MIAMI DOLPHINS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
GILLETTE STADIUM
SEPT. 12, 2021 | 4:25 PM ET
DOLPHINS BEGIN SEASON WITH ROAD DIVISIONAL WIN
• The Dolphins opened the 2021 regular season with a win at New England, 17-16.
• It was the team’s second victory at Gillette Stadium since 2009. Miami also won at New England in 2019.
• The Dolphins are now 30-25-1 all-time in season openers and 19-16-1 all-time when opening the season on the road.
• Miami has won three of its past four road games dating back to last year and has now won three of its past four games against New England.
• This marks the first time the Dolphins have won two out of three at New England since posting back-to-back road wins against the Patriots in 1999-2000.
HOWARD FORCE FUMBLE KEYS WIN
• CB Xavien Howard stripped Patriots RB Damien Harris inside the 10-yard line with 3:35 left in the fourth quarter of a one-point game. He recovered the fumble himself and the Dolphins offense was able to run out the clock to end the game.
• S Eric Rowe also had a forced fumble, taking the ball away from New England RB Rhamondre Stevenson on a first down snap late in the first quarter. The ball was recovered by DT Zach Sieler.
• Miami has had a takeaway in 23 consecutive games. The last time Miami didn’t force a turnover in a game was on Nov. 17, 2019 vs. Buffalo. The Dolphins had a takeaway in all 16 games last year.
• The Dolphins’ takeaway streak is the team’s longest since a 42-game streak from Dec. 5, 1982 to Oct. 6, 1985.
• The last time an NFL team had a takeaway streak this long was New England, who had a 36-game streak from Oct. 16, 2011 to Nov. 3, 2013.
• It was the third forced fumble of Howard’s career and first since Miami’s last game vs. New England on Dec. 20, 2020.
DOLPHINS OPEN SEASON WITH TOUCHDOWN DRIVE
• Miami’s first offensive possession of the season resulted in a touchdown as the Dolphins went 80 yards on 10 plays in 5:05 to take a 7-0 lead.
• QB Tua Tagovailoa capped off the 80-yard touchdown drive with a 3-yard run for the end zone. It was the fourth touchdown run of Tagovailoa’s career and third he’s had against the Patriots after he had two rushing touchdowns in Miami’s 22-12 win vs. New England on Dec. 20, 2020.
• Tagovailoa completed all four of his pass attempts on the drive for 49 yards.
• It was Miami’s first touchdown on a game-opening drive since a win at San Francisco on Oct. 11, 2020.
WADDLE SCORES TOUCHDOWN IN FIRST NFL GAME
• After getting the ball to open the third quarter, QB Tua Tagovailoa orchestrated a nine play, 75-yard drive capped by 3-yard touchdown pass to WR Jaylen Waddle – the only touchdown of the second half by either team – to give the Dolphins a 17-10 advantage.
• Waddle became the first Dolphins player to catch a touchdown in his NFL debut since WR Preston Williams did so on Sept. 8, 2019 vs. Baltimore.
• Waddle’s 61 receiving yards were the third-most in Dolphins history by a player making his NFL debut and most by a Dolphins wide receiver:
DOLPHINS RECEIVING LEADERS IN NFL DEBUT
Rk Name Year Opp. Rec. Yds. TD
FB Stanley Pritchett 9/1/96 NE 6 77 0
TE Randy McMichael 9/8/02 Det. 4 73 1
WR Jaylen Waddle 9/12/21 at NE 4 61 1
WR Andre Brown 9/10/89 Buf. 4 58 1
WR Eddie Chavis* 10/4/87 at Sea. 4 58 0
- replacement player
DOLPHINS DEFENSE SHINES IN CRITICAL MOMENTS
• The Dolphins defense made their biggest plays at the most important times, limiting New England to just a 1-of-4 (25.0 pct.) touchdown conversion rate in the red zone.
• Miami also forced three fumbles and recovered two of them, including CB Xavien Howard’s forced fumble and recovery with 3:25 left in the game and the Patriots inside the Dolphins’ 10-yard line looking to take the lead. S Eric Rowe and S Jevon Holland also had forced fumbles today – Holland’s coming in his NFL debut.
• With the game tied at 10-10 at the half, the defense limited the Patriots to just a pair of field goals in the second half of the 17-16 victory.
• LB Jerome Baker led the Dolphins with 12 tackles (eight solo) today. He has 323 career tackles (207 solo) in just 49 career games.
• LB Sam Eguavoen recorded three quarterback hits.
INJURIES REPORTED IN THE PRESS BOX
MIAMI DOLPHINS
• DT Raekwon Davis, first quarter – knee (questionable)
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
• OL Trent Brown, first quarter – calf (questionable)
CAPTAINS
MIAMI DOLPHINS
• S Clayton Fejedelem, WR Mack Hollins and LB Elandon Roberts
QUICK HITS
• There were 65,878 tickets distributed to today’s game.
• The Dolphins had five players make their NFL debuts today: T Liam Eichenberg, S Jevon Holland, TE Hunter Long, LB Jaelan Phillips and WR Jaylen Waddle.
• In addition to the players above, the Dolphins had another nine veterans make their Dolphins debuts today: QB Jacoby Brissett, RB Malcolm Brown, DL Adam Butler, TE Cethan Carter, CB Justin Coleman, DB Jason McCourty, P Michael Palardy, LB Duke Riley and LB Brennan Scarlett.
• RB Malcolm Brown recorded 5 rushes for 16 yards on Sunday. He eclipsed 300 career carries in his career and now has 303 with 1,204 yards.
• WR Devante Parker hauled in four receptions to reach 302 in his career. He moved to sole possession of ninth place on the Dolphins’ all-time receptions list. His 81 yards on the day gives him 4,293 in his career, surpassing Brian Hartline (4,243) for seventh in team history.
• Miami led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. In 2020, the Dolphins had a +48 point differential in the first quarter of games, the second-best mark in the NFL.
• QB Tua Tagovailoa is now 2-0 in his career in games started against New England.
-DOLPHINS-
