Dolphins escape with 15-10 win over Patriots in a game that felt right out of the 1930s

If you like low-scoring affairs and running the ball then this game was for you.

The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots 15-10 on Sunday in a game that felt straight out of the 1930s. Both teams rushed for more than 150 yards as the Dolphins finished with 193 while the Patriots had 151.

In just his second game as a starter, Tyler Huntley looked a lot more comfortable, completing roughly 58% of his passes for 194 yards and an interception. He also did a much better job finding the duo of Tyreek Hill (six catches for 69 yards) and Jaylen Waddle (four catches for 46 yards), both of whom had back-to-back lackluster performances. Jonnu Smith had his best outing of the year, finishing with five catches for 62 yards.

“It felt good to be out there with the guys,” Huntley said after Sunday’s win. “Just every play, every drive, I’m feeling more comfortable and more in tune with my guys and I know they feel the same with me.”

Despite losing De’Von Achane to a concussion early in the first quarter, contributions from the rookie Jaylen Wright (13 rushes for 86 yards) and the veteran Raheem Mostert (19 attempts for 80 yards), who played his first game since sustaining a chest injury in Week 1, helped pick up the slack. Running backs even scored the game’s two touchdowns.

“We were running the ball quite a bit in the first half,” Alec Ingold said. “Whether it’s a penalty here or a little procedural thing there, it kind of got us off track. We’d get a 4-yard run, 6-yard runs but we trusted each other. The coaching staff all the way down to the players doing your 1/11th. That’s all a running game is: a full team playing all four quarters. I don’t think we’ve seen that quite yet out of our team. It’s something we’re working on. It’s something we’re building towards.”

At times, it was a tough game to watch as mistakes hampered both teams. The Patriots committed 12 penalties for a total of 105 yards while Dolphins only had six penalties for 54. And after committing several presnap penalties against the Tennessee Titans, the Dolphins only had two Sunday.

“Sometimes penalties can occur because people are trying too hard to own a responsibility,” coach Mike McDaniel said, later adding “we needed to find a way to win a football game with that adversity right in our face.”

A Jason Sanders field goal gave the Dolphins their first lead of the season early in the first quarter. Then the miscues started to pile up. It began with Huntley’s only turnover — an interception courtesy of Christian Gonzalez — that gave the Patriots the ball on Miami’s 43 yard line. Four plays later, Rhamondre Stevenson’s 33-yard run gave the Patriots the 7-3 lead.

The Dolphins’ next drive? A missed 41-yard field goal. The drive after that? A blocked punt that gave the Pats the ball on Miami’s 23. The drive after that? A botched snap on third down on the Patriots’ 25 pushed the Fins back more than 20 yards and outside of field-goal range.

“It was a gigantic negative when you’re moving the ball pretty well,” McDaniel said of Aaron Brewer’s ill-timed snap. “That was one of the three drives in the first half that you felt like you should have points in some way, shape or form.”

Sunday’s AFC East matchup became a game of field goals in the third quarter with the Patriots hitting one and the Dolphins hitting two to cut the deficit to 10-9.

The Dolphins leaned heavy on the run during their only touchdown drive that occurred late in the fourth quarter. After Huntley completed a 21-yard pass to Hill, the longest reception of the day, the Dolphins opted to run to end the drive. Wright and Mostert were given six consecutive handoffs to get the ball to the 3-yard line. Ingold then finished the drive off with the game-winning touchdown run up the gut to give the Fins the 15-10 lead.

“I felt like it all came together that second half,” Jaylen Wright said. “I felt like we were getting good movement thanks to the O-line, getting up to the second and third level and opening up seams for the running backs to produce great runs.”

Added McDaniel: “You have a 17-play drive to get your first touchdown of the day, that’s something that when you’re talking about your football team and the types of games you want to win, that’s very similar to December, November football when certain weeks you have to strap up, win the line of scrimmage and do that down in and down out.”

A late, overturned touchdown almost put the Dolphins’ win in jeopardy. With just more than a minute left, Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett connected with rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk on what was initially ruled a 12-yard touchdown reception. The play was reviewed and although Polk initially appeared to have gotten both feet down, he didn’t drag his second foot which is required for the call to stand. A pair of incomplete passes later and the ball was back in Miami’s hands with less than a minute left.

After losing three games in a row, including an embarrassing 31-12 loss to the then-winless Titans, the Dolphins are once again back in the win column. Even better: they shed the title of being the only team in the league to not lead in a game. Injuries to Achane and Jevon Holland will be carefully monitored during the next few days but with a much-needed bye week is on the horizon, the Dolphins will have a chance to reset and potentially save their season.

“We’re going to continue to build off of that” win, Huntley said. “We got a bye week coming up, get in the lab, work on the things that we need to fix and come out the next week ready to fire.”