Perry's Report Card: Predictable struggles come to fruition in Miami

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The Great Unknown. That’s Week 1. Or at least that’s supposed to be Week 1.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they experienced a handful of relatively predictable issues on Sunday against the Dolphins and ended up paying for them in a 20-7 loss.

Bill Belichick’s club lacked explosive playmaking ability offensively. A bad angle from one of their best players in the secondary led to a quick Miami touchdown. And the pass-protection issues that have been issues throughout the summer cropped up yet again, leading to a strip-six, and possibly contributing to quarterback Mac Jones suffering a back injury.

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This time of year is usually about expecting the unexpected. But on Sunday the Patriots looked like the team they’ve been going back to early August.

Let’s get to the grades ...

Quarterback: C

Mac Jones completed 70 percent of his passes for 7.1 yards per attempt. Indicative of a flurry-of-paper-cuts kind of afternoon. He turned it over twice, but it’s hard to point fingers in his direction when you look at those turnovers closely. His interception was the kind of 50-50 ball DeVante Parker has won for the majority of the summer; there’s a measure of trust there that the receiver will turn that into a my-ball-or-no-one’s situation.

Jones’ strip sack was a blown protection by Trent Brown. Jones was sacked on another occasion when his blockers flat ignored a down lineman. He did nearly throw a pick targeting Jakobi Meyers along the boundary, and there wasn’t much created outside of structure. But that’s not usually his game.

He communicated extensively at the line of scrimmage -- something that wasn’t a focus through camp -- and generally made the right decisions. He’s normally the least of his team’s concerns. But depending on the severity of his back injury, that may change.

Running Backs: B

Damien Harris finished with over 5.0 yards per carry and ran with reckless abandon. He sought contact at the second level and finished runs aggressively, but his opportunities were limited (only nine carries) as the score got away from the Patriots and they opted to throw.

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Rhamondre Stevenson was less effective, though he was able to build up a head of steam on a few outside runs for chunk gains. Ty Montgomery was curiously used as a short-yardage back in one third-and-three situation, plowing into the line for no gain. On his touchdown, he was cut free by Miami and just rolled in for six. Montgomery wasn’t exactly a game-altering addition Sunday, but the fact that he was available at all after suffering what looked like a serious injury in Vegas had to be encouraging for New England.

Wide Receivers: C-

Just nothin’ doin’ here. Jakobi Meyers had four grabs for 55 yards and continues to be relatively steady when given chances. But, dealing with a left knee injury that kept him limited in practice, he wasn’t a game-breaking player.

It was Kendrick Bourne -- who didn’t play until the final minutes of the fourth quarter -- who ended up second on the team in receiving yards with 41. All courtesy of one play. DeVante Parker had one grab for nine yards and couldn’t get anything going against former teammate and former All-Pro corner Xavien Howard. Nelson Agholor did appear to win a deep route along the sideline but was missed by Jones. Later, Agholor fumbled to help finish the game off. Rough day against a team that was missing its No. 2 corner in Byron Jones.

Tight Ends: C 

Five catches for 53 yards on seven targets. Not enough production for a duo that are among the highest paid players at the position.  Especially now that both have been in town for over a year and both had strong training camps.

Jonnu Smith did help set up the Montgomery touchdown by breaking a pair of tackles on a catch-and-run play to get the Patriots deep into Miami territory. But he had one down-the-field target -- which may have sailed long regardless -- that he seemed to lose briefly in mid-air as he tracked it.

Hunter Henry was the go-to guy on a gotta-have-it fourth-down attempt that got within his grasp but wasn’t reeled in. Both players made an impact as blockers at different points, but for a team lacking explosive play threats -- their one scoring drive was 15 plays long and lasted over eight minutes -- these two are probably going to need to provide more than they did Sunday.

Offensive Line: F

Patriots players weren’t completely down on their ability to run the football after this one. That’s a credit to this group. They racked up 41 yards on nine non-Mac Jones carries in the first half (4.6 per carry), but then had to move on to a more pass-heavy approach when the score got away from them. Protecting Jones in the pocket, though, was an issue.

On Jones’ strip sack, maybe the play of the game, a dual read to the left gave the Patriots three blockers on that side to handle three potential rushers. David Andrews and James Ferentz (in for rookie Cole Strange) had the defensive tackle and defensive end, respectively. Trent Brown’s responsibility was Brandon Jones once Jones opted to rush. Missed assignment. Disaster. For a line dealing with communication issues all summer, that play was indicative of how things have gone.

Earlier in the game, Strange and Brown seemed to have some kind of miscommunication when Emmanuel Ogbah was left completely unblocked for the first sack allowed of the Patriots’ season. Brown and a back combined to lose Ogbah around the edge later in the game, leading to a hit on Jones, an incompletion on third down and a punt. It wasn’t all bad for this group on Sunday. But the bad was bad enough to lead to this grade.

Special Teams: B

Jake Bailey plopped two punts inside the Miami 10-yard line and one right on it. The Dolphins didn’t return a punt, and when they tried to return a kick there wasn’t much there. They totaled 28 yards on two kick returns. Ty Montgomery looked spry on his one 28-yard kick return. But the Patriots couldn’t do much in the punt-return game.

Myles Bryant was buried quickly on one return by recent teammate Justin Bethel. Bryant had just 12 yards on two returns.

Defensive Line: A-

This group started out fast with a sack, a forced fumble and a pressure leading to an incompletion -- all posted by new captain Deatrich Wise. That effort persisted all game, as the New England front allowed a measly 2.8 yards per carry. Carl Davis committed a drive-extending neutral-zone infraction penalty on a fourth down, which prevented this grade from being a straight "A."

But for the most part, barring perhaps more interior pressure from Christian Barmore (who seemed to attract his share of attention), this unit showed up.

Linebackers: B+

Matthew Judon was a force in this one, as we suspected he may be. He racked up three quarterback hits and a sack on Sunday, knifing through the middle of the line on a stunt to drop Tua Tagovailoa. Ja’Whaun Bentley -- who started on the edge opposite Judon to open the game -- picked up a sack as well, and Mack Wilson recorded his first tackle for loss as a member of the Patriots.

Holding this group’s grade back was that Bentley appeared to have a shot at getting Jaylen Waddle on the ground before Waddle scampered to the end zone just before the end of the first half. He was torpedoed by Kyle Dugger, though, and lost his grip on the Dolphins speedster. Jahlani Tavai was also used curiously at times, finding himself in coverage for an easy Tagovailoa completion to Cedrick Wilson at one point. 

Secondary: C+

Kyle Dugger was one of the best players on the field for the Patriots defense. Until he wasn’t. He was the last line of defense for New England as the first half came to a close and Tagovailoa hit Waddle over the middle of the field. Dugger, by his own admission, took a bad angle before taking out Bentley and watching Waddle run away from the rest of the Patriots defense for a game-changing score.

Dugger’s speed -- leading to two tackles for loss -- was eye-opening. Coming downhill has never been an issue for him. But after a rough rep in the preseason finale on a play-action pass, his over-aggressive angle on Waddle may lead the Patriots to second-guess leaving him in the deep portion of the field.

If Adrian Phillips (ribs) misses time, however, they may not have much of a choice in certain situations moving forward. The Patriots had multiple Tagovailoa passes that were nearly picked that could’ve helped change the complexion of the game. Credit Jonathan Jones for helping prevent Tyreek Hill from becoming a home-run hitter, but the most highly paid player on the Dolphins ended up with eight catches for 94 yards on a whopping 12 targets.