Dolphins vs. Patriots: Grading New England's Performance in Victory over Miami

The New England Patriots entered halftime facing a large deficit as the Miami Dolphins managed to pull ahead with a stunning 17-0 score. However, this Saturday's Christmas Eve battle was a true tale of two halves. 

Soon after the start of the second quarter, Tom Brady and the Patriots rallied off 27 second-half points to give New England the 27-24 victory over Miami. 

With the win, New England now improves to 12-3 with just one week remaining in the regular season. The Patriots still hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and a victory over the Buffalo Bills next weekend guarantees home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

With that being said, let me jump right into the grades for New England's performance over the Miami Dolphins. 

Pass Offense: B+

After a first-half that amounted to nothing, the Patriots were able to dink-and-dunk their way down field and score 27 second-half points.  

Brady did not have the greatest game, as he started off sluggish but finished very strong, posting an 85.2 quarterback rating while completing 27 of his 46 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown. 

New England's leading receiver on the day was Wes Welker, as he snagged 12 balls for 138 yards. 

Rush Offense: B-

New England's rushing attack wasn't great, but it was good enough to help seal the win. 

The rookie out of LSU, Stevan Ridley, was the team's leading rusher as he accumulated 64 yards on 13 carries while Brady managed to rush for 19 yards, including a pair of one-yard touchdowns. 

Pass Defense: D+

At times New England's secondary was decent, but for the most part Miami Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore had his way with them.

Moore finished Saturday's game completing 17 of his 33 passes for 294 yards while throwing three touchdowns, though he was intercepted once. 

New England finished rather shaky, as the Pats gave up a late scoring drive as Moore connected with Davone Bess with 1:48 left to pull Miami within three. 

Rush Defense: D-

For the most part, Reggie Bush ran all over the Patriots' defensive front as he recorded 113 yards on 22 carries—which is a solid 5.1-per-carry average. 

If it weren't for New England's offense putting pressure on Miami to score points, the Dolphins could have easily run the ball down the Patriots' throat the entire game. 

Special Teams: B

New England's special teams wasn't anything special today, as they committed only one real mistake, when Stephen Gostkowski missed a 51-yard field goal.

The team's coverage team did hold Clyde Gates to a 24.3 yard average on kick returns, while Davone Bess managed to average only 12.5 yards on punt returns. 

Coaching: B+

This was a game of adjustments and Bill Belichick clearly out-coached Miami's interim head coach, Todd Bowles. 

The Dolphins certainly embarrassed the Patriots in the first half, but Belichick and the team's coaching stuff obviously pulled the right strings entering the second half, as the team rallied off 27 straight points to give the Pats a 27-24 victory. 

For more articles like this, check out PatriotsPlus.net.