Devin McCourty on defensive collapse vs. Dolphins: ‘It was us just not playing well’
The Dolphins couldn't manage 150 yards in the first half, but surpassed 300 in the second half.
It was a tale of two halves for the Patriots Sunday, and while nothing is ever truly black and white, it really was the good half and the bad half.
“To come out in the second half and not play well just shows that it’s September and we’ve still got some work to do,” safety Devin McCourty said.
In the first half, the Patriots had all the momentum – seemingly everything was going right. Jimmy Garoppolo finished his first three drives with touchdowns, two to Danny Amendola and one to Martellus Bennett, while the Dolphins could only muster two first downs and a field goal. The defense came up with two turnovers thanks to a Logan Ryan forced fumble and a Jamie Collins interception.
Then everything changed when Garoppolo was injured late in the first half. The offense understandably took a hit, but the defense did as well.
“It was just us not playing well,” McCourty said. There was some speculation that the team had cut back their scheme to a “prevent” set, in order to avoid a big play that would allow Miami to quickly close the gap. But McCourty said that wasn’t the case, clarifying that Matt Patricia was going to the entire playbook all game.
“It’s just, I don’t think we played well as players going out there” he said. “It wasn’t trying to defend the deep ball. It wasn’t play calls.” It seemed to be, simply, a case of the Dolphins finding their confidence and stealing the momentum. “I think for us defensively, it’s our mentality [that has to get better].”
“You never know,” he said. “You come out here some days and the offense will be hot, other times we have to step up and make plays.” McCourty said the defense tried not to worry about Garoppolo’s injury and the offensive stagnation.
“For us, it’s just keep trying to play good football,” he said. “We try not to concern ourselves with what’s going on offensively. We keep the same mentality: Go out there, getting the ball back, turnovers, and three-and-outs. We’ll always play well offensively if we keep getting them the ball. Whatever we were thinking didn’t work.”
Bill Belichick, for one, agreed with McCourty’s assessment.
“We’ve got to coach better, and we’ve got to play better,” he said. “We’ve just got to do a better job.”
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