss getting the better of the exchange. But that's years of experience vs. a rookie. Davis will be alright.

- Despite not having any go-to-player and dropped passes, Henne continues to look good. 19 of 34, 219 yards, 0 tds, 0 int (more than a handful of dropped passes).

No Playoffs this year, but a promising future. I will still watch and root every week. Go FINS!