Dolphins hold off Patriots on road for 24-17 prime-time win, improve to 2-0

For the first three quarters of the Dolphins’ 24-17 road win against the New England Patriots on Sunday night, it seemed like Miami was on its way to an economical divisional victory.

But in several moments during the fourth quarter, there were times when it felt like the Dolphins’ momentum might swing the opposite way.

No series was more pivotal than what could have been a game-sealing possession for Miami’s offense, leading by seven late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa failed to corral a center exchange from Connor Williams on third-and-3 from the Dolphins’ 35-yard line and was forced to fall on the ball.

On the next play, kicker Jason Sanders’ 55-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, giving New England one last chance to tie the score with 2:14 remaining.

But on fourth-and-4 from the Dolphins’ 33-yard line, tight end Mike Gesicki, a former Dolphin, was wrapped up by cornerback Justin Bethel short of the first-down marker. While Gesicki made a heads-up play to pitch the ball back to guard Cole Strange, the offensive lineman was tackled by safety Jevon Holland and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and ruled short after an official review.

In moving to 2-0, the Dolphins continued to distance themselves from a division opponent that they have bested in the recent installment of the rivalry. Miami won its third game in its last five trips to Foxborough, Massachusetts, as the Patriots fell to 0-2.

“It was a divisional matchup, as you expect where those are hard to really separate yourself,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “Sometimes you have the opportunity to, in your mind, put the game away. But, generally, against good football teams, that’s not the case. I thought that complementary football did exist.”

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who improved to 5-0 as a starter against the Patriots, completed 21 of 30 passes for 249 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Running back Raheem Mostert ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.

The Dolphins led 17-3 at halftime, with a first-quarter touchdown run by Mostert and a 2-yard pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill (five catches, 40 yards). After Tagovailoa opened the season with a 466-yard performance that earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, the Patriots were determined not to let a similar script unfold in Week 2. New England sent three deep safeties on the field early in the game — a deterrent against Miami’s deep passing — but Tagovailoa showed poise.

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Tagovailoa’s average time to throw — 2.08 seconds — was the fourth quickest of any quarterback since 2020. With the Patriots focused on limiting Hill, who had a 215-yard performance in Week 1, Tagovailoa spread the ball to eight different pass-catchers and found Hill for his sole touchdown right before halftime. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle led the team with 86 receiving yards but was sidelined and evaluated for a concussion after taking a big hit with less than five minutes remaining.

“Seemed as if they wanted to put an umbrella over our two fast guys,” Tagovailoa said. “And then as the game progressed, they started to get back into what they normally would run. But I think they do a tremendous job with adjusting in game. And that’s really a big, big thing I would say for any Bill Belichick defense when they’re going out there. You can see one thing, and then if you hit an explosive or something happens on that, you can expect something to change in that instance. And so how they defended one of our plays towards the ending of the game wasn’t how they defended it the first three, four times. They got adjusted. We got a call, and we were able to go down there.”

After scoring on three of its four first-half possessions, the Dolphins offense scored just once — Mostert’s 43-yard run in the fourth quarter — in six second-half drives, excluding the end-of-game kneel-downs. As Miami’s offense sputtered and the Patriots began to close the deficit, a defense that gave up over 200 rushing yards in Week 1 made timely stops with four sacks, two takeaways and a game-saving stand.

A shrewd special-teams call — a running start off the edge by defensive back Brenden Schooler — helped block kicker Jason Sanders’ third-quarter field-goal attempt and gave New England its best starting field position of the game at Miami’s 42-yard line. Eight plays later, though, cornerback Xavien Howard blanketed wide receiver DeVante Parker along the Dolphins’ sideline and came down with an acrobatic interception to end the drive.

Even after a rare miscue from Tagovailoa, an interception by rookie corner Christian Gonzalez on a downfield attempt to Hill, the defense made sure New England couldn’t take advantage. A second-down sack by Andrew Van Ginkel (three quarterback hits), who started for the injured Jaelan Phillips, helped force a quick three-and-out.

On the first play after forcing the punt, Mostert burst through the middle of the Patriots’ defense for his 43-yard touchdown, giving the Dolphins a 24-10 lead with under nine minutes remaining. Mostert accounted for almost all of Miami’s 145 rushing yards, which came with left tackle Terron Armstead, who was questionable to play, sidelined again.

“That was a huge boost, especially the way they were playing,” McDaniel said. “We needed the line of scrimmage. And you have to take advantage of overplay. So if they’re overplaying the pass game, if you want to be a good offense, you have to threaten them with the run.”

McDaniel said that as the team watched the film of its Week 2 win, players would see a game that didn’t need to be as close as it ultimately was.

But the Dolphins remain unscathed after a pair of down-to-the-wire victories, heading into their Week 3 home opener against the Denver Broncos atop the AFC East, the lone undefeated team in the division.

“When you’re playing prime-time football, you can’t expect it to be a blowout,” Tagovailoa said. “Every time you’re playing an NFL team, you’re always expecting it to be a really close game. They’ve got good guys on that side, we’ve got good guys on our side. And it’s just a matter of who executes the best on both sides of the ball. Like I said, I think our guys did really good. We’re really excited that we’ve won. But there’s a lot of things that we can learn from.”