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Things we learned in Miami Dolphins’ 24-17 win over the New England Patriots

chris perkins, steve svekis, south florida sun-sentinel
·9 min read

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Miami Dolphins ran their record to 2-0 with Sunday’s 24-17 victory at New England, and they appear to have righted some of the concerns they had in their opening victory.

The run defense and pass rush were both notably better, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was hot again.

Not only that, the Dolphins got a crucial AFC East road victory and are still atop the division.

Having said that, here are some other takeaways from Sunday night’s game:

Winning an AFC East road game

The Dolphins won their first AFC East road game of the season, an important accomplishment in a division that’s expecting tough road games. It’s especially good the Dolphins are able to take advantage when they have warm weather in locales such as New England and Buffalo, who the Dolphins visit in two weeks.

The Dolphins were 0-3 on the road in the AFC East last season losing at the New York Jets, 40-17, at Buffalo, 32-29, and at New England, 23-21. — Chris Perkins

Run game, pass game work in tandem

The Dolphins rushed for 144 yards on 30 carries and Tagovailoa was 21-of-30 passing for 249 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 92.2 passer rating. This was a balanced offense and it worked well, keeping the Patriots off balance and showcasing run blocking as well as pass protection.

The run game was especially encouraging. The Dolphins, who averaged 22.9 carries per game last season, 31st in the league, rushed for 70 yards on 20 carries last week.

First sack allowed, pass protection been good

Pass protection has been good through the first two games, so good that Tagovailoa took his first sack early in the third quarter, meaning he went six quarters without being sacked.

The pass protection unit of center Connor Williams, right guard Robert Hunt, right tackle Austin Jackson, left guard Isaiah Wynn, left tackle Kendall Lamm, tight end Durham Smythe and running backs Raheem Mostert and Salvon Ahmed and fullback Alec Ingold has been strong so far.

In an interesting statistical twist, Tagovailoa, the man who makes you concerned when he leaves the pocket because of his concussion issues last season, had two carries for 11 yards on the season before getting his first sacks because he had a four-yard scramble against the Patriots.

Replacing Armstead, Phillips

The Dolphins used a nice bit of trickery Sunday. Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead (back/ankle/knee) and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips (back) were inactive for the Patriots game. Lamm and Andrew Van Ginkel started in their places, respectively.

The Van Ginkel substitution was slick. During the practice sessions open to the media the Dolphins used Emmanuel Ogbah in Phillips’ place, and they did the same thing in pregame drills. Yet on the first snap it was Van Ginkel. Ogbah, in fact, didn’t play in the first quarter.

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Ezukanma in backfield again

Wide receiver Erik Ezukanma lined up in the backfield and took a handoff from the 3-yard line that resulted in a one-yard loss. It was at least the second time Ezukanma has lined up in the backfield in the red zone. He’s also had a handoff on an end around. Apparently Miami likes Ezukanma’s skill set and are exploring ways to use him.

By the way, the Dolphins are also quietly utilizing tight end Durham Smythe. He had three targets against the Patriots after having seven against the Chargers in the opener.

Achane debuts

Rookie running back De’Von Achane, who was inactive for the opener, made his debut in the third quarter. Achane, the third-round pick, most likely got his opportunity because Salvon Ahmed sustained a groin injury.

Achane battled a shoulder injury late in training camp but as soon as he got in the game he was fairly active with a carry and a reception. By the way, Achane’s first carry was between the tackles, a nice feat for the 5-foot-8, 188-pounder.

Discipline showing improvement

The Dolphins, who were tied for fourth in penalties last season, had just six penalties for 46 yards against the Patriots, showing more improvement on an area of focus from the offseason.

The Dolphins had just six penalties for 38 yards last week.

By the way, the Dolphins also didn’t have any problems in the chain of command/getting plays to the huddle. That was an issue last season causing the threat of delay of game penalties and timeouts to prevent delay of game penalties.

Positive turnover margin change

The Dolphins were minus-7 in turnover margin last season, tied for 29th, are now minus-1 after going plus-1 against the Patriots. Turnover margin is one of the statistics McDaniel considers crucial to winning.

Edge rusher Bradley Chubb caused a fumble that safety DeShon Elliott recovered and cornerback Xavien Howard had a third-quarter interception. Tagovailoa had a fourth-quarter interception for the Dolphins’ giveaway.

The Dolphins were minus-2 in turnover margin against the Los Angeles Chargers in the opener.

