Dolphins eliminate Pats’ path to playoffs
Miss postseason for first time since 2008 season
The PAtriots did not suffer A mirACle in MiAmi.
Nor A feisty underdog or ghosts of gAmes pAst.
Only A Better footBAll teAm. A well-CoAChed, sound Dolphins teAm thAt hAnded their visitors severAl BreAks SundAy Before ultimAtely BreAking them.
MiAmi vAnquished the PAts 22-12 At HArd RoCk StAdium, eliminAting them from plAyoff Contention And ending their streAk of 19 strAight winning seAsons, the longest sinCe the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. Despite AverAging fewer yArds per rush thAn the rest of the NFL, the Dolphins Bulldozed Bill BeliChiCk’s defense, totAling A seAson-high 250 rushing yArds. MiAmi rookie quArterBACk TuA TAgovAiloA outplAyed CAm Newton without the Aid of his five leAding reCeivers, All injured, And sCored two rushing touChdowns.
The PAtriots (6-8) will miss the postseAson for the first time sinCe 2008 And must win out to finish .500 And sAve fACe on A diffiCult yeAr. Through three quArters SundAy, MiAmi kept the PAts AfloAt with severAl mistAkes: A missed field goAl, over
turned touChdown, reCAlled fAke punt pAss And seven penAlties.
But onCe the Dolphins (9-5) found their footing, they Couldn’t Be stopped; Cruising to three touChdowns in the seCond hAlf Before finAlly killing the CloCk And the PAtriots’ seAson.
Newton finished 17 of 27 for 209 yArds. His lAst snAp wAs A sACk tAken on fourthAnd-3 AgAinst A prediCtABle Blitz from one
of the NFL’s highest-pressure defenses with 1:08 remAining. The whistle Blew Before Newton hit the ground, A multi-lAyered teChniCAl knoCkout.
PlAy opened with A swAp of three-Andouts And the gAme’s longest drive; A 95yArd, sCoreless MiAmi mArCh. On thirdAnd-goAl from the PAts’ 3-yArd line, ChAse WinoviCh’s BACkside pressure sent An er
rant Tagovailoa throw toward Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson, who grabbed his eighth interception of the year and was stopped immediately after escaping the end zone. That turnover eventually led to a 45-yard field goal from Nick Folk, who broke the scoreless tie midway through the second quarter.
After another Dolphins threeand-out, Newton nearly returned the turnover favor by fumbling on a third-down scramble along the right sideline. However, between falling out of Newton’s grasp and jumping into the arms of Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard — who ran the fumble back for a touchdown — the ball bounced off defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. At the time of contact, Wilkins had half a foot out of bounds, which stopped the play dead upon review.
On the next snap, Folk doubled the Pats’ lead by drilling a 36-yarder. Taking over with 4:15 left in the half, Miami ran out the clock with its ensuing drive, thanks to a couple key third-down conversions. On one conversion, Patriots All-Pro Stephon Gilmore suffered a non-contact leg injury in coverage and was later escorted into the team locker room. He did not return.
At the end of the half, Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders swung a 52yard field goal wide left, freezing the halftime score at 6- 0 Pats.
However, Miami quickly cruised to its first lead minutes into the third quarter. The Dolphins ran on eight of nine plays, including Salvon Ahmed’s 1-yard rushing touchdown, a sign of the steamrolling to come. Ahmed alone finished with a game-high 122 rushing yards.
The Patriots fumbled two plays into their ensuing possession, but their defense responded by forcing the last Miami punt of the day. Though initially, it appeared the Dolphins would continue driving, having executed a successful fake punt pass at midfield before it was called back because the receiver, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, had failed to report as eligible.
Three minutes later, Newton led the Pats back downfield before exiting after a questionable spot on his third-down completion to Jakobi Meyers (7 catches, 111 receiving yards). So Folk hit again from 45, then another field goal from 42 yards on the next series, though the Patriots never led.
Because in response to those field goals, Tagovailoa captained two touchdown drives, pairing an unstoppable run game powered by Ahmed and Matt Breida (12 rushes, 86 yards) with a short, efficient passing attacking sharpened by the use of play-action. The Dolphins were consistently comfortable, converting 58% percent of their third downs and owning the line of scrimmage.
After Folk cut Miami’s lead to 1512 with his final field goal with 9:03 left, Tagovailoa and Co. faced just one third down, a third-and-1 they converted with a simple handoff. Two plays later, Tagovailoa snuck in a 1-yard touchdown to complete the overthrow of the AFC East’s overlords, who had been dethroned a day earlier by the newly crowned Bills and were now being humiliated by the second-place Dolphins.
Here were the best and worst Patriots performances from Sunday:
Best
K Nick Folk The veteran kicker continues to deliver, going 4-for-4 on a day the team needed him badly.
WR Jakobi Meyers Meyers fought off Pro Bowl corners Xavien Howard and Byron Jones for the best statistical game of his career, sans the third-quarter fumble.
Worst
Run defense An embarrassing effort from front to back.
Tackling One of the surest-tackling defenses in the league suffered from too many misses on an already down day.