The New England Patriots, looking to clinch their 10th consecutive AFC East title, fell once again to the Miami Dolphins on the road. The 34-33 loss came at the hands of Kenyan Drake on a horribly, absurdly defended lateral play as the game clock hit double zeros. The Patriots fall to 9-4 on the season, and Tom Brady falls to 1-6 in his career on the road against Miami despite an outstanding effort.
Stephen Gostkowski, Failed Protection Leaves Points on the Board in 34-33 Loss to Miami
Third Down Struggles in the Second Half
In the first half, the Patriots offense was blistering on third down. The offense went seven for 10 on third down in the first half. Four of those conversions were passes to Julian Edelman. On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots held the Dolphins to zero third-down conversions in the first half. All three of those attempted third-down conversions by the Dolphins in the first half resulted in sacks, two on Ryan Tannehill and one on Brock Osweiler.
The defensive effort continued in the second half, allowing only a single third-down conversion on four attempts in the second half. The offensive effort, however, faltered as the offense converted only two of six third downs. By the end of the game, Edelman was responsible for five of the Patriots nine total conversions.
Dolphins Run Game Bashes Patriots
Brandon Bolden, who was released by the Patriots earlier this year after playing six seasons with the Patriots, saw a pair of touchdowns on a pair of rushes, just his second and third rushes of the season for the Dolphins. Bolden’s first touchdown was a 54-yard gash resulting from a beautiful block by Durham Smythe on Lawrence Guy.
Frank Gore was nearly unstoppable, rushing for 92 yards on 12 carries. Frankly, his average yards per carry would have looked better had he not been held up by Smythe, allowing Kyle Van Noy to come in and make the stop in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots rush game was less than stellar, gaining only 77 yards on 30 attempts.
James Who?
James White had four carries for 13 yards and was targeted only four times for 15 yards this week. This serious reduction in White’s touches is concerning, especially given how reliable he has been for the Patriots all season. It may have been expected that Rex Burkhead would cut into White’s rushing touches, but the lack of receiving work for White is a head-scratcher. White was targeted a team-high nine times last week against the Minnesota Vikings.
Defense Regresses From Last Week
The defense allowed just ten points and 278 yards to the Minnesota Vikings last week. The Patriots allowed 21 points and 204 yards in the first half against the Dolphins this week. This game featured a franchise-record (for both teams) nine lead changes during this game. Neither team could stand up under the assault of the opposing offense, but more was expected out of the Patriots defense. The defense seemed completely unable to stop Gore in the run game. They also seemed completely unable to prevent the Dolphins from making big plays.
First Quarter:
Frank Gore – 36 yards
Second Quarter:
Brandon Bolden – 54 yards
Kenny Stills – 21 yards
Kenny Stills – 43 yards
Third Quarter:
Frank Gore – 24 yards
Brice Butler – 23 yards
Fourth Quarter:
Kenny Stills / DeVante Parker / Kenyan Drake – 69 yards
The linebackers made a significant effort in the pass rush today, but their receiving and rushing defense were lacking.
Mistakes Were Made
That is not to say that the defense is solely to blame for this loss. To be fair, it was Rob Gronkowski that stood around and watched the Dolphins lateral their way to victory, and he’s an offensive player! Gronk’s attempt at a tackle during that final play may be the most disgusting lack of effort this Patriots team has seen this season.
Just watch Gronk ? pic.twitter.com/th4H03j1hE
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) December 9, 2018
Stephen Gostkowski missed his first extra point of the season today on the Patriots first drive of the game. While not a huge problem at the time, Gostkowski then missed on a 42-yard field goal with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
But the most glaring problem was the offensive mishap at the end of the first half. With 14 seconds left on the clock, the Patriots were staring down a third and goal at the Miami two-yard line. … And the offensive line lets Robert Quinn through to sack Brady, letting the final second of the half run out.
Bright Spots on a Dim Day
The Patriots are well-known for their special teams units, and they demonstrated why today. Albert McClellan, whom the Patriots signed just a little over a month ago, blocked not one, but two, punts in the first half to give the Patriots excellent field position and a chance to score.
Adam Butler was a ferocious disrupting force today. It was actually the double-team on Butler that allowed Dont’a Hightower to get inside and sack Tannehill untouched in the first half. The defensive line crashed the pocket again and again, and John Simon, a welcome surprise on the defensive front, racked up another sack this week.
The offense, despite the tone I’ve struck thus far, was firing on all cylinders. Brady continued to shake off any doubt that he still has it. He was able to identify mismatches in the defense all over the field, whether it was Edelman vs. Kiko Alonso, or Gronk vs. Alonso, or Edelman vs. Torry McTyer, or Cordarrelle Patterson vs. Walt Aikens. Vintage Brady was on the field for all to see this week.
The GOAT also passed yet another milestone. After today’s game, Tom Brady is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns, including the postseason.
Gronk, despite the final play, was a bright spot in this week’s contest. He snagged eight receptions to top 100 yards and finally caught his first red-zone reception of the season. He made it count, too, falling into the end zone to regain the lead in the second quarter.
Josh Gordon continued his yards-after-catch dominance in today’s performance and fell just shy of 100 yards receiving on five receptions. As mentioned, Edelman was a rock, going for 86 yards and a score on the day. He shared the spotlight briefly with Patterson, who made the most of his two receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.
James Develin also scored his third rushing touchdown of the season. Someone get that man another Pro Bowl appearance.
Last Word on Week 14
It was a stellar performance by the offense. A near-immaculate performance. But that lateral play is going to haunt the fans, the teams, and Gronk for a long, long time.
As Bill Belichick would say, “We’re on to Pittsburgh.”
