After back to back losses to Jacksonville and Detroit on the road where the New England Patriots looked bad offensively and defensively, the five time Super Bowl champions returned to the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium Sunday afternoon. The result was a statement victory in their first AFC East matchup of the season, crushing the previously undefeated Miami Dolphins 38-7.
Tom Brady, despite a pair of interceptions in the game, passed for 274 yards on 23-35 throws with three touchdowns, to lead the now 2-2 Patriots. New England held a 3-0 lead after one quarter, before Brady hit on touchdown passing plays of 55 yards to Cordarrelle Patterson and nine yards to Phillip Dorsett, that was wedged around a James White 22 yard touchdown run as well, to open up a big 24-0 halftime advantage.
New England added another Brady touchdown pass of 14 yards to White in the third quarter, and also rookie Sony Michels first NFL touchdown with a 10 yard run early in the fourth quarter. Rob Gronkowski did not play in second half with a sore ankle, but with his four receptions did become the Patriots all-time top receiving tight end, passing Ben Coates who is now second on the list.
Michel finished with 112 yards on 25 carries. White had 112 all purpose yards (44 rush, 68 receiving), with both a receiving and rushing score. Dorsett and Gronkowski both had four receptions for 55 and 44 yards respectively, while Patterson had three for 54 yards. Jonathan Jones led the defense with eight total tackles. Newcomer John Simon and Lawrence Guy also had five tackles each, with Simon adding a sack.
Miami (3-1) had a slow offensive day led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill was only 11-20, 100 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler threw a late six yard touchdown pass to running back Frank Gore to break the shutout. New England outgained Miami in total yards 449-172. Patriots had 26 first downs to the Dolphins 11, and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes. The Patriots also still have never lost three consecutive games with Brady under center, and still haven’t been beaten at home by an AFC East opponent since 2006.
New England has a quick turnaround this coming week as they host Thursday Night Football at Gillette against the Indianapolis Colts. Kickoff is slated for 8:20 pm.
