Stunning Miami Dolphins Comeback Win Puts Doubters, AFC East on Notice

Some doubted the tenacity of their no-name defense, whose biggest star is a 32-year-old speed-rusher.

Some doubted the talent of their two-back running game, one of whom spent most of the offseason fat and gimpy.

Some doubted the ability of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and receiver Mike Wallace to consistently make plays against top defenses.

One of those was me.

At halftime on Sunday, down 20-10 to a New England Patriots team that has won 10 of the last 11 AFC East titles, Tannehill and the Dolphins didn't doubt for a second. They rolled up 23 unanswered points to notch a stunning 33-20 win, putting them atop the division—and the skeptics on notice.

Change of Heart

When we last left the Miami Dolphins, they needed just one win against either the mediocre New York Jets or even-worse Buffalo Bills to make the 2013 playoffs; they lost both games by a combined score of 39-7.

Injury and scandal gutted the offensive line. Free agency brought more key departures than key additions, and some new arrivals brought question marks in their baggage.

The Fish looked like chum in the water.

Against the Patriots, though, the Dolphins were predators, not prey.

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Moreno and incumbent back Lamar Miller spearheaded a punishing rushing attack. The revamped offensive line was able to open seams in the vaunted Patriots front seven; Moreno, especially, ran with venom.

The two combined for 193 yards on 35 rushes, averaging an incredible 5.5 yards per carry. That's not an inflated total, either; Moreno's 15-yard second-quarter dash was Miami's longest of the day.

Suddenly, the Dolphins have a powerful rushing attack.

Only the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers ran more often than they passed during the 2013 regular season, but the Dolphins rushed 38 times against 32 dropbacks to open the 2014 campaign. If they can continue to dictate games with physical, aggressive run play, the Dolphins could be a serious contender in the wide-open AFC.

Changing Flights

The much-ballyhooed addition of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor didn't transform Tannehill into Kurt Warner—Tannehill completed just 56.3 percent of his passes, per NFL.com, for just 5.6 yards per attempt—but he and Wallace connected when it counted.

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Wallace had a very good day against superstar free-agent signee Darrelle Revis, getting open with relative ease. On one notable play, Wallace burned Revis on a double-move route to the outside, but Tannehill's slightly off pass and Wallace's lack of boundary awareness turned a gorgeous touchdown into an incompletion.

In the third quarter, though, trying to tie the game at 20, Tannehill tested Revis in the end zone, and Wallace made an incredible reaction catch (at the 1:20 mark):

Wallace remains the Dolphins' biggest threat and Tannehill's crutch. Not counting four short passes to Miller, a tailback, for just 19 yards, no other Dolphin had more than two catches on the day.

To take the next step, Tannehill and Wallace need to continue to improve their chemistry, and Tannehill will have to do a better job of looking for the open man. But if Wallace can get open against Revis and the Patriots—and the running game can reliably move the sticks—the Dolphins should score more than enough points to contend.

Changing of the Guard?

"Our execution was horrible," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said in his postgame press conference, as broadcast on NFL Network. "We couldn't run it; we couldn't throw it. It was just a bad day."

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True as that might have been, the Dolphins defense had an awful lot to do with it.

Cameron Wake was the unquestioned star of the day, with two crucial second-half strip-sacks that stopped Patriots drives and created 10 Dolphins points. Defensive end Olivier Vernon and linebacker Chris McCain also had sacks, dominating a Patriots offensive line that hasn't been pushed around much over the years.

Hassled like crazy by the Dolphins pass rush, Brady completed just 51.8 percent of his 56 passes on the day for 4.5 yards per attempt. As Pro Football Focus' Tyler Loechner noted, Brady uncharacteristically declined in the second half:

The Patriots must have believed the Dolphins secondary was exploitable, because they dropped back to pass 60 times against only 20 rushing attempts. Anytime a defense forces a team to be that one-dimensional, it has put itself in a great position to win.

Does this mean the Patriots Era of the AFC East is over, and the Dolphins are geared up for a deep playoff run?

Not yet.

Remember, Week 1 of the NFL is always screwy. The Patriots opened 2013 with by-the-skin-of-their-teeth escapes over the Bills and Jets, and the Dolphins started last season 3-0. The Patriots went 12-4 and made the AFC Championship Game, and the Dolphins faded to 8-8.

That said, the Dolphins have answered nearly every skeptic's question about their ability to contend in 2014 and made several big statements as well.

If this incredible comeback win sets the tone for the remainder of the season, the Patriots (and the rest of the AFC East) might be chasing the Dolphins' tail in December.