Patriots fall to Dolphins, drop to 1-4 on the season
The New England Patriots fell to 1-4 on the season after a 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The Pats are now 0-2 against AFC East opponents and have lost four games in a row since a season-opening win at the Cincinnati Bengals.
Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett finished the game 18-of-34 for 160 passing yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions (65.8 passer rating). The Dolphins’ Tyler Huntley, meanwhile, went 18-of-31 for 194 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. A fourth-quarter touchdown run by fullback Alec Ingold proved to be the game-winning points for Miami.
The Patriots defense started the game, and had the Dolphins at third-and-17, but Miami was able to get 13 of those yards back on third down and just barely get into field goal range. Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders made it from 54 yards to give his team an early 3-0 lead, then their defense responded by forcing Brissett and the Pats offense into a three-and-out.
On the second Dolphins drive, the defense forced a punt, but the punt return unit got flagged for 12 men on the field to gift Miami a first down. Two plays later, however, Pats cornerback Christian Gonzalez undercut a pass intended for Odell Beckham Jr. for his first interception of the season.
The Patriots cashed in on the turnover. On first-and-10 from the Miami 33-yard line, Rhamondre Stevenson took the handoff and broke a couple of tackles and followed good downfield blocking all the way to the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Patriots a 7-3 lead.
The Patriots defense bent but didn’t break on the ensuing Dolphins drive. Huntley drove them 47 yards in eight plays, but Sanders’ 41-yard field goal attempt clanged off the left upright to keep the Patriots’ lead at 7-3 as the first quarter ended.
On the next Pats drive, penalties killed the Patriots offense. Center Nick Leverett committed both, first a holding call to set up first-and-20, then a false start by illegally moving the ball forward before the snap. This made a third-and-1 play into third-and-6, and they couldn’t convert.
The offense got a short field on their next drive, thanks to a blocked punt by Brenden Schooler after the defense got Miami off the field.
Unfortunately, the Patriots couldn’t capitalize on the golden opportunity. They gained 28 yards of offense, but lost 20 due to two holding penalties, then kicker Joey Slye missed his field goal attempt from a very makeable 33 yards.
The 7-3 score would hold to halftime, as the teams traded punts and generally sloppy play. New England got the ball to start the second half and got some points out of it, driving 50 yards in 10 plays and converting a Slye field goal to make it 10-3 with 11:01 left in the third quarter.
Miami was able to answer those three points with three of their own, mainly thanks to two penalties by Patriots defensive end Keion White that kept their drive alive. The Dolphins grabbed 26 yards of offense and 30 yards in penalties, then converted a 32-yard kick to make it 10-6 Patriots.
After forcing a quick three-and-out, the Dolphins got the ball right back and once again drove just far enough into range for Sanders, who made another kick to grind the Pats’ lead down to 10-9. An 11-yard catch by Jaylen Waddle on third-and-13 made the kick manageable.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, disaster struck for the Patriots defense. They appeared to have a stop on third-and-13, but linebacker Christian Elliss got flagged for pass interference to gift the Dolphins a first down. The Dolphins then drove 43 yards in seven more plays for a touchdown to fullback Alec Ingold. They missed the two-point conversion, but took a 15-10 lead with just 4:24 left in regulation.
The Patriots put together a promising drive to give themselves a chance for a go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes. For a moment, they thought rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk had caught the TD, but the replay review showed that Polk touched the heel of his foot out of bounds. The Dolphins turned it over on downs after forcing an errant Brissett pass on fourth down.
New England was able to get one more defensive stop and get the ball back with 41 seconds left in the game, and even completed two long passes, but ran out of time. The Patriots are now left in a massive hole to dig out of for the rest of the season, especially having lost two games within the AFC East.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.