Many a coach has said “Run the ball, win the turnover battle and you’ll win a lot of games.” And that is exactly what Miami did on Sunday as they defeated the New England Patriots 33-24 at Hard Rock Stadium.
They ran the ball 43 times for 195 yards with Duke Johnson leading the way with 117 yards including a 1-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter to put the Fins up 24-10. Phillip Lindsay contributed 40 yards while quarterback Tua Tagovailoa chipped in with 38 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, they forced 3 New England turnovers including two that resulted in touchdowns.
Miami opened the scoring on their 1st drive of the game as they marched 77 yards in 13 plays in 7:26. Tua was a perfect 7-7 for 54 yards including a 7-yard TD toss to wideout Jaylen Waddle.
On the ensuing Patriots drive, cornerback Xavien Howard stepped in front of the receiver on a 3rd down play to intercept QB Mac Jones. He took the pass to the house on a 37-yard return. The touchdown put Miami up 14-0 with 6:16 still to play in the 1st quarter.
A Jason Sanders 30-yard field goal put Miami up 17-0 early in the 2nd quarter. The key play on the 15 play 77-yard drive was a fake punt on a 4th & 3 when punter Michael Palardy was stopped short of a first down. However, Miami was awarded a 1st down due to a personal foul for a hit to the head of Palardy when he was sliding. Instant replay showed the call to be highly questionable.
New England finally got on the board via a 15-yard touchdown run by Brandon Bolden with 7:36 to go in the 1st half.
After a 43-yard Nick Folk field goal early in the 3rd quarter closed the gap to 17-10, Miami went on an 8 play 75-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Johnson. A pass interference call on New England against receiver Mack Hollins in the end zone on a long pass play had given Miami the ball on the 1-yard line.
Miami then went up 27-10 with 11 minutes to go in the game on a 40-yard Sanders field goal. An illegal formation penalty on the Patriots on a 4th & 1 punt by Miami was the key play on the drive which also included a 23-yard run by Tua.
New England wouldn’t go away, though, as an 18-yard TD pass from Jones to Bolden cut the lead to 27-17 with 6:32 to go in the game. With 2:53 to go in the game the Patriots threw a scare into Miami on a Damian Harris 1 yard touchdown run that brought the Pats to within 3 points.
Miami pretty much closed out the game on a 7 play drive that absorbed 2:50. A Palardy punt pinned the Patriots back on their own 2-yard line with 3 seconds to go. New England then tried their own version of the Miami Miracle, but a Jakobi Meyers toss was grabbed by the Fins Sam Eguavoen in the endzone for a touchdown resulting in the final 33-24 score.
Other key highlights from the game were:
- Tua finished 15-22 for 109 yards with 1 touchdown pass and zero turnovers. Almost half his yardage came on the 1st drive of the game and he only completed 3 passes for 17 yards in the 2nd half as Miami focused on their run game which put up 109 yards on 22 carries in the 2nd half.
- Rookie offensive lineman Robert Jones started at right tackle in place of Jesse Davis and did a solid job.
- Waddle caught 5 passes for 27 yards. The 5 receptions allowed him to finish the season with 104 catches, which set an NFL record for a rookie breaking the previous high of 101 set by Anquan Boldin. Waddle also finished the year with 1,015 yards and 7 TDs.
- Miami had 2 sacks allowing them to tie the team record of 49 sacks in a season.
- Mac Jones went 20-30 for 261 yards. He had 1 touchdown pass, 1 interception and 1 fumble.
- Miami had 23 1st downs vs. 21 for New England, although the Patriots had more total yards, 379 to 298. The Pats ran for 134 yards on 27 carries.
- The Dolphins only had 5 penalties for 33 yards while the Patriots committed 8 penalties for 78 yards.
- Tight end Hunter Henry led the Pats with 5 receptions for 86
yards.
The Dolphins, once again, enter another offseason after not making the playoffs. This offseason will be extremely important for Miami, as not only do they need to hire a new head coach, but they need to decide what to do at the quarterback position. Is Tua the answer or is a trade in cards? Miami also has $75M in cap space to spend, the most in the NFL, so GM Chris Grier will be a busy man in the months to come.
