http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201101020nwe.htm
The last game of the 2010 season, and the last regular season game this team played before last night. 502 total yards and 38 points to a New England team that fielded backups for half the game. Completely dominated, humbled, and embarrassed by a team that could have cared less about the game except for the fact that they enjoy scoring points and preying on the weak. Tom Brady threw two TD's, but Brain Hoyer got his share as well. The game was 31-0 shortly into the third quarter. Most of us assumed that after this game there would be wholesale changes- head coach, and quarterback most obviously, but who on Earth would be comfortable with a secondary that had been so thoroughly dissected?
My question is- where was Chris Clemons in this game? So many seem to isolate Jones for his failures last night as a big reason why we got so thoroughly beaten, but was our defensive performance last night all that much different than week 17? Not really, and while the Patriots offense was a little more productive last night, they also had their first team out there. The defense with Clemons got smoked by backups about as bad as Jones with the starters. Now here's another difference- last night both our top corners missed a good amount of time with vaginal issues. Tom Brady was out there just licking his chops against a Nolan Carroll that was simply as bad and as worthless as I have ever seen an NFL CB be. No understatement. And he smoked an obviously ailing Sean Smith, which is what any experienced QB would do in a heartbeat. And then he smoked Jimmy Wilson for a TD on what was probably his first NFL play. Last night, all of the players failed entirely to cover their man.
Jones was late on a couple things, but Jones was also the only Dolphin defender on the field who wrapped up on his tackles and made them. He also got his hands on a Brady pass, and was probably the only Dolphin besides Odrick to do so. I'm not saying he played well, but I don't see where having Clemons would have made anything better, considering he didn't stop **** in week 17.
Although this post was geared towards Clemons vs. Jones, it also begs the question of why anyone, themselves included, would think that this secondary has what it takes to be competent, much less "the best CB tandem in the NFL". Smith and Vontae have made fewer plays between them in their entire career than Surtain and Madison could manage in a half.
The last game of the 2010 season, and the last regular season game this team played before last night. 502 total yards and 38 points to a New England team that fielded backups for half the game. Completely dominated, humbled, and embarrassed by a team that could have cared less about the game except for the fact that they enjoy scoring points and preying on the weak. Tom Brady threw two TD's, but Brain Hoyer got his share as well. The game was 31-0 shortly into the third quarter. Most of us assumed that after this game there would be wholesale changes- head coach, and quarterback most obviously, but who on Earth would be comfortable with a secondary that had been so thoroughly dissected?
My question is- where was Chris Clemons in this game? So many seem to isolate Jones for his failures last night as a big reason why we got so thoroughly beaten, but was our defensive performance last night all that much different than week 17? Not really, and while the Patriots offense was a little more productive last night, they also had their first team out there. The defense with Clemons got smoked by backups about as bad as Jones with the starters. Now here's another difference- last night both our top corners missed a good amount of time with vaginal issues. Tom Brady was out there just licking his chops against a Nolan Carroll that was simply as bad and as worthless as I have ever seen an NFL CB be. No understatement. And he smoked an obviously ailing Sean Smith, which is what any experienced QB would do in a heartbeat. And then he smoked Jimmy Wilson for a TD on what was probably his first NFL play. Last night, all of the players failed entirely to cover their man.
Jones was late on a couple things, but Jones was also the only Dolphin defender on the field who wrapped up on his tackles and made them. He also got his hands on a Brady pass, and was probably the only Dolphin besides Odrick to do so. I'm not saying he played well, but I don't see where having Clemons would have made anything better, considering he didn't stop **** in week 17.
Although this post was geared towards Clemons vs. Jones, it also begs the question of why anyone, themselves included, would think that this secondary has what it takes to be competent, much less "the best CB tandem in the NFL". Smith and Vontae have made fewer plays between them in their entire career than Surtain and Madison could manage in a half.
