MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Dolphins sprinted past the Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Miami ran out to a 31-0 lead as New England looked like a JV team for three quarters, and ultimately they cruised to a comfortable 34-15 win. The Patriots made the game look closer in garbage time — Miami’s backup Skylar Thompson had a bad exchange that Christian Gonzalez turned into seven points — but this game was never in doubt.
Here are seven takeaways from a lopsided afternoon in South Florida:
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
1. Not a professional operation
This wasn’t a competitive effort.
Jerod Mayo’s team wasn’t ready to go and spotted Miami a 31-point lead. The Patriots looked overmatched in all three phases and were out-coached (again). For much of the afternoon, it was just bad football.
2. Penalties a major issue
While Miami has long been the Bermuda Triangle for Patriots teams, the story of this game was New England’s self-inflicted wounds. The Patriots were whistled for a whopping 13 penalties, 10 of which were accepted for 75 yards. Of those penalties, six were pre-snap, so it wasn’t just ticky-tack officiating or anything like that.
3. Awful afternoon for Lowe
Vederian Lowe delivered his worst afternoon as a member of the Patriots. The left tackle was whistled for four flags — three false starts and a hold — and was beaten by clean by Zach Sieler for a third quarter strip sack. Miami quickly turned the sudden change into seven points and the game was essentially over.
4. Jacobs gets benched
Demontrey Jacobs didn’t fare any better than Lowe. The right tackle was benched for Sidy Sow in the fourth quarter after struggling with edge rusher Chop Robinson all afternoon. Jacobs allowed a sack and eight pressures before being lifted, per PFF’s in-game charting, and was whistled for a false start and a holding penalty.
5. Burn-the-tape day for Dugger, too
Kyle Dugger was in the area on three of Tagovailoa’s touchdown passes.
The highly-paid safety was in coverage on one to old friend Jonnu Smith, another to running back De’Von Achane, and a third to Jaylen Waddle as the Dolphins got the better of him. Dugger has been nursing an ankle injury, but this performance simply wasn’t good enough.
6. Wanted: Pass rush
Tagovailoa was way too comfortable in the pocket.
As the Dolphins quarterback carved the Patriots up — 29-of-40 for 317 yards and four touchdowns — he wasn’t hit once in the first half, let alone sacked. New England’s first real pressure didn’t occur until Christian Barmore finally sacked him in the third quarter. Tagovailoa is terrific at getting the ball out quickly, but not getting a single hit in 27 first half drop backs was abysmal.
7. Maye still makes some plays
In the midst of a horrendous afternoon for the Patriots, Drake Maye still flashed some of the promise that makes fans optimistic for the future. Faced with a 4th-and-15 in the fourth quarter, Maye broke out of the pocket and threw a 38-yard touchdown pass across his body to Austin Hooper. All told, the rookie quarterback finished went 22-of-37 for 221 yards, throwing the touchdown to Hooper and a late interception.
