Critical Mistakes Hand Dolphins the Loss Against Patriots

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MIAMI, FL – It was a competitive contest between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. The game had its mood swings with both teams trading leads. Critical 4th quarter mistakes handed the Dolphins a 33-27 loss against the Patriots. Sloppy plays by Miami determined the game’s fate. That’s not to say that New England didn’t have their fair share of inconsistency, but the Dolphins were impacted more.

The Good

De’Von Achane continues to lead the offense for the Dolphins. On the ground, he carried the ball 11 times for 30 yards, but he was more impressive as a receiver. Achane caught eight passes for 90 yards. He has shown on every drive that he can be counted on.

Tua Tagovailoa was much more comfortable on the field and was able to generate offense. He went 26-for-32 with 315 and two passing touchdowns. Finally, the play calling allowed for Tagovailoa to throw deep passes down the field. This is the side of him that we all want to see more of. Defenses are used to him throwing short passes. Moving forward, I would like to see him continue having pass attempts of 20+ yards.

.@Tua finds @cheetah downfield for 47 yards! 🐆

📺: @NFLonCBS & @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/3v9kr0bTJU

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 14, 2025

Tyreek Hill finally had a catch of over 30 yards. He had been held without one since week 1 of last season. Hill had a much more impressive performance this time around. The 10-year wideout made an impressive 47-yard catch as the Dolphins were down by just a point in the 3rd quarter. He had six receptions and a team-high of 109 yards.

The play of the game for the Dolphins was Malik Washington returning a punt for 74 yards to the house.

🗣️ MALIK WASHINGTON 74-YARDS TO THE HOUSE! pic.twitter.com/oQpz1wlcYO

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 14, 2025

Defensively, Jordyn Brooks, Bradley Chubb, and Chop Robinson each had a sack against Drake Maye.

Captain J. Brooks 🫡 pic.twitter.com/9TjMRsYZAx

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 14, 2025

The Bad

There were moments in the game when fans booed the Dolphins. It was a game they should’ve won, considering the chances the Patriots were handing them. For starters, right after their own punt return TD, they gave up a 90-yard kickoff-return touchdown to Antonio Gibson.

GIBSON WITH THE 90 YARD TD!!!

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/DJXsgo7uWz

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 14, 2025

The Patriots were able to jump-start this game to a two-touchdown lead due to their ability to get past coverage. Rhamondre Stevenson, Austin Hooper, Kayshon Boutte, and Mack Hollins were able to deliver on some targeted catches.

Overall, the unit struggled on third-down stoppage, allowing New England to convert on seven of 12 tries. The Patriots had 333 yards and only punted the ball twice. The Dolphins’ secondary got pushed around in the game once again.

Drake Maye was able to scramble around the Dolphins’ defense. He went 19-for-23 with 230 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. Maye had a great passer rating of 137.3 and provided some support in the running game as well with a TD.

The play from @DrakeMaye2 to @dreeday32 that set up the score ⏩

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/F20NTJVCSr

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 14, 2025

There were times Tagovailoa came up short. Down 30-27 late in the game, he had a solid drive going until it ended in disappointment when he threw an interception in a critical moment. Then, with under two minutes down by six, he failed to put on a successful drive to win the game. It ended with two consecutive sacks.

Achane was believed to have a TD late in the game, which would’ve tied it, and an XP would’ve clinched the game. The problem, though, was that he stepped out of bounds after replay review.

ACHANE IS LOOSE, TOUCHDOWN DOLPHI-

Wait, he stepped out of bounds 😯 pic.twitter.com/pEkLsGJxO9

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 14, 2025

The Dolphins need to clean up their game and limit the penalties. They had 10 penalties accounting for 65 yards. The most critical ones were false starts and delay-of-games towards the end of the game.

 

The Ugly

This past Monday, Miami fans started a GoFundMe page to have a plane fly over the stadium before kickoff, reading “Fire Grier, Fire McDaniel.” The goal was to raise $900, and they ended up raising $1,918.

🚨JUST IN: Miami #Dolphins fans paid for a plane to fly over the stadium with a sign telling the team to fire head coach Mike McDaniel and GM Chris Grier.

“FIRE GRIER, FIRE MCDANIEL.”

Fans are fed up in Miami 👀👀👀
pic.twitter.com/ptkVpG3dcZ

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 14, 2025

Considering last week’s embarrassment, the Dolphins held a players-only meeting following the game, and Fins fans have expressed their frustration. The Dolphins are 0-2 and are headed to Buffalo to play a prime-time Thursday Night Football game.

It’s year four for Mike McDaniel as head coach, and fans expect results. If they come out of the Bills game with a winless record, the calls to fire him will only grow louder.

Chris Grier has been with the organization since 2000 and has held his current position as general manager for nine years. His job is also in jeopardy if the team fails to produce some wins on the field.

It will be interesting to see how Stephen Ross will evaluate the state of the team at the end of the week. They have a 10-day period without games after they face the Bills. Thursday is a must-win game for the Dolphins, or else they will have to consider cleaning house to salvage their season.

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