Patriots: Michael Onwenu destroyed Dolphins rookie with savage block
It wasn’t the Week 1 performance New England Patriots fans were hoping for, but there were many positives despite the loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Mac Jones looked fairly good in his NFL debut. He commanded the offense with confidence and was on the verge of leading the game-winning drive before Damien Harris’ costly fumble sealed the team’s fate.
The secondary, which is without Stephon Gilmore, held the Dolphins to 185 yards passing and limited Tua Tagovailoa to a lowly 39.9 QBR.
The front seven limited Miami to just 3.2 yards per carry and 74 rushing yards overall.
And the offensive line?
It had some lapses, but overall, the unit protected Jones and opened up enough lanes for New England to log 125 rushing yards and 4.2 yards per carry. We’ll take it! We saw some serious physicality, too, against a stout Miami defense, specifically from guard Michael Onwenu.
Michael Onwenu mean lol pic.twitter.com/NibHqgP06y
— Kaelen Jones (@kaelenjones) September 12, 2021
Patriots OL Michael Onwenu destroyed Dolphins rookie Jaelen Phillips.
Welcome to the NFL, Jaelen Phillips! You’ll be seeing plenty of that, and more from Onwenu later in the season!
The second-year man out of Michigan loves to block, as evidenced by his rookie season that entrenched him in a starting role on one of the best offensive lines in the league. And he was ready for the challenge from the first snap on Sunday.
Harris broke off a 35-yard run to start the game and Onwenu was a big reason why, as he freed up space for his fellow linemen to go to work after beautifully taking on his assignment.
EZ angle of Harris's 35-yarder shows an excellent reach block by Mike Onwenu in outside zone. Onwenu (LG) reaching the NT allows Andrews (C) to put himself through to the second level clean. Mason/Brown turn theirs out. But the big play starts with that LG/C exchange. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/iMnnm7v41g
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) September 13, 2021
That hit on Phillips, though, just shows how aggressive and dedicated Onwenu is. After waiting a few seconds and realizing he had nobody to block, he helped out his teammate with a thunderous hit to create a cleaner pocket for Jones. The more guys on the ground, the better, you know?
Onwenu’s size on the inside is among the reasons New England has arguably the biggest offensive line in the NFL. Give them a couple more games to adjust to the few changes and alterations and their true potential will be unleashed.
Have fun battling in the trenches next week, Jets.
