Necessary Roughness with Kisha is a sports blog that focuses on football, both college and professional. However, no topic is off limits.

Posts Tagged ‘Miami Dolphins’

 
Sep
12
2011

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The Rough Cut: Patriots vs Dolphins 9.12.11

 
Ahhhhh. 

Holy crap, it feels good to have some football back…especially Patriots football. After making a delicious and healthy dinner of Chicken Marsala and mock mashed potatoes (made with Cauliflower instead of potatoes..weird but with butter and cream, it is a tasties) I was ready to watch the Patriots.My first ever Patriots game was when they faced the Dolphins in 2005…and it was one of the few times that the Patriots were shut out.

Womp. Womp.

Tonight’s game was not the case.

I present to you, The Rough Cut: Patriots at Dolphins 9|12|11

- Tom Brady and the offense is something to be really be amazed with. I mean, Brady has so many toys to play with it that defenses are struggling heavily to find any sort of weakness. Tom Brady has over 500 passing yards…this is a real game people, not Madden.

- Matthew Slater is not only one hell of a tackler but for someone that’s relatively small, he made one amazing catch. Slater is also named this year’s Special Teams captain.

- Like I’ve said before, Aaron Hernandez will get you the yardage and Rob Gronkowski will get you the touchdowns. Not a bad problem to have on offense in the tight end position.

- Dan Koppen’s possible ankle injury is a massive blow to the offensive line and looks to put more pressure on Dan Connelly at center.

- Nate Solder is proving to be quite the first round pick at tackle. Although he was called for holding, the kid held Miami’s Cameron Wake at every snap.

- Deion Branch, one of the quieter players in the preseason had a blanced game against the Dolphins. Best play in my opinion, was Branch running after Jared Odrick a la Ben Watson style preventing the touchdown…even though Hartline eventually caught it for a TD, the effort was admirable. Branch has been open down the middle, on the sidelines and everywhere else.

- The Patriots running package with BenJarvus Green and Danny Woodhead is efficient and sturdy. For the first time in long time, I’m pretty secure with the Patriots’ running game.

- All these defensive backs for the Patriots need to learn how to catch. I know, I know..”that’s why they’re corners and not wide receivers”..but deflecting and intercepting a pass can do two very different things to a defense.

- Ras-I Dowling and Devin McCourty

…

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Sep
30
2010

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Patriots Passing on the Pass Rush?

 

Last Sunday night, there was nothing I wanted to do more than sleep. With a 16 hour day in the books thanks to he Patriots home game against the Bills, I was ready to pass out. I was fantasizing about sleeping in my over-sized bed on my entire drive back home from Foxboro. After I finally got back, I played the “Don’t jump on me because I’m wearing work clothes” game with Rossi and then excitedly plopped onto the couch and turned the television on.

Low and behold: The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets game was just starting out.

A few questions popped in my head:

1. Did I leave the TV on this channel knowing that I was going to want to watch the game?

Probably, because knowing my crazy football self, it’s the only worth watching after a long day of work at stadium

2. Why did I eat that brownie for lunch?

I ate the brownie because the amazing men in the End Zone Militia bring me the baked deliciousness for all my hard work and it was too delicious not to eat…not to mention it would’ve been very rude.

3. Do I have enough energy in my tiny self to stay up and watch this game that’s bound to be epic?

Like this was ever a question. Football doesn’t care if you’ve worked 5 or 16 hours, Sunday Night Football is still going to happen. When you’re a Patriots fan/Insider, you don’t have the option of turning off a Dolphins and Jets game at the beginning of the season (especially when New England is playing them on Monday).

Needless to say, I sucked it up and stayed awake for the entirety of the game. I’m really glad I did too.  There were so many things that I learned about the Miami team and also brought to mind a few concerns:

  • Brandon Marshall is incredible, no seriously.
  • Chad Henne is not terrible
  • The Dolphins’ ground attack is still effective
  • The Wildcat offense is a whole lot of shenanigans

I’ll be doing an official Patriots-Dolphins preview tomorrow, so stay tuned for that bunch of awesomeness.

The New England Patriots have a lot to work on this season and everyone knows it. But, is there enough suckage on the team to consider this a “rebuilding year” (you know, like what the 48er’s have been calling every year …

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Sep
27
2010

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Rush: As in the Patriots running game, not the Canadian rock band

 

Exit the warrior
Today’s Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to the friction of the day

Although I do love me some Rush, the main focus of this post of Necessary Roughness with Kisha is the Patriots’ running game.The final score for the Patriots and Bills game was 38-30

…not anywhere near my prediction of 27-10.  But to my credit, I had no idea that the Patriots offense were going to be this effective and that the Bills quarterback was actually going to complete any passes.

The running game was what, I thought was to be the highlight of this game from both sides.  Although, I’m sure the Buffalo Bills are happy to know that they are capable of scoring more than just 10 points a game.  Thanks to the Patriots defense for giving the Bills that nice feeling.

Although the Patriots defense was something should be placed on the major concerns list, the offense did look to be much more established than they did against the New York Jets last week.  One of my favorite parts of this offense? Newly signed and former Jet running back Danny Woodhead.

The fresh faced kid from Nebraska stepped in to fill the void left behind by the struggling career of Laurence Maroney (who is now calling Denver home).  If you look at Woodhead’s game performance on paper, it doesn’t look to be anything too outstanding:

Three carries for 42 yards and a touchdown

Something to keep in mind is that Woodhead joined the Patriots about eight days before the game and was expected to contribute somehow with the absence of fellow running back Kevin Faulk.  Seems like a lot to take into consideration from the Nebraska native.  How could you not root for this guy? His story has Rudy all over it and you all know how I feel about a player with any glimmer of the Rudy Factor as I like to call it.

If you don’t understand that reference, please stop reading and rent, oh hell BUY the movie Rudy.  It’ll make you laugh, cry and possibly even start a lifelong love affair with the Notre Dame football team (guilty, as charged).

Back to the Patriots running game, BenJarvus Green-Ellis (known as The Law Firm) had the majority of the carries with 16 attempts for 98 yards and even …

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