More special teams concerns

Kicker Jason Sanders missed a 55-yard field goal attempt wide left in the fourth quarter, and New England blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, raising special teams concerns for the second consecutive week. Last week Sanders missed an extra point by pushing it right.

The Dolphins prevented the Patriots from scoring after the blocked field goal thanks to Howard’s interception.

Another lost challenge

Coach Mike McDaniel is still bad at challenges. McDaniel was 1-4 last season. He challenged a second-quarter call in which linebacker Van Ginkel tackled Patriots quarterback Mac Jones on an incomplete pass. McDaniel thought it might be a fumble. The challenge was unsuccessful and he’s now 1-5.

When was the last time Dolphins started 2-0 on the road?

That would be a decade ago. In 2013, Miami won in Cleveland (23-10) and Indianapolis (24-20). Unfortunately, Miami was 6-8 the rest of the way. The other Miami 2-0 starts on the road were in 2010 (5-9 in the rest of the games), 1977 (8-4). So, amazingly, the Dolphins will be trying to make the playoffs for the first time in four such 2-0 starts. — Steve Svekis

Mac Jones must be sick of Xavien Howard

Sunday night was Mac Jones’ fourth career game against Xavien Howard. In that quartet, Howard has a pick-six, an interception deep in Miami territory and, in last year’s opener, a tipped ball in the Dolphins end zone that floated into the hands of Jevon Holland in his NFL debut.

A hearty applause for the offensive line

Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t sacked until his 66th dropback of the season, and, further, was barely pressured in that span. Considering Terron Armstead was out for both games, even with so much uber-quick passing by the offense, it is a wonderful accomplishment. There is no starting quarterback whose health is more required than Tagovailoa’s is for Miami. For context, Tagovailoa was sacked once every 20.05 dropbacks last year.

Chubb’s forced fumble and sack are the sort of plays Dolphins need more of from him

Bradley Chubb, under criticism by the NBC crew before Sunday night’s game, had his best game as a Dolphin. He did a nice job hustling downfield to chop the ball out of the hands of Patriots runner Pop Douglas, creating a huge early turnover, and then had a massive sack of Jones with less than two minutes left.

The pass rusher the Dolphins traded a first-round pick for had an excellent first 20 games of his career, where he registered 13 sacks, 19 tackles for loss and 27 quarterback hits. Then, on Sept. 30, 2019 Chubb tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). In his 37 games since coming back, he has 15.5 sacks, 16 TFL and 43 QBH. His Miami stint, before Sunday, had been even less impactful, with 2.5 sacks, two TFL and 12 QBH in nine games, heading into the Patriots matchup. Of course, in the midst of a pretty tepid wild-card playoff game, he had a big strip sack of Josh Allen to force a punt and give Miami a final possession, down 34-31.

When was the last time Dolphins led the AFC East by themselves going into Week 3?

The last time the Dolphins were in first place in their division with their rivals at least a full game behind them at the end of Week 2 was in 2018 season, after Miami started 2-0 by beating the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, while the Jets and Patriots were 1-1 and the Bills 0-2.

Mostert would break his personal record for touches in a season at this pace

Raheem Mostert, who has been beset by injuries through his career, put together a personal-best 212 touches (runs and receptions) for the Dolphins in 2022. Following his 19-touch domination in Foxborough, Mostert is at 31 touches, which would extrapolate to a personal-record-breaking 263.

Prime-time games have battled Tagovailoa a little bit

Sunday night was Tua Tagovailoa’s eighth night game in the NFL, with seven of them on the road. After an exceptionally sharp first half under the Foxborough lights, Tagovailoa trudged to the finish. So, as it stands with this current crew of 2022-23, Tagovailoa has an All-Pro 113.1 passer rating in day games, but a 85.4 in the five night games of the Mike McDaniel era.

On deck: Denver Broncos, 1 p.m., Sunday, Hard Rock Stadium

Sean Payton hasn’t coached many games at Hard Rock Stadium, but he has made them memorable. He has gone 2-0, with his Saints winning a 46-34 barnburner in 2009, and then winning the Super Bowl there against the Colts to cap the 2009 season. His Broncos are off to a poor start, with an 0-2 record in home games against the Raiders and Commanders, teams not expected to make much noise in 2023.

Denver will bring a bunch of familiar faces to town, with an NFL-high six players who graduated from Broward County high schools, including American Heritage alum Brandon Johnson, who caught two touchdown passes, including a final-play 50-yard Hail Mary to make it 35-33 Commanders on Sunday. Denver then missed the tying two-point throw on what arguably was defensive pass interference.