Dolphins fooled early in loss to New England
Losing streak at five, with schedule offering no relief The Dolphins are no match for Brady’s four touchdown passes or Belichick’s trickery — a fake-punt conversion on the opening drive — in another ugly loss to New England.
A fake punt by the Patriots on the first series sets the tone for a 3517 defeat, Miami’s fifth in a row.
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Maybe one day the Dolphins will know what it’s like to be as savage to an opponent as Bill Belichick is.
They matter nothing to him, and that was evident from the beginning of Sunday’s 35-17 beatdown at Gillette Stadium.
The Dolphins, aspiring to finally be more just than a generic opponent, trotted into this building like the Washington Generals, thought they’d gotten off to a great start by forcing New England into a quick threeand-out on its opening possession. Fifty seconds into the game, Miami was about to get the ball with a chance to announce itself as a legitimate competitor.
That hope is like blood in the water to Belichick. The Patriots coach called a fake punt from his 27-yard line while treating this as though it had all the stakes of a scrimmage. He watched — smugly, we can only assume — the direct snap to safety Nate Ebner work for a 14-yard gain and a first down.
It was one of those plays that was nobody’s fault, but everybody’s fault. New England blocked it perfectly, leaving Michael Thomas and Neville Hewitt to chase Ebner. Nothing they could do except simply be better.
The Patriots were in the end zone two minutes later, and the blowout was on.
It was fairly painless, actu-
ally. New England never loosened its grip and there was minimal drama as the Dolphins lost here for the ninth straight time.
The final score might convey that it was a decent fight, but the Patriots led by double digits from the 8:29 mark of the second quarter through the end of the afternoon.
The only Dolphins who walked out of here with nice numbers were Jarvis Landry (eight catches for 70 yards) and Cameron Wake (one sack), but both of them have been around long enough to know those are hollow.
The Dolphins sit in a five-game losing streak now, sinking from 4-2 to 4-7, for their most prolonged rut since 2011. The Patriots, the team they believed they were ready to challenge, are five games better at 9-2.
That 2011 Miami team, by the way, started 0-7 before scraping its way to 6-10. This year’s Dolphins are no lock to get there. Among other daunting elements to the remaining schedule, they get this team again in two weeks.
Prior to the fourth quarter, the only points the Dolphins scored Sunday were the ones New England handed them — almost literally.
Patriots backup center Ted Karras uncorked a kittywampus snap to Tom Brady in the shotgun at their 38, and the ball bounced along to the 16 before Miami safety Reshad Jones scooped it up and ran in for a touchdown. That was early in the second quarter, and
New England predictably marched along for a 78-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession.
Miami’s other score came later in the quarter after a slowly developing flea-flicker that
Matt Moore grossly under threw for Kenny Stills, but that Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler turned into a 34-yard pickup by committing pass interference. From first-and-goal at the 10, Moore threw three straight incompletions before the Dolphins turned to Cody Parkey for a 28-yard field goal.
That was the most prosperous stretch of the game for Miami. The best it could manage against New England was one competitive quarter.
That’s what this team does to the Dolphins: It leaves them feeling futile. Whatever is the most exaggerated caricature of Belichick’s ego you can imagine, he can afford to live up to that against Miami without any fear of it backfiring.
His nonchalance toward the Dolphins continued even as they were supposedly making a comeback.
Up 28-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, he passed on a field goal at the Miami 25-yard line and went for it on fourth down.
Maybe he truly believed that was the prudent play, maybe it didn’t matter anyway.
Remember when Ndamukong Suh said his team wasn’t scared of the Patriots? Remember when Landry predicted a season sweep?
It’s plausible to assume those comments went mostly unnoticed here. That doesn’t rise to a level that requires New England’s attention.
And neither do the Dolphins.