The dreadful preseason for the Patriots offense continued into Week 1 of the regular season as New England put together an ugly first half of football.
While many surely will reply “It’s early!” — and they have every right to do so — there were others who couldn’t help but take a big-picture approach to the opening 30 minutes. New England entered halftime trailing 17-0 at Hard Rock Stadium. The groans became especially loud after quarterback Mac Jones was strip-sacked on a play that led to a Dolphins touchdown at 7:34 of the second quarter. Miami took a 10-0 lead at the time of the Melvin Ingram touchdown as Brandon Jones recorded the forced turnover after coming off the edge untouched. The Patriots offensive line already had allowed two sacks on previous drives.
It prompted many to express their disappointment on social media.
Patriots first-round rookie Cole Strange seemingly was one who felt the brunt of the poor display. The Chattanooga product was sent to the bench early in his NFL debut.
The Patriots defense botched a play that led to a 42-yard touchdown from Tua Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle with 18 seconds left in the first half, too. Miami entered the contest as a 3.5-point home favorite, and barring any sort of dramatic improvement from the New England offense, should have no problem covering the spread.
