Dolphins-Patriots Week 2 Complete Observations

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' 24-17 victory in their Week 2 game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

-- As always, we start with the inactive list, which was headed by Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead and edge defender Jaelan Phillips, who was sidelined by a back injury he sustained in practice.

-- Also inactive were WR Cedrick Wilson Jr., DB Elijah Campbell, TE Julian Hill and CB Kelvin Joseph. Joseph did not travel with the team to New England because of family reasons.

-- Among those active were 2023 third-round pick De'Von Achane, who was in line to make his NFL debut after being inactive against the Chargers last Sunday.

-- Skylar Thompson again was designated as the third quarterback, allowing him to be uniform and come into the game (but only if Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White both were injured).

FIRST QUARTER

-- .The Dolphins won the toss and deferred and watched Mac Jones throw passes on the first two plays to former Dolphins players Mike Gesicki and DeVante Parker.

-- On third-and-1, the Patriots tossed to Rhamondre Stevenson, who used a block by Gesicki (yes, Gesicki) on Jevon Holland to 6 yards, and he followed that with an 8-yard gain up the middle.

-- The Pats moved into Dolphins territory after a 9-yard swing pass to wide receiver Demario Douglas, who got inside Holland after he caught the pass when Holland overran the play.

-- The Dolphins then came up with three good plays on defense, though, with Zach Sieler's penetration leading to a 2-yard loss by Stevenson, followed by David Long Jr. perfectly timing a blitz and dropping Jones for a 9-yard sack. Sieler completed the series by dropping Stevenson for no gain after a short completion.

-- The Dolphins moved the ball very well on their first possession, picking up four first downs, though they had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

-- Tua was 5-for-6 on the drive, the only incompletion coming on third-and-goal from the 4 when his left ankle appeared to turn as he was dropping back to pass and lost his balance.

-- Before that, he converted a third-and-3 with some good patience before he found Braxton Berrios open for a 10-yard gain.

-- Tua also had nice completions to Tyreek Hill and Raheem Mostert before Salvon Ahmed gained 19 yards to the 4 on a shovel pass.

-- The running game had some success before the first-and-goal when Mostert was stopped after a 1-yard gain and Erik Ezukanma was dropped for a 1-yard loss on second-and-goal from the 3.when it looked like Kendall Lamm didn't get enough of an oncoming New England defender.

-- New England moved into second territory on its second drive after a third-down conversion on a pass to Parker on a play where cornerback also was flagged for holding.

-- Long came up with a nice stop of Ezekiel Elliott after a 2-yard gain on a run.

-- The Dolphins stopped the drive with their first takeaway of the 2023 season when Bradley Chubb came from behind to swipe the ball away from Douglas after a short completion and DeShon Elliott recovered the fumble on the last play of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

-- The Dolphins converted an early third down on their second possession when Tua hit Tyreek Hill with an 8-yard pass on third-and-7.

-- Salvon Ahmed had another nice gain, a 10-yard run he made possible by sidestepping DB Jabrill Peppers in the backfield.

-- After Isaiah Wynn put the Dolphins in a second-and-19 situation with a silly illegal block in the back penalty, Jaylen Waddle used his speed to turn a swing pass into a 28-yard gain to the Patriots 15-yard line.

-- After an offside penalty, the Dolphins capped the drive with a touchdown when Raheem Mostert cut back and used his speed to easily get outside for an 8-yard score to make it 10-0.

-- New England got one first down on its next possession, but Andrew Van Ginkel stepped up to help stop the drive.

-- On second-and-10 he chased JuJu Smith-Schuster from the side after a swing pass to drop the wide receiver for no gain and on third down he hit QB Mac Jones as he was throwing the ball. The Dolphins challenged the ruling,, suggesting it should have been a fumble but the ruling was upheld. Regardless, it was fourth-and-10 and a punting situation.

-- The Dolphins had their first three-and-out on offense after Tua threw incomplete on second and third down. After his second-down pass was behind Hill, the third-down pass was a deep throw down the left sideline for Waddle that was underthrown with some contact from the DB, though no flag was thrown.

