Kyle Dugger returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter on Sunday afternoon, as the New England Patriots went ahead for good and went on to defeat the Miami Dolphins 23-21 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to keep their postseason hopes alive.
The defenses controlled the action in the first half, as each team swapped a touchdown. New England went up early when Mac Jones connected with Tyquan Thornton in the front left corner of the endzone for a seven yard score on the Patriots first possession. Miami tied it with their second time with the ball, as Tyreek Hill took a hand-off from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and went around left end and stretched the ball just inside the pylon for a two yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. The Dolphins had one more opportunity to take the lead to halftime, but Jason Sanders missed a 51 yard field goal with 6:26 left and it was 7-7 at the break.
Miami (8-8) took their first and final lead of the day when Bridgewater tossed a short two yard touchdown to Raheem Mostert 5:38 into the third quarter. New England responded with a 49 yard Nick Folk field goal. On the fourth play of the Dolphins next possession, Dugger intercepted Bridgewater and returned it 39 yards for six to push the Patriots into the lead for good. The extra point by Folk though was no good off the upright. Bridgewater, who was starting the game in the place of Tua Tagovailoa who was in concussion protocol, was injured during the Dugger defensive scoring play and didn’t return to the game. Third string quarterback Skylar Thompson was intercepted by Jonathan Jones in New England territory at the 35 yard line early in the fourth quarter. Later in the fourth, New England was able to put the game away helped by passes of 16 yards and 25 yards from Mac Jones to Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers and a pass interference call inside the 5 yard line on Miami. The drive was capped off by a Jones to Meyers one yard touchdown to make it 23-14 with 4:40 remaining. The Dolphins got one more chance after the teams both turned the ball over on downs. Thompson would find Mike Gesicki for a four yard score with 1:11 to play. Miami needed to recover an onside kick, but Hunter Henry was able to recover it to officially ice the victory for the Pats.
Mac Jones finished 20-33 passing for 203 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris rushed for 42 and 32 yards respectively. Thornton caught three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown, Henry had five for 52 yards, and Meyers had the most receptions with six of them for 48 yards and what turned out to be the game winning touchdown. Jabrill Peppers, Ja’Whuan Bentley, and Myles Bryant each had five tackles, while Jonathan Jones and Dugger had an interception each to lead the defense. Bridgwater was 12-19 for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Thompson went 12-21 for 104 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the Miami loss. Jeff Wilson rushed 15 times for 45 yards. Mostert added 29 yards out of the backfield, and also caught eight passes for 62 yards and one score. The Fins have now lost five straight games after starting the season 8-3. New England is now 8-8. The Patriots easiest path to postseason is a win in Buffalo over the Bills next weekend. The tougher road to get in if they fall in Buffalo would need three things to happen next week- The NY Jets beat Miami, the Cleveland Browns knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars defeat the Tennessee Titans.
Recap written by Chris Lessner
