New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins: Full Report Card Grades for Miami
The Miami Dolphins start off the season on the right foot, emerging victorious against the New England Patriots by the score of 33-20.
The Dolphins start 1-0 for the second consecutive season while giving the Patriots their first season-opening loss since 2003. This is also Miami's second consecutive victory over New England, the first time since 2000-01 that Miami has strung together two straight wins against the Patriots.
Miami did it behind the running of Knowshon Moreno, who was a true workhorse on Sunday, running for 134 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Lamar Miller also had some bright spots despite a fumble, as he ran for 59 yards on 11 carries.
Miami's defense helped the most, especially the front seven, who got to Tom Brady in the pocket four times, forcing a fumble on two of those sacks.
Miami did have its weaknesses, which were out in full force in a first half that could (and should) be forgotten. Ryan Tannehill's start was atrocious, but he rebounded in the second half, just like the rest of the team did.
At one point, Miami was down 20-10, and it looked like the same old story as the last few years. Instead of folding, the team kept fighting, scoring 23 unanswered points to seal the victory.
Here's a look at each unit's grades throughout the game.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Ryan Tannehill's performance was uneven, a continuing theme throughout the preseason that carried over into Week 1.
In the first half, Tannehill was extremely inconsistent and inaccurate. He started off going 6-of-6 before underthrowing Mike Wallace on what would've been a touchdown pass that instead wound up an interception.
After that play, Tannehill remained inconsistent in the first half, doing a poor job of leading his receivers. He would get better as the half wore on and at times was let down by his wide receivers (specifically Mike Wallace).
In the second half, Tannehill was a lot more consistent, completing eight of his 17 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, while only getting sacked once, with at least two of those incompletions coming thanks to wide receivers who couldn't haul in otherwise perfect passes.
Great recovery by Tannehill, who didn't showcase any of the skittishness in the pocket that affected him in 2013.
Grade: B
Running Back
2 of 10
Knowshon Moreno is a man who knows how to make an entrance, and in Week 1 he made an entrance into the hearts of Miami Dolphins fans (as well as his fantasy owners, who likely had him on the bench and are cursing that decision).
Moreno was the offensive MVP for the Dolphins thanks to 134 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. He fought for each of those yards, but only once did it ever look like he'd be stopped for a loss, as his offensive line created opportunities and holes for him to run through.
Those same opportunities were there for Lamar Miller, who had 59 yards on 11 carries. Unfortunately for Miller, a first-quarter fumble is a bad blemish to have on an otherwise good performance.
Without the running game, Miami doesn't win, as it not only powered the offense, it did a great job of setting up some tremendous opportunities in the passing game. If this team runs like this consistently, it will get to participate in the playoff party.
Grade: A (Moreno alone gets an A+)
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Let's start with the bad, and that is Mike Wallace's attitude in the first half.
After a fumble early, Wallace went into a bit of a funk, which severely affected his attitude. Were Tannehill's passes to him perfect? Absolutely not, but as usual, Wallace did his quarterback almost no favors throughout the first half, from failing to get his feet in bounds (which can also be attributed to Tannehill throwing it just a tad further out than it could've been), to the worst offense, giving up on what would've been a touchdown after a deflection by Darrelle Revis hit the ball into the air.
If Wallace tracks that ball, he could've fair caught himself a touchdown pass.
In the second half, Wallace was better, as he recorded two catches for 31 yards and a touchdown on three targets. Revis covered him well, but despite that (and Wallace's own issues), he was still Miami's leading receiver with seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown for the game.
When passed too, for the most part, Miami's receivers delivered. Brian Hartline wasn't Tannehill's usual safety blanket, only getting the ball thrown to four times, grabbing two catches for 26 yards. The Patriots also had Charles Clay covered well throughout the game, but the tight end did catch the ball twice for 26 yards.
Gator Hoskins recorded his first NFL reception for seven yards, while Dion Sims had one catch for nine yards.
Every receiver did well in run-blocking, which will be highlighted by Pro Football Focus when those grades come out. Because of that, despite their very uneven performance, I'll give the Dolphins receivers and tight ends a fairly generous grade.
Grade: B-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
I've loved what I've seen out of the Dolphins offensive line in the preseason, but I wasn't ready to say they were good.
Now, I'm ready, and the scary thing about this unit is it's actually going to get better this season.
Miami's offensive line opened up rushing lanes wide enough to drive an 18-wheeler through. Knowshon Moreno ran through those lanes, as did Lamar Miller as the unit was at the forefront of Miami's 191 rushing yards.
As the game wore on, the Dolphins offensive line outlasted New England's defensive front, and by the end of the game they were able to throw them around like rag dolls.
Before I continue with my praise for this unit, remember that this is five new starters, a rookie at right tackle, and a left guard and center who joined the team at the start of and in the middle of training camp. The best player on the offensive line is still hurt and won't be back until at least Week 4.
As for pass protection, the line excelled there as well. The Patriots were able to hit Tannehill four times, with only one of those hits resulting in a sack. Two of those hits came well after the throw, resulting in roughing the passer penalties.
