The New England Patriots bounced back in a major way with a 38-7 thrashing of the Miami Dolphins Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Here are the top 3 highlights.
Everything is right in the world following a New England Patriots 38-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
In fact, the AFC East leading Dolphins didn’t even show up as the Patriots simply dominated on both sides of the field.
Whoever that team was that got beatdown in Jacksonville and Detroit was left behind as a more physical team showed up to give Miami their first loss of the season and showed the rest of the division that the AFC East still runs through Foxborough.
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Two of the keys to victory was staying on the field on offense and getting off the field on third downs. The Patriots did both on Sunday, showing that execution was the main ingredient of this team doing its job on the field.
On offense, the Patriots received major contributions from both running backs Sony Michel and James White. Michel rushed for over 100 yards and really set the tone early with his downhill running between the tackles. White contributed both on the ground and in the air as he rushed for one touchdown and caught another.
Overall, Tom Brady was back to his true form (for the most part). Despite two interceptions, the 41-year-old quarterback got all his receivers involved, including touchdown passes to both Phillip Dorsett and Cordarelle Patterson. He also completed a couple of passes to Josh Gordon, who made his New England Patriots debut on Sunday.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots looked quicker and more aggressive. They basically pitched a shutout in not giving up a score until late in the fourth quarter. Players like Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson really stepped up to make big plays when they mattered.
With the victory, the Patriots evened their record at 2-2. Here are the top three plays that had Gillette Stadium rocking on a beautiful fall afternoon in New England.
More sweet feet
Tom Brady wanted more James White and he got it on Sunday. With 112 total yards and two touchdowns against the Miami Dolphins, the Wisconsin product proved his value in the New England Patriots offense.
While both of his touchdown scores deserve mention, his 22-yard rushing touchdown is what stands because White does most of his damage catching the ball.
Following Kyle Van Noy’s fumble recovery in the second quarter, White destroyed the Dolphins defense with a nice cutback move finding an opening into the end zone.
With the play, James White not only showed great vision and an ability to break tackles, he also demonstrated some breakaway speed.
Take a look:
Following the game, White talked about the chunk plays both he and Sony Michel were able to pick up on the ground. He also took a little time to talk about that 22-yard scamper into the end zone.
"“Just a little power play from the gun,” White said, via Patriots.com. “Just followed [Joe] Thuney, there wasn’t really a hole there, I kind of just peaked left. It was just Robert Quinn standing there. I made him miss and Josh Gordon had a good block blocking the corner and made just a good play.”"
It was a play that certainly broke the backs of the Dolphins defense for the afternoon.
Kyle Van Noy wanted it more
Now let’s talk about the play that set up the James White score. Up 10-0, the New England Patriots defense showed in one play how much more they wanted this game.
Ryan Tannenhill and the Miami Dolphins were simply trying to get something down on offense and then this happened with 7:41 remaining in the second quarter:
Kyle Van Noy, who had an overall sold performance just wouldn’t be denied on this fumble recovery. At one point it appeared the Dolphins recovered before the veteran linebacker simply snatched the ball and got up with it. That one play showed the aggressiveness of the Patriots’ defense on the afternoon.
It also symbolized the entire game and how much more the New England Patriots wanted this one.
"“I just ran to the ball and got kind of lucky,” Kyle Van Noy said in the Patriots locker room. “I guess I wanted it more than he did. I just try to be a heady football player and get to the ball.”"
Overall, Van Noy attributed the defenses success to working hard and practice and vowed how they played on Sunday will be how they will play going forward.
Big Play Patterson
The top highlight of the afternoon was historic. On a 55-yard touchdown reception that was the first for Cordarrelle Patterson as a member of the New England Patriots, he became the 70th different receiver to catch a touchdown from the great Tom Brady.
Overall, it was the type of play the Patriots envisioned from Patterson. On a nice throw from Brady, the speedy receiver made a few moves in the open field to get the Patriots off to a 10-0 score.
The explosive play was one of the ingredients Brady and the offense needed to really get things going.
Following the game, Tom Brady talked about the contributions the new guys made on the field on Sunday afternoon.
"“I mean, if you lose guys, you’ve got to get the guys who come in to make plays and impact the game,” Brady said. “They did that. C.P. made some plays, Josh made plays, Hogs [Chris Hogan] didn’t have many opportunities but made some, Phil [Dorset] didn’t have as many opportunities but made some. The backs did great. So, it’s going to take everybody. I mean, it’s a long season. Everyone’s going to have to play a big role.”"
With Julian Edelman set to make his return to the team, having these other players involved is just going to make the New England Patriots offense just that more effective.
In all, it was a great overall performance. Now its onto Indianapolis on Thursday night.