Patriots
The Patriots and Dolphins traded blows on special teams and New England ultimately won the battle in Miami.
Mike Vrabel’s first win as head coach of the Patriots almost didn’t happen because of shoddy special teams tackling.
Miami’s Malik Washington broke tackle attempts from Brenden Schooler and Charles Woods before racing past punter Bryce Baringer for a 74-yard touchdown late in the game.
But New England’s Antonio Gibson quickly erased Miami’s slim lead with a 90-yard kick return touchdown of his own. The Patriots took a special teams gut punch and came back with a haymaker.
“We unfortunately just gave up the punt return, but then [we] answered, Gibby answered and that unit answered,” Vrabel said “Felt like we were willing to get into a street fight, had a little lull, and then we didn’t pack it up and quit.”
The Patriots’ running backs found redemption after being shut down by Las Vegas last week.
Rhamondre Stevenson produced a team-high 88 receiving yards, to go with 54 yards on 11 carries via the ground game. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson had a nice gain when Drake Maye hit him on a wheel route. Gibson made an impact in the return game.
It was the kind of effort that Vrabel told the Patriots the would need for a bounce back win.
“I told you, we had to have those guys be a weapon for us,” Vrabel said. “And Rhamondre [Stevenson] answered, then Gibby answered. We had a similar situation in practice where we had a couple bad plays, and we have to keep going on and snap the next play. Then somebody hit a play. A back hit a play. And I’m like, ‘see, it just takes one play.’”
The Patriots had several big plays that contributed to the win. Kayshon Boutte hauled in a tough touchdown catch in the first quarter. Marte Mapu made a crucial interception late in the game. Milton Williams closed the game out with a sack on 4th and 12 on Miami’s final drive.
The Patriots had 12 penalties that cost them a total of 75 yards, and they were an out-of-bounds footstep on a De’Von Achane touchdown run that got called back away from losing. But, they stuck it out and came away victorious.
“I appreciate the character, certainly don’t have to put it to the test all the time with mistakes and silly penalties,” Vrabel said. “There’s a lot of things out there that we have to do better. But we didn’t pout, we didn’t drop our head, and we kept competing, and I appreciate that. We have to learn how to compete and believe that we can come down here and win football games and I believe we did.”
Vrabel was asked what he learned about his team from the close win against a division rival.
“That we’re not frontrunners, and that’s a big thing in this league,” Vrabel said. “When you play in the NFL, you have to be willing to take some punches, and that’s OK, but you have to give more than you take, because that’s the nature of this business. There are pros on the other side, there are good players on the other side, there are good coaches. Just, again, proud of our team, it’ll always be about the players, now and forever.”
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