-- Jones went back to Gesicki and Parker on the next drive, completing passes to them for 9, 12 and 7 to move to a second-and-8 from the Miami 30 at the two-minute warning.

-- The last play before that two-minute warning was a neutral zone infraction on Bradley Chubb.

-- Before that, Zach Sieler's effort led to a holding penalty against Pats guard Cole Strange.

-- David Long Jr. had another good play when he led the way on a stop of Rhamondre Stevenson after a 1-yard gain on second-and-2, though Jones converted the third-and-1 with a QB sneak.

-- Raekwon Davis beat two offensive linemen with quickness to drop Elliott for a 1-yard loss.

-- Safety DeShon Elliott knocked the ball away from Parker on third-and-9 to force the Patriots to settle for a 49-yard field goal that cut the Dolphins lead to 10-3.

-- With almost two full minutes and two timeouts left, the Dolphins marched down the field when Tua started throwing deep slants after a couple of short passes.

-- Tua had completions of 22 and 12 yards to River Cracraft to move the ball to the 20-yard line.

-- Tua then came up with perhaps his best pass of the first half when he maneuvered in the pocket and threw an 18-yard completion to Braxton Berrios to the 2-yard line, though after a review (why to they do this?), it was ruled he landed in bounds.

-- No matter, Tua connected with Hill for a 2-yard touchdown on the very next play with a quick throw on an out move at the goal line and the Dolphins were back up 17-3 after a masterful eight-play, 75-yard drive.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The first drive of the second half went nowhere for the Dolphins after Waddle was dropped for a 2-yard loss when Kyle Dugger sprinted through a hole at the line to stop the end-around.

-- And then on third down, Tua was sacked for the first time this season when Matthew Judon did a spin move on Austin Jackson and Connor Williams was pushed back, which gave Tua nowhere to escape.

-- The Dolphins gave up a first down on defense as New England moved into Miami territory before the defense stiffened after the Pats had a second-and-1 from the 43.

-- Safety Jevon Holland was the key player in the sequence, combining to stop Stevenson for no gain on second down before he shot through a hole at the line to drop Stevenson for a 3-yard loss on third-and-1, leading to a rather strange decision by Bill Belichick to punt on fourth-and-4 from the Miami 46 given the Dolphins' 17-3 lead.

-- The Dolphins had another good drive the next they had the ball, though it ended on a sour note.

-- Tua had his longest completion of the game so far with a 32-yard strike to Waddle down the left sideline when he recognized rare man coverage on the speedy wide receiver.

-- Ezukanma had a nice 7-yard run off a lateral when he broke a tackle in the backfield.

-- Two plays after the long completion to Waddle, the Dolphins looked like they had another first down on a second consecutive run by rookie De'Von Achane when right tackle Austin Jackson was flagged for holding.

-- After a third-down incompletion, Jason Sanders' 49-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Brenden Schooler after he went in motion toward the line and got a free run at Sanders.

-- After the block, the Patriots got three short completions to get inside the Miami 30-yard line, but Xavien Howard ended the drive when he took inside position on DeVante Parker on a shot near the end zone and picked off Mac Jones.

-- The Dolphins couldn't get a first down after starting their drive at their own 3 following the Howard pick and it didn't help that Waddle dropped a slant on first down and Hill fell on third-and-7.

-- The third quarter ended with the Dolphins leading 17-3 but facing a punting situation from their 6-yard ilne.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- The quarter begins with the punt from Jake Bailey, who had a great night against his former team, that produces a net of 52 yards when David Long Jr. flies downfield to tackle speedy returner Demario Douglas.

-- Despite a sack from Christian Wilkins when he quickly gets around guard Mike Onenwu, New England goes 58 yards for a touchdown that cuts the Miami lead to 17-10.

-- Along with a lot of short passes, the big play of the drive is an 18-yard scramper by Mac Jones, on which is added 5 yards for a defensive holding penalty on Xavien Howard for grabbing Mike Gesicki's jersey as he's running a route across the middle.

