Image courtesy of The South Florida Sun Sentinel
This was about much more than Miami being a house of horrors for the New England franchise.
This was another embarrassing display of poor coaching and little-to-no execution as the Dolphins hammered the Patriots 34-15 in Florida on Sunday.
New England had six pre-snap penalties and 10 total for 75 yards while Drake Maye also committed two more turnovers. The Pats were out-gained 373-269, but most of those yards came later in the game with the result already long decided.
Tua Tagovailoa is now 7-0 against the Patriots and Jerod Mayo’s team is now 3-9 with a home game up next against the Colts before the bye week.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” Mayo said postgame. “Look, we saw some fight at the end, which is encouraging…but, at the same time, in this game…every single play. Every single play counts. I thought we gave up too many big plays defensively. Did a better job in the run game, but too many big plays. Tackling, scheme, whatever you want to call it…overall execution defensively just wasn’t good enough. On offense, they did some good things. But, anytime you lose the turnover battle, it’s always going to be a tough game. Then, special teams, we’ve just got to continue to improve on that.
“The last thing I told the guys, ‘it’s all about us,’ and this was before the game. I said ‘it’s about us. It’s not about anybody else, it’s about us and to make a commitment to one another.’ That’s what the game really came down to. It’s us going out there and kicking ourselves in the butt or or kicking our toe against the wall because of penalties. I don’t think any team wants to go backwards, but we did that today.”
After a scoreless first quarter that included a missed field goal for Joey Slye, the floodgates opened for Miami with 24 unanswered points and a 24-0 lead at halftime.
It was a bit of a Jonnu Smith revenge game (9 catches/87 yards/1 TD) and he came back to haunt his old team with a seven-yard touchdown catch that opened the scoring 50 seconds into the second quarter. Miami answered two straight Patriots punts with touchdowns. A DeVon Achane nine-yard reception from Tua Tagovailoa (29-40/317 yards/4 TD) and then an 11-yard catch for the back made it 21-0. A Jason Sanders 21-yard field goal in the closing seconds made it an even 24.
“Nothing that they did. Penalties held us back and kind of put us behind the eight ball and you just can’t do that in this league,” said Maye. “Penalties are something you can control…penalties are something that aren’t necessarily an easy fix, but gotta focus and listen to the calls, to the cadence, little things like that. I don’t think it’s something where we’re just getting beat and out-talented.
“It’s just we’re hurting ourselves. Still got a chance these last games to put something good on tape and find ways to find some wins.”
With 2:27 left in the third, Maye was strip-sacked at the Patriots’ 25. Two plays later, Jaylen Waddle’s 23-yard touchdown reception made it 31-0.
Facing 4th-&-15 early in the final quarter, Maye (22-37/222 yards/ 1 TD/1 INT) rolled right and heaved a ball to Austin Hooper for a 38-yard touchdown to get New England on the board. After a Miami punt and New England turnover on downs, Marte Mapu forced a fumble and Christian Gonzalez returned it 63-yards for a TD. Boutte caught a two-point pass to cut it to 31-15.
The Dolphins punted and the Pats actually had a chance to make things interesting, but with 5:19 to go, Maye tried to dump a pass off for Antonio Gibson, but was picked off. One more field goal six plays later capped the scoring for the hosts.
“Once those guys cross the white lines, there’s nothing I can do for them,” added Mayo. “There’s nothing any coach can do for them once they cross the white lines. It’s my job to continue to prepare not only them, but our coaches to go out here and play better football.”