Tyreek Hill had just 40 receiving yards in the Dolphins' season-opening loss.
Tyreek Hill had just 40 receiving yards in the Dolphins' season-opening loss.Darron Cummings/Associated Press
Welcome to Season 14, Episode 2 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious yet lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup . . .
The natural reaction after the Mike Vrabel era began with a Jerod Mayo-season-looking 20-13 loss to the Raiders was that it was all too reminiscent of the lousy football Patriots fans have endured the last few years.
With a little more time to ponder how the opener played out, it wasn’t that bad. It was frustrating, sure, particularly since the Patriots were sloppy (nine penalties) and the defense got burned repeatedly for huge gains. Vrabel was supposed to turn this into a tough, disciplined team, and the Patriots certainly were not that in Game 1.
It was a reminder, maybe a necessary one, that this rebuild is going to take time (because of brutal recent drafts, mostly) and that promising second-year quarterback Drake Maye is still a work in progress. Maye got jittery in the second half, but he did throw for 287 yards, and it actually seemed like the Patriots would win this game when they had a lead at halftime.
The growing pains are going to last awhile. Still, it feels like the Patriots are in a better situation than Sunday’s opponents, the Dolphins, who have plenty of talent, no chemistry, communicate with each other through the media way too often, and are coming off a 33-8 pasting by Daniel Jones and the Colts.
The Dolphins act as if their offense is a combination of the Greatest Show on Turf Rams, the Air Coryell Chargers, and every team Randy Moss played on when he was fully engaged. But they need perfect conditions to be at their best, and they sure seem inclined to fold whenever challenged. This game is a fine opportunity for Vrabel’s Patriots to prove that last week was a hiccup, and discipline and toughness will be hallmarks soon enough.
Kick it off, Borregales, and let’s get this thing started . . .
Three players worth watching other than the quarterbacks
Kayshon Boutte: I’m sure those among us who spend their afternoons waiting on hold to complain to Felger and Mazz snickered when Patriots receiver Kayshon Boutte mentioned this past week that he was once upon a time projected as a first-round pick.
After all, Boutte was an afterthought when the Patriots took the Louisiana State receiver with the 187th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He wasn’t even the only receiver the Patriots took in the sixth round that year (they added Liberty’s DeMario Douglas a bit later with the 210th selection).
For those unfamiliar with Boutte’s career at LSU, the “first-round pick” thing might have seemed somewhere between revisionist and delusional. But it’s true, and that elite-prospect status Boutte had coming out of high school and early in college might just indicate that his outstanding performances in his most recent NFL games are who he actually is.
Boutte, who had six catches on eight targets for 103 yards against the Raiders, was, as Boston.com’s Khari Thompson noted, the No. 3 receiving prospect — behind Julian Fleming and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, both of whom went to Ohio State — in the prep class of 2020.
Some touted high school players become stars, but just as many, if not most, never find the right fit, get hurt, or are thwarted by another barrier.
Boutte looked like he was going to live up to his hype early in his college career. As a freshman, he was second on the Tigers in receptions (45, to Terrace Marshall Jr.’s 48), first in receiving yards, and caught five touchdown passes.
Boutte was even better as a sophomore, catching 38 passes for 508 yards and nine touchdowns in just six games before an ankle injury that eventually required two surgeries ended his season and dulled his prospect status. (Future first-round picks Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas were freshmen on that team; each had 28 catches.) Boutte played 11 games as a junior, catching 48 passes and not looking quite the same, before heading for the NFL and a long wait on draft weekend.
Boutte isn’t the biggest receiver, and he’s not a burner, but he has Maye’s trust because he keeps making plays when he has the chance. He ended last season with 16 catches for 240 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the last three games, including catching all seven targets for 117 yards and a TD in the finale against the Bills.
No, he didn’t end up as a first-round pick. Wasn’t even close. But he was once regarded as one, and he’s starting to stack up performances that show us why.
Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte had six catches for 103 yards in Week 1 against the Raiders.
Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte had six catches for 103 yards in Week 1 against the Raiders.Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press
Tyreek Hill: This, via ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, will rank as one of the most stunning stats/facts of the season: Sept. 8 marked the one-year anniversary of Hill’s last catch exceeding 30 yards.
