David Silverman

Tua Tagovailoa remains undefeated against the New England Patriots as they came up short falling to the Miami Dolphins 24-17 on Sunday Night Football. Coming off last week, where the Patriots were a couple of inches short against the Philadelphia Eagles. They found themselves a couple of inches short once again on their final drive of the game.

After an early field goal by the Dolphins, New England had a good drive going at the end of the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Patriots, rookie receiver Demario Douglass fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Dolphins. Douglas was exiled to the bench for the rest of the game, only lining up for four more plays after the fumble.

The Dolphins marched down the field and scored a touchdown thanks to an eight-yard run by Raheem Mostert to give them a 10-point lead. Mostert had a big game going 121 yards and two touchdowns. 

At the end of the second quarter, Tagovailoa executed an excellent two-minute drill that saw them push the lead to 14. The biggest play of the drive was when Tagovailoa was under pressure and found wide receiver Braxton Berrios in a tight window for an 18-yard pass which put the Dolphins two yards shy of the endzone. The Patriots were playing catch-up the entire night and trailed at the half 17-3, due to their own mistakes. 

“We need to be a lot more disciplined,” Patriots tight end Hunter Henry said. “We’re putting ourselves in positions too early in games turning the ball over.”

It was not a pretty night for the Patriots’ offensive line as they felt the Dolphins defensive line. Quarterback Mac Jones was pressured 31 times and suffered four sacks. Miami cornerback Xavien Howard picked off Jones late in the third quarter, which was the second Patriots turnover. Despite the loss, Jones showed composure and tried to spark a late rally for the Patriots in the fourth quarter.

“We gotta put more into it and we’ll get more out of it,” Jones said in his post-game press conference. 

When he got the ball back in the fourth quarter, Jones led a 58-yard touchdown drive in three minutes to get the lead down to seven. Jones found Henry on the run for a six-yard pass. Additionally, Jones had a big run of 18 yards to keep the drive alive. 

 As the game headed into the final minutes, it got intense. The Dolphins turned the ball over from an interception by Tagovailoa who was looking for receiver Tyreek Hill but the ball was picked off by rookie corner Christian Gonzalez. The Patriots could not capitalize on the turnover and went three and out, punting the ball to the Dolphins. In a one-play drive, the Dolphins scored as Mostert ran for 43 yards, which earned him his second touchdown of the night. This gave the Dolphins a 14-point lead. 

The Patriots would punch right back as they went 75 yards down the field in just over three minutes which brought the Miami lead back down to seven points. The Patriots found success with a no-huddle offense during this drive. Rhamondre Stevenson ran in from two yards out for the touchdown.

New England’s defense and special teams kept them in the game throughout the second half. The special teams blocked a field goal attempt by the Dolphins in the third quarter and forced them to miss a 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter by running the same play that blocked the field goal. Special teams player Brenden Schooler drifted on the outside on the right and got a running start to block the field goal, he then did it again a quarter later, which distracted Jason Sanders and caused him to miss the field goal.

The Patriots offense came out onto the field at their own 45-yard line. After New England got a quick first down, Jones suffered a sack for a loss of eight yards. He battled back and found Mike Gesicki for a 14-yard pass and made it a manageable fourth down. 

On the last play of the game, Jones found Gesicki again just short of the first down marker. Gesicki lateraled the ball to offensive lineman Cole Strange, who dove for the first down. However, after review, it was ruled Strange’s knee was down just short of the line and the Patriots turned it over on downs to end the game.

Ultimately, Jones threw for 231 yards, a touchdown, and was six of nine for 55 yards when under pressure. But it was Tagovailoa who threw for 249 yards and a touchdown, which led his team to the victory in Foxborough. The Patriots have fallen to 0-2 for the first time since 2001, and the Dolphins improved to 2-0 and currently sit first in the AFC East. The Patriots will look to regroup and get their first win next Sunday against the New York Jets.