Dolphins Digest Week 1: Pounding the Patriots
Eric Espada. Getty Images.The Miami Dolphins faced the New England Patriots and started the season with a victory, winning their fourth straight against Bill Bellick's team. The final score was 20-7, but that does not tell the story as the Patriots played sloppy football, turning the ball over three times, including a pair of critical turnovers in the first half, including a scoop and six. Tua Tagovailoa had his struggles at times but got big plays from Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. As Mike McDaniel earned his first career win as a head coach.
The Patriots got the ball first and quickly marched down the field, making it just outside the red zone. Mac Jones looked to get an early score to former Dolphin Devante Parker. However, Xavien Howard batted the ball to Jevon Holliday for an interception, providing an early turning point in the game. The Dolphins took advantage, marking the other way and getting a 43-yard field goal by Jason Sanders. An off-sides call helped the Dolphins on fourth down that kept the drive alive, as the Patriots appeared out of synch early in the game.
In the second quarter, after back-to-back punts, the Dolphins got a score on defense, as Brandon Jones had a strip-sack on Mac Jones that led to a scoop-six from Melvin Ingram at the 15-yard line of New England. The Patriots would punt the ball down to the Miami eight on the next possession. From there, the Dolphins had their best drive of the day, going 92 yards and scoring just before halftime to take a 17-0. The Dolphins had a critical third-down conversion on the drive, on an eight-yard pass reeled in by Jaylen Waddle, at the Miami 26 on third-and-seven. Tyreek Hill made a circus catch to get the ball into Patriots territory, but the drive looked to be in trouble when Tua was sacked for a nine-yard loss. However, on fourth-down and seven, Tua made a perfect pass to Jaylen Waddle, who raced into the end zone, 17 seconds before the end of the first half.
The Dolphins' offense had trouble moving the ball in the second half, as they went three and out. The Patriots scored on their first possession in a long time-consuming drive that seemed to do more to kill the clock than to get the Patriots back in the game. The Patriots went 92 yards on 15 plays, taking more than eight minutes off the clock before Ty Montgomery rolled into the end zone off a six-yard screen pass. The Patriots got an assist from the officials as they called Xavien Howard for illegal contact on a fourth down play that kept the Patriots' drive alive.
Following the Patriots' touchdown, the Dolphins answered with a 49-yard Sanders field goal as the rapidly moving game went into the fourth quarter. Down 20-7, the Patriots got the ball to midfield but turned it over on downs, as the Dolphins' defense made the big plays when needed. The Patriots' last hope ended when Kader Kohou jarred the ball away from Nelson Agholor, sealing a 20-7 win.
Tua Tagovailoa played well overall, but there was room for improvement as he got away with several poor throws that could have led to disastrous interceptions. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 270 yards, with one touchdown. Tyreek Hill was impressive in his Dolphins' debut, catching eight passes for 94 yards, while Waddle had a touchdown, with four catches for 69 yards. The Dolphins will face the Baltimore Ravens next week in their first road game of the season.