Chad Henne is not going to stink.
The whole NFL nation is expecting the Miami Dolphins QB to shrivel up in a ball and waive a white flag against the mighty Patriots defense on Monday night.
Vegas has the Dolphins as seven point underdogs, at home, in a divisional game. This is insane considering how the ?Fins historically play their rival up north very tough (not counting last year).
John Parolin of ESPN Stats and Information, believes the issue last year was with stretching the field:
Henne has really struggled with his intermediate and deep throws against the Patriots' pass defense. In two games last year, Henne completed four of his 12 pass attempts of 11-plus yards with two interceptions.
Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll indicated Henne this season will have more freedom to audible out of plays based on reads at the line, something the Patriots may try to exploit with different pre-snap defensive looks and pressures.
Expect the Pats to be overly aggressive.
A combination of first game anticipation, and an entire offseason?s worth of reading about the struggles of Henne have the Pats extremely confident.
If Henne can extend the field early with a long completion to WR Brandon Marshall, the whole mindset of the Patriots will have to change.
I believe Henne will then revert back to his customary short throw regiment, which will move the chains and keep all of the new parts of the Pats defense guessing. By peppering in pump fakes down field, the defense has to stay honest.
Just when Henne gets in a groove throwing short routes to Brian Hartline, then it?s back to the deep ball with Marshall.
Who knows what to expect from Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Ellis?two players that missed a large part of training camp in their inaugural season in New England. Sergio Brown will be the starting strong safety after rarely seeing the field in his rookie year.
In other words, the cohesiveness of the Pats defensive unit is not going to be incredible in Week 1.
Sure the injury of RB Daniel Thomas hurts, but a backfield of Reggie Bush and Larry Johnson is nothing to scoff at.
The Pats should still be favored to win, but it won?t be Henne?s fault. Expect him to solidify his spot as starter with a better than expected performance that shuts fans up?for now.
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