After a disappointing Week 1 performance that ended in a loss against the Raiders, the Patriots nabbed a win in Week 2 against the Dolphins, beating Tua Tagovailoa for the first time ever. The offense was humming as the team scored 33 points, but the defense looked lackluster, allowing 27 points to a team that scored just 8 in its last time out against the Colts.
Offensively, Drake Maye played his best career game. Going 19/23, he passed for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown. His 10 carries garnered 31 yards. Rhamondre Stevenson had 142 total yards, 88 of which came through the air, a new career high. Austin Hooper got involved with three early catches, while Stefon Diggs had four grabs. Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins had one catch each, both of which went for touchdowns. Pop Douglas continued to struggle, with a stat line of three catches for six yards now for the season.
Defensively, individual players had strong days, but the unit disappointed as a whole. Mike McDaniels’ play calling paired with the Dolphins’ offensive weapons are never easy to stop, but it was definitely tough to watch them have as much success as they did after looking so limp last week. De’Von Achane’s 92 receiving yards was second only to Tyreek Hill’s six catch, 109-yard performance.
There were flashes, like the five sacks, two of which came from Milton Williams. Williams was made the highest paid player in team history this offseason and he delivered with a game ending rush that led to his second sack against Tagovailoa with under a minute left on fourth down. Three players recorded “elite” PFF grades (85+): Marte Mapu, whose interception got the Patriots the ball back with minutes to go, Jaylinn Hawkins and Corey Durden. Durden spent time with the Lions, Rams and Giants before signing with New England in August.
The special teams had a very inconsistent day. Kicker Andy Borregales missed a pair of extra points but made a 53-yard field goal to put the team up six. A crazy sequence happened when the Dolphins’ Malik Washington returned a punt for a touchdown and Antonio Gibson responded with a kick return touchdown of his own.
It was far from a perfect game, but it must feel good to get a big win over Tagovailoa for the first time in franchise history, despite all the controversy circling the Dolphins right now.
The Patriots will take on the Steelers at 1 p.m. on Sunday and look to move to 2-1 for the season. The Steelers are also 1-1 after beating the Justin Fields led Jets in week 1 but losing to the Seahawks in Week 2 by two touchdowns. Their defense has allowed more than 30 points in each game thus far, against less than elite QBs: the aforementioned Fields and Sam Darnold.
Pittsburgh has struggled to defend the run this season: both Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker eclipsed 100 yards with very healthy averages. Fields also carried the ball 12 times for 48 yards and a pair of touchdowns against his former team, so involving Maye in the run game somehow could be beneficial. After Stevenson’s big day on Sunday, I’d expect the Pats to go back to that well and hope they can continue the trend of successful rushing attacks against the black and yellow. Former Patriots Jonnu Smith, Calvin Anderson, Daniel Ekuale, Jabrill Peppers and Corliss Waitman all feature for the Steelers. On the Patriots side, Josh Dobbs, Mark Robinson and Robert Spillane all played under Mike Tomlin.
This matchup has lent itself to some classics in the past and it’s sure to be another entertaining one as the AFC rivals clash for the first time since New England’s 19-16 win in 2023.