The New England Patriots didn’t play a perfect game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon, but their second-half surge allowed them to overcome an early deficit and earn a 24-19 victory on the road. Along the way, they managed to make some impressive plays that put them on the road to victory in the first place.
And so, here is a Patriots-centric view at some of those key moments from the Week 8 contest.
Moment No. 1: Continued issues
The Patriots entered Week 8 with the second-most giveaways in football, having turned
the ball over 14 times in seven games. They added another midway through the first quarter when Efton Chism fumbled the ball while trying to gain some extra yards on a short catch.
The play changed the game’s early momentum. While the Patriots appeared to be in control up until that point, Chism’s fumble allowed Miami to get a short field and ultimately tie the game on a 31-yard field goal.
It was a play exemplary for New England’s problems in the first half.
Moment No. 2: Deep shot
Trailing by 10 in the early third quarter, and having gone three-and-out on their first possession of the half, the Patriots were in dire need of a big play. They found it when Drake Maye hit Kyle Williams on a deep crosser for a 43-yard touchdown.
The play was originally ruled an incompletion after Williams knocked the ball out of his ands with his own knee. However, a review initiated by Mike Vrabel tossing the challenge flag determined that the ball came free after it had already crossed the goal line. And so, the second-year wide receiver’s fifth career touchdown — all of them coming from 30-plus yards out — became official.
Moment No. 3: Gutsy call
Down three points in the late third quarter, the Patriots had a chance to tie the game at 13-all. However, they decided to forgo a 41-yard Andy Borregales field goal attempt in order to be aggressive: the offense stayed on the field on 4th-and-2 in an attempt to get more out of the Patriots’ next possession after the Williams touchdown than just three points.
The plan worked, barely.
Just like with the Williams touchdown, the replay official had to make the final call on the play. DeMario Douglas was initially ruled short of the line to gain, but the turnover on downs was overruled after a second look. New England maintained possession, and six players later saw Drake Maye waltz into the end after a nifty move to evade a defender from 2 yards out.
Moment No. 4: Complementary football
After taking the lead on Drake Maye’s touchdown run, the Dolphins suddenly were under pressure again to manufacture some offense. They couldn’t, although Lady Luck was not really on their side either on what turned out to be one of the crucial plays of the day.
A Malik Willis pass attempt ricocheted off of DaQuan Jones’ helmet, and landed in Kevin Byard’s waiting arms. It was the veteran safety’s first interception of the season, and his first in a Patriots uniform after his arrival during the offseason. It furthermore was a big play for a defensive unit that had expressed some unhappiness about the frequency of its takeaways.
Moment No. 5: Popping off
Just two player after the Byard interception, the Patriots had yet another reason to celebrate. Drake Maye rolled to his right after a fake pitch, left a pass rusher in. his dust, and found DeMario Douglas wide open down the right sideline. The fourth-year wide receiver did the rest.
Douglas caught the pass at the Miami 31-yard line and had a better angle than the first defender, outran a second and juked a third before turning on the jets to reach the end zone. He finished the game with only three receptions, but gained 76 total yards on them and found the end zone once.