During the Dolphins’ 20-17 win over the Jaguars in their opener last Sept. 8, Hill, one of the most electrifying receivers of his generation, looked like his usual self, catching seven passes for 130 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
His longest catches the rest of the season were a pair of 30-yarders, in Week 8 against the Cardinals and Week 13 against the Packers.
He was still productive, but after putting up more than 1,700 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons with the Dolphins, he dipped to 959 last year, finishing with more games under 30 yards (four) than over 100 (three).
Somehow, it went unnoticed among all the various Dolphins dramas that Hill had stalled out as a breakaway threat. He had a quiet opener this season — four catches for 40 yards in the embarrassing loss to the Colts — but he has to be feeling good about facing the Patriots.
Geno Smith and the Raiders’ offense rained big plays on the blitz-dependent Patriots last Sunday, racked up four pass plays of 23 yards or more in the first quarter alone, and four completions of at least 30 yards in the second half.
Hill (and Jaylen Waddle, who had 144 receiving yards in the teams’ last meeting) have to be thinking the Patriots’ pass defense is just what they need right now.
Milton Williams: It’s not often that a player who signs a $100 million contract ($104 million over four years, in Williams’s case) as a coveted free agent will go overlooked in his debut with his new team. But that’s sort of what happened last Sunday, when Williams’s strong performance got lost in the cacophony of everything else that goes on in a season opener.
Williams, the 26-year-old defensive tackle who was on the short list of the Eagles’ best players in their 40-22 thumping of the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, was rock-solid in his first game as a Patriot. He had three tackles while holding his ground against touted rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, who had just 38 yards on 19 carries. Williams also had two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss, and perhaps most important, played a career-high 49 snaps without losing steam. One game in, he looks exactly like what the Patriots needed.
Milton Williams's sparkling Patriots debut was overshadowed.
Milton Williams's sparkling Patriots debut was overshadowed.Barry Chin/Globe Staff
The flashback
The Dolphins, who aren’t exactly the most stable franchise from week to week and season to season, have swept the Patriots in their four matchups over the last two seasons, as if you needed one more piece of evidence confirming how lame these last couple of seasons have been around here. The last Patriots win came at Gillette Stadium in Week 17 of the 2022 season. Tyquan Thornton had one of his two receiving touchdowns as a Patriot in a 23-21 victory.
Grievance of the week
Well, this is a new one. Our grievance for this week already has been acknowledged.
Forget the pass defense’s tribute to . . .
(pauses to think of a past defensive back who got toasted relentlessly)
. . . Chris Canty, or Maye’s bad habits that wouldn’t stop percolating after his regrettable interception early in the third quarter.
My biggest frustration with the loss to the Raiders was offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’s abandonment of the run in a close game. It was absurd that the Patriots had just 18 rushing attempts (for 60 yards) compared with Maye’s 46 passing attempts.
The Patriots have an extremely promising rookie running back in TreVeyon Henderson and two decent veterans in Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. Rookie Will Campbell looks like a steamroller as a run blocker. This team’s recipe to win is going to be sturdy defense, an effective running game, and occasional big plays from Maye while he learns to make better decisions under duress. And yet neither Henderson nor Stevenson had a carry in the second half.
Sense? It made none.
Notably, McDaniels went full mea culpa during his media availability Thursday. When asked what he learned about the running backs in the opener, he said, “They need the ball more. That’s the best way to say it.”
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels admitted he didn't call enough running plays last Sunday.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels admitted he didn't call enough running plays last Sunday.Barry Chin/Globe Staff
It is the best way to say it, and while we suspect Vrabel breathed some fire in his offensive coordinator’s direction after getting a look at the run/pass split on film, credit goes to McDaniels for admitting his mistake.
Now let’s see how he remedies it against the Dolphins. More Henderson, please.
Prediction, or Mike Vrabel is tied for 97th all time in regular-season coaching wins (54), just 274 behind Don Shula (328)
One week and one ugly loss into the season, the Dolphins already seem like a team ready to splinter. There’s a chance the Patriots — if they can play a more disciplined game than they did in a week ago — break them for good this week. But given how the Raiders connected for a big gain pretty much whenever they needed one, this feels like an unfortunately timed matchup, especially since its in Miami, where the Patriots haven’t won since Tom Brady was the quarterback and Antonio Brown was enjoying his week on the roster. The Dolphins hit just enough big plays to keep the Patriots at bay. Come back soon, Christian Gonzalez. Dolphins 24, Patriots 20.
Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com.