New England Patriots: 3 Studs and duds in Week 1 vs. Dolphins

Stud: Patriots defense

During the 2019 season, New England had one of the best defensive units in the entire NFL, and that was on display right out of the gate against Miami in Week 1. For the majority of the game, the Patriots were able to hold the Dolphins offense in check, forcing Miami into a total of three turnovers by the end of contest.

In the first half, New England was lights out on defense while allowing Miami to record just a field goal before halftime. With the exception of a touchdown in the fourth quarter, that continued the rest of the game.

With some players sitting out or departing the team this offseason, it was really important and refreshing to see the Patriots defense continue to step up to get an early-season win over a divisional opponent.

Dud: Not too much passing offense

Another dud for the Patriots in the game, although it wasn’t too big of an issue, was the lack of passing offense on that end of the field. When you have the likes of Cam Newton at quarterback, you never really know what kind of game you will be getting since he can do it all both in the passing game and on the ground.

In Sunday’s win, it was more of a rushing attack rather than airing the ball through the air, which will take Patriots fans some time to get used to after having Tom Brady throw the ball around the field more often than not in the last 20 or so years.

In the season opener in Foxborough, New England finished with just 15 completions on 19 attempts and 155 yards through the air, managing to not get into the endzone via the passing game.

Although it didn’t matter in the end, it would be nice to see the Patriots air the ball out a little bit more moving forward with some fresh faces on that side of the field.