I think this was the first time in a long time I was genuinely nervous for a matchup against the Dolphins. If I may speak for everyone in New England (and I most certainly don’t), I don’t think any of us truly knew what to expect coming into week one. No preseason, no scouting, no shuffling of offensive pairings and schemes, and, well, no real kicker. What we did know is that Cam Newton, Bill Belichick, and Josh McDaniels feel they have quite a bit to prove to themselves and the rest of the league. Cam has to prove why everyone who passed him up shouldn’t have, Belichick has to prove that he can win without Brady, and McDaniels has to prove he can adjust to a completely different style of quarterback (and subsequently an entire offense) practically overnight.
What the Pats did against Miami was both incredibly smart, and incredibly safe. Keeping things primarily on the ground, New England didn’t run anything incredibly complicated and didn’t force things towards a rather inexperienced wide receiving core. Newton was able to play to his strengths and, overall, read the defense (that basically consisted of mostly former Patriots) very well.
Quite frankly there isn’t a ton to report on, except for the fact that this is a somewhat difficult schedule for the Patriots, harder than they’ve had in the recent past, and it will be a tall order for a thinned out roster with a brand new QB.

By the way… that Patriots defense still looks pretty damn good.

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