Morning Sports Update
McDaniel said he “hadn’t seen that before” of Brenden Schooler’s unorthodox special teams play.
Dolphins’ coach Mike McDaniel’s reaction to the Patriots’ field goal block: Though the game ended in defeat for the Patriots, one bright spot came from an unexpected place on Sunday.
New England special teams gunner Brenden Schooler used a running start prior to blocking a Dolphins field goal attempt during the third quarter. He sprinted parallel to the line of scrimmage, timing the snap perfectly before he ran around to make a play.
Following the game, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel acknowledged that, despite the moment coming against Miami, he admired the design and execution from Bill Belichick’s team.
“It was a really cool schematic adjustment by the Patriots,” McDaniel admitted. “Hats off to them.”
McDaniel explained that Miami had to adjust its field goal timing to avoid any further Schooler damage.
“It’s always telling when someone’s able to make a big play like that in terms of for yourself. You know, Danny [Crossman] was on it and knew that we needed to adjust the snap count, McDaniel said. “They tried to do the same thing on the last field goal that we missed.
“He wasn’t an impact on that play because we made the appropriate adjustments,” McDaniel said of Schooler on the later field goal. “But that was a great design.”
As a coach known for innovation in his own right, McDaniel recognized the type of pre-snap motion.
“They kind of used one of the motions that we use on offense all the time, basically, and [on] field goal block,” the Dolphins coach explained. “Hadn’t seen that before. So that was a great job by them.”
Trivia: The Patriots are 0-2 for the first time since 2001. In Week 3 of the 2001 season, New England got its first win in a 44-13 rout of Peyton Manning’s Colts. Who was the Patriots’ leading receiver that day?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He was also the team’s leading rusher, and finished the 2001 season with a career best 1,157 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.
Scores and schedule:
The Patriots lost to the Dolphins 24-17. New England, now 0-2, will face the Jets on Sunday in New York at 1 p.m.
The Red Sox also lost on Sunday after Matt Chapman’s walk-off triple won it for the Blue Jays, 3-2.
And the Connecticut Sun dropped Game 2 of the opening round playoff series with the Minnesota Lynx, 82-75. The best-of-five series is now tied 1-1 ahead of Wednesday’s Game 3.
More from Boston.com:
Bill Belichick’s flag throw: The Patriots coach had a humorous way of announcing a challenge during the Sunday night game.
On this day: In 1996, Roger Clemens tied his own Major League record by striking out 20 batters in a single. He helped the Red Sox defeat the Tigers in the process, 4-0.
Daily highlight: An epic rally between Nebraska and Kentucky volleyball.
Trivia answer: Antowain Smith
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