The Miami Dolphins won their visit to the New England Patriots 24:17 in Week 2 of the NFL, fending off a desperate late comeback attempt. The home team surprised with innovative moves, but had no answer to Miami’s run game.
You can find the rest of the game reports from Sunday of Week 2 here!
Dolphins @ Patriots: At a glance
- New England again had major problems at the start with a turnover and negative plays that contributed to another 0:10 deficit in the second quarter.
- The Dolphins took what the Patriots defense gave them. The latter played a lot with three safeties and man coverage on the outside, which largely prevented Tagovailoa from making shot plays. However, Miami took advantage of New England’s easy boxes and ran against these fronts at will. The bottom line was 121 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns from Mostert.
- It was Tua Tagovailoa’s fifth game against the Patriots. For the fifth time he left the pitch as the winner. This is by far the best record against the Belichick Patriots among all active quarterbacks in the NFL.
Dolphins @ Patriots: The Recap
As in Week 1 against the Eagles, the Patriots were down 10-0 early against Miami. After a field goal by the visitors, a promising New England drive ended with a fumble by rookie receiver Demario Douglas in the opposing half. The Dolphins thanked them a little later with an eight-yard touchdown run from Raheem Mostert.
Shortly after the two-minute warning, the Patriots managed a 49-yard field goal from rookie kicker Chad Ryland – his first in the NFL. But they left too much time on the clock, so Miami upped the ante: Tua Tagovailoa led his team down the field in eight plays and finally found Tyreek Hill in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown pass. 17:3 halftime lead for the Dolphins.
Things came to a head in the third quarter. The home team sensed morning air with a blocked field goal by special teamer Brenden Schooler. But just a few plays later, cornerback Xavien Howard intercepted a pass from Mac Jones to DeVante Parker just in front of the Dolphins end zone. The Patriots did better on their next attack: Jones found tight end Hunter Henry for a six-yard touchdown pass. However, the referees overlooked both an ineligible player downfield and an illegal block by Henry before the pass.
Rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez then gave New England even more reason to hope, as the first-round pick intercepted a deep shot on Hill. However, the Patriots didn’t do anything about it. Even more: after the following punt, Mostert marched up the middle and away for a 43-yard touchdown run in the middle of the final quarter that restored the old distance.
However, the Patriots responded with a quick 75-yard drive including a short touchdown from Rhamondre Stevenson to make it 17:24 from New England’s perspective. The Dolphins then seemed to take control again with their run game, but on 3rd&1, Tagovailoa didn’t get the snap cleanly and lost a few yards. The Dolphins then settled for a 55-yard field goal attempt, which Jason Sanders missed. New England took over at their own 45 just before the two-minute warning.
A crazy sequence followed in which tight end Mike Gesicki attempted a lateral to guard Cole Strange, who scored a new 1st down on 4th down. However, video evidence reversed the decision, allowing the Dolphins to walk away with a win.
Miami Dolphins (2-0) @ New England Patriots (0-2)
Result: 24:17 (3:0, 14:3, 0:0, 7:14) BOXSCORE
Dolphins @ Patriots: Key stats
- This is the first time under Bill Belichick that the Patriots have trailed by at least ten points in each of their first two games of the season. This had only happened to Belichick before in 1992 as head coach of the Cleveland Browns at the start of the season.
- Mostert reached 21.62 mph on his second touchdown run of the game, according to Next Gen Stats. This made him the second fastest ball carrier this season – so far only his teammate Hill was faster. The probability of scoring a touchdown on this play was just 0.2 percent.
- Although the Dolphins gained almost 100 more yards (387:288), they only had the ball for 38 seconds longer than the Patriots, who played ten more plays (71:61).
The star of the game: Raheem Mostert (Running Back, Dolphins)
In a phase in which the game threatened to tip over, Mostert took over and exploited the gaps in the easy fronts to not only maintain and temporarily extend the lead, but also to run down the clock at the end and close the lid on it make. Mostert was worth his weight in gold at the end.
The flop of the game: Patriots ball security
As in Week 1, New England committed two turnovers and once again lost the turnover battle. As a team that doesn’t have much margin for error, losing the ball so often is unforgivable. Once again this was the Patriots’ undoing.
The highlight of the game
Although it wasn’t enough in the end, Schooler’s blocked field goal was notable. Schooler got off to a flying start on his way to the block. An approach that is at least unusual and is now certainly being imitated by numerous other teams.