The line's performance will get lost in the shuffle, which is a shame. They were outstanding on Sunday afternoon.
Grade: A+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Football is a lot more simpler than we make it out to be. When you win in the trenches, you win the ball game. That was true in the days of Amos Alonzo Stagg, that was true in the days of Vince Lombardi and Don Shula, and it's true today.
We already highlighted how Miami won in the trenches on offense. On defense, the Dolphins dominated in the trenches.
Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon combined to hit Tom Brady four out of the six times he was hit, and they were responsible for sacking him three times. A lot of credit must also go to Randy Starks, Earl Mitchell and Jared Odrick, who all had great games both stuffing the Patriots' run game (New England ran for only 89 yards) and getting pressure on Tom Brady.
As individuals, these players were great. As a unit, they were exceptional and will likely feature in Brady's nightmares for the rest of the season (as well as the nightmares of other quarterbacks on their schedule).
Grade: A+
Linebackers
6 of 10
At times you wouldn't notice that Miami had three new linebackers in the game.
Actually, you did notice—their performance was better than the starters usually gave.
There were some missed tackles and missed opportunities by the linebackers early in the game, especially on a 3rd-and-10 run play by New England from its own 6-yard line. That conversion, caused mainly by miscommunication with the linebackers, led to a Patriots touchdown drive.
After that, the linebackers got better. On one key play in the second half, Shane Vereen got into the flat and Brady attempted to throw it to the sideline. Normally against Miami this is a pass that Vereen catches, but Jelani Jenkins did a great job on coverage, smothering Vereen through the entire play, which ended with a pass deflection for the second-year player from Florida.
As for the rest of the unit, Jason Trusnik was very good, and Chris McCain was outstanding, recording a sack while covering New England's tight ends well.
We'll get to McCain's biggest play of the game later when we discuss special teams.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
Miami's secondary wasn't picked on too much, due in part to New England's plan to use short passes against Miami's usually soft in the middle defense.
The secondary stepped up and got some key tackles though and didn't allow Brady to throw deep this afternoon. You didn't hear the names Brent Grimes or Cortland Finnegan much, but that's because they didn't make any mistakes and covered their receivers well enough that the ball wasn't thrown there.
The safeties did struggle at times, but as the game wore on, they got a lot better. Louis Delmas had a good performance, as did Jimmy Wilson, who was Miami's leading tackler with seven.
Also worth mentioning: Will Davis, the nickleback. He had a great performance on Sunday afternoon, recording a pass deflection and four tackles.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Miami's special teams unit set the tone, mainly the play by one Chris McCain.
We talked about McCain's performance at linebacker already, but his biggest impact came early with a blocked punt that would lead to a Dolphins touchdown.
The block was the special teams highlight, as the rest of the afternoon was pretty standard. Jarvis Landry got a few good punt returns, but he did make a punt return mistake in the third quarter by fielding a punt on a bounce near his own 10-yard line.
Caleb Sturgis was perfect, going 4-of-4 and showing no signs of a groin injury that limited him throughout the preseason.
Brandon Fields didn't see the field until the second half, but when he was in, he was his usual self, punting the ball twice and averaging 50 yards per punt.
Grade: A
Coaching
9 of 10
Good play-calling (even on plays that failed) and second-half adjustments that were a step ahead of Bill Belichick.
Who are these people?
For Joe Philbin, this was one of his best-coached games. Instead of panicking, he stuck to Miami's game plan, and he had to have given one hell of a halftime speech considering how Miami came out in the second half.
Bill Lazor handles Miami's play-calling, and he showed us a slower-paced (but just as effective) version of Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles offense. The offensive line did a great job blocking into space, something that I never saw them do last season.
In fact, here's what an upgrade Lazor is over Mike Sherman: Based off of the play of the defense, Miami still would've won this game, but they likely win it 23-20 after sweating through a Tom Brady-comeback attempt due to some failed offensive series in the fourth quarter.
This game saw Miami get a great drive to take the lead thanks in part to expert play-calling (even Ryan Tannehill's incomplete pass intended for Dion Sims was a great play call) and good execution.
On defense, Miami's weak middle looked to be exposed, but Kevin Coyle was masterful in the second half with the way he had the Dolphins rush the Patriots.
Overall, a very well-coached game, and it would've been even had New England won. Turnovers are the only issue the Dolphins had, but aside from that throughout the game their resolve was strong, and they were well disciplined, as they only had four penalties throughout the game.
Grade: A-
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | B |
| Running Backs | A |
| Wide Receivers | B- |
| Offensive Line | A+ |
| Defensive Line | A+ |
| Linebacker | B |
| Secondary | B+ |
| Special Teams | A |
| Coaching | A- |
| Cumulative Grade | A |
An A performance for Miami despite a poor and inconsistent first half.
Any victory over New England should yield great grades, but the way the team performed was extraordinary, especially the way they came back.
Next up: the 1-0 Buffalo Bills in a battle for first place in the AFC East.
It feels so good to type that, even if it is early in the season.
Statistics provided by NFL.com.
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