-- Replays of the touchdown, a 6-yard pass from Jones to tight end Hunter Henry, shows Henry blocking downfield before turning to catch the pass in the end zone, which should have been flagged.

-- The next Dolphins possession is a mess from start to finish.

-- It starts with a high shotgun snap that almost goes over Tua's head, though he does a nice job of securing the ball and handing off to Mostert, who proceeds to gain 7 yards on a running plays.

-- After a pass to Durham Smythe for a first down, Tua tries to go deep down the left sideline to Hill but the ball is way underthrown and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez has time to make up ground before leaping and high-pointing the ball for an interception.

-- The only saving grace about the pick is that New England has to start its drive from its 14-yard line.

-- Andrew Van Ginkel then comes up with a huge defensive play when he gets low to get around right tackle Calvin Anderson and drops Jones for a 10-yard sack to the 4-yard line.

-- Braxton Berrios then has a nifty 18-yard punt return after a 57-yard punt and the Dolphins are in business at the Patriots 43.

-- On the very next play, Mostert sprints through a gaping hole in the middle left side of the offensive line, thanks to key blocks by Connor Williams and Robert Hunt, and goes untouched for a 43-yard touchdown that makes it 24-10.

-- It seems the game is well in hand.

-- But the Patriots still refuse to quit and go 75 yards on nine plays, none longer than 14 yards to get within seven points again.

-- The lowlights of the drive for Miami include two DPI penalties on Eli Apple, the first coming despite DeVante Parker catching the ball anyway.

-- The one good play on defense on the drive comes when Howard runs step for step down the field with Kendrick Bourne and actually has a better shot at the ball on an overthrown deep throw by Jones.

-- The Dolphins now take over with 5:25 after a touchback — because for the second consecutive game in a row touchbacks is all we saw on kickoffs — hoping to kill the clock.

-- An unnecessary roughness penalty, the result of a hit that leads to Jaylen Waddle being evaluated for a concussion and then ruled out, moves the ball to the 45 before Mostert reels off another 11-yard run.

-- With a first down at the New England 44-yard line with 3:51 left, the Dolphins seem on the verge of clinching the victory.

-- But on third-and-1 from the 35, another bad center-QB exchange puts the ball on the ground and Tua has to fall on it for a 2-yard loss.

-- Facing fourth-and-3 from the 37, McDaniel is facing with the decision of punting to try to pin the Patriots back or being more aggressive and going for a 55-yard field goal or going for the first down, the latter two all but clinching the victory if successful.

-- McDaniel elects to go for the long field goal attempt and the decision backfires when Sanders pulls the kick wide left. Given the consequences of a miss, we'll second-guess (even first-guess that decision) because the Dolphins converting on fourth-and-3 these days seems like a better play than hoping for Sanders to make that long kick.

-- Regardless, the Dolphins defense is back on the field looking to keep New England from driving 55 yards for a game-tying score.

-- Two completions quickly get the Patriots to a first-and-10 at the Miami 39 before Chubb comes up with his second huge play of the game, a sack that drops Jones for an 8-yard loss.

-- After an incompletion, Jones hits Gesicki with a 14-yard completion and New England calls its final timeout before a fourth-and-4 from the Miami 33 with exactly 1:00 left.

-- Chubb (him again) rushes up the middle and gets immediate pressure on Jones, who throws a short outlet pass to Gesicki short of the sticks to his left. Justin Bethel quickly grabs Gesicki by the waist, leaving the tight end no choice but to lateral the ball before he's brought down. It goes right to guard Cole Strange, who turns upfield and is brought down by Holland and Van Ginkel with a big help from cornerback Eli Apple, who comes down from the secondary to deliver a hit that stops Strange's momentum.

-- Though the officials initially gave New England the first down, the play automatically was subject to review before it came in the last two minutes of the game and the ruling — as replays seemed to indicate was the right call — was overturned to Strange not making the first-down spot and the Dolphins took over on downs.

-- Ballgame. Two knees (though Tua dropped the snap on the first one before quickly regaining possession, and the Dolphins were 2-0.

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