The New England Patriots fought tooth-and-nail to hold off the visiting Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It was an ugly brand of football that Patriots fans are used to seeing in recent years, and as usual, it ended with New England coming out on the losing end. The costly penalties combined with the bad situational play-calling from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt doomed the team in their fourth straight loss.
This one stings more than the others considering they were facing a banged-up Dolphins team without their starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, in the lineup. That still wasn’t enough to save the Patriots from throwing up over themselves when the game was on the line.
Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s game:
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Rhamondre Stevenson took the fumbling criticisms to heart and came out with a vengeance in Sunday’s game against the Dolphins. He didn’t start in the game, but he did see the bulk of the work load with 12 carries for 89 yards and a 33-yard rushing touchdown.
No one has ever questioned Stevenson’s talent as a playmaker, but the Patriots needed to make a point on the importance of ball security. Stevenson responded exactly the way the team hoped.
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Christian Gonzalez had one ridiculous leaping interception early in the first half, and he nearly had another in the second half. The Patriots’ second-year cornerback is proving himself to be one of the top defensive backs in the league against high-level opposition. He gave Dolphins’ star wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle all they could handle in this game.
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Brenden Schooler did his best Reed Richards impression by stretching an arm out long to block a punt on special teams. Creating turnovers is a key to victory on a weekly basis for a Patriots offense that doesn’t generate many yards. Schooler’s play flipped the field for the Patriots offense. Unfortunately, the unit failed to capitalize on the play due to a stalled drive and a missed field goal by Joey Slye.
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Joey Slye made waves by booting a 63-yard field goal last week against the San Francisco 49ers. However, he came crashing back down to Earth on Sunday by whiffing on a 33-yarder. Every field goal counts for a Patriots team struggling to generate much offense….
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