3 Duds (and 2 Studs) From Patriots' Week 8 Loss to Dolphins

The New England Patriots lost again in Week 8, proving that their Week 7 upset over the Buffalo Bills was an anomaly. The Patriots jumped out to a rare 7-0 lead for a change (maybe it was the new uniforms), but it was all downhill from there as they fell to the Dolphins for the second time this year, dropping to 2-6 on the season.

Here are three duds and two stud from New England's latest defeat.

Dud: Mac Jones

Hopes were high for Jones heading into Week 8 coming off one of the best games of his career in Week 7. He was efficient with his passes, didn't turn the ball over and finally got the monkey off his back by leading the Patriots to a fourth-quarter comeback.

Unfortunately, none of those positive signs carried over into Week 8. Despite facing a depleted Dolphins defense that was missing safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Xavien Howard, Jones regressed to his old ways and wasn't able to get much going in the pocket.

Jones finished with another lackluster stat line, going 19-for-29 with only 161 passing yards. He did throw a pair of touchdowns, but ultimately it wasn't enough to help his team win.

The struggling quarterback also made several brutal mistakes. His turnover woes returned as he threw a back-breaking interception in the second half and would have been picked off on his final throw of the game as well had JuJu Smith-Schuster not gotten penalized on the play.

Jones was sluggish in the pocket as well, taking 3 sacks after only getting sacked once in Week 7.

Overall, this was another underwhelming effort from Jones and doesn't provide much confidence that he can be a franchise QB going forward.

Dud: Ezekiel Elliott

With trade rumors swirling around him ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline, Elliott might have played in his final game as a Patriot on Sunday.

If that's the case, he didn't give New England fans much to remember. He was largely an afterthought in the offense, earning only 7 carries and accumulating just 37 yards on the ground. He was once again outpaced by Rhamondre Stevenson, albeit barely (39 yards on 10 carries).

Zeke was not involved in the passing game (no catches) and was held out of the end zone for the first time since Week 5, so he wasn't contributing through the air or in the red zone, either.

Elliott came into this game on thin ice and did not do much to save his job. If the Patriots do trade him in the next few days, he won't be missed by New England fans.

Dud: Hunter Henry

After a strong start to the season, Henry looked like he was going to be a major part of the offense this year. He topped 50 receiving yards in three of his first four games while also bringing in a pair of touchdown catches, seemingly emerging as one of Jones' favorite targets.

He's been MIA over the last few weeks, however, and that trend continued on Sunday. Hunter was once again extremely quiet, finishing with just 1 catch for 4 yards and not doing much to help New England's comeback efforts.

Henry now has only 4 catches for 38 yards and no touchdowns over his last 4 games combined. For an offense in desperate need of reliable pass-catchers, his lack of production has been particularly glaring.

Even more concerning for Henry is that TE3 Pharaoh Brown has been more involved than him recently, including on Sunday. Brown tallied 2 catches for 33 yards, outproducing Henry and Mike Gesicki combined.

Henry seems to have fallen out of favor with Jones and the offense, so the coaching staff needs to find a way to get him more involved going forward.

Stud: Kendrick Bourne

Similar to Elliott, Bourne has also been floated in trade rumors lately. Unlike Elliott, however, he actually produced on Sunday.

Bourne gave the Patriots one of their few highlights of the day with his touchdown catch in the first quarter, giving New England a short-lived 7-0 lead. Bourne ran a great route, easily burning his defender and catching the ball around the 10-yard line before sprinting into the end zone for a rare first-quarter TD for the Patriots.

It was Bourne's second straight game with a touchdown and his fourth receiving TD of the season, which is nearly as many as the rest of his teammates combined (5).

Bourne also added a 6-yard catch to his 24-yard scamper, but unfortunately that was the extent of his contributions before leaving the game with a knee injury in the fourth quarter.

Hopefully Bourne makes a quick recovery, as he's been one of New England's most important offensive players this year.

Stud: Kyle Dugger

With the Patriots sputtering on offense (again), the burden fell on their defense to try to slow down the Dolphins.

Not everyone was up to the challenge, but Dugger certainly was. The fourth-year safety gave New England an early spark by intercepting Tua Tagovailoa late in the first quarter. For good measure, he stiff-armed Braxton Berrios after the catch, making his big play even more epic.

Dugger's first pick of the season set up a short field for New England, leading to Jones' TD pass to Bourne shortly thereafter.

Dugger wasn't done tormenting Tua, either. He also sacked the Dolphins QB and notched a team-high 5 tackles, doing a little bit of everything and making plays all over the field.

Unfortunately for Dugger, his efforts were all for naught as the Patriots still surrendered 31 points in defeat.

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