Miami Dolphins disrupts the New England Patriots’ eight-game winning streak with a surprising 27-20 victory.
The Miami Dolphins was given little hope of victory over the vaunted New England Patriots at the Hard Rock café on Monday night. In fact, the bookies had the Dolphins 11- point underdogs, and even the most dedication Dolfan gave Miami must chance.
However, coming from a victory over the Denver Broncos last week from the first drive it was obvious the Dolphins came to play hard and win.
D0olphins quarter back Jay Cutler who was selected from retirement to take over from the franchise quarterback Ryan Tannehill had by far his best game of the season. Cutler threw three touchdowns for 263 yards including two to wide receiver Jarvis Landry. The offense was also sparked by the outstanding performance of running-back Kenyan Drake who produced 114 yards rushing and 79 receiving.
But the game ball should be given to Miami Dolphins’ defense. The defense gave the consistently sharp New England quarterback Tom Brady very little time to settle and be his usual brilliant self. Brady was intercepted twice by Dolphins’ corner-back Xavien Howard and held without a third-down (0-11) conversion all night. The famous quarterback was twice and hit five times. His un-brady like stats of 24 passes in 43 attempts for 233 yards and one touchdown was testament to the aggression of Miami’s defense.
With Monday night’s victory Miami has a 6-7 record for this season and still has an outside change of making the pay off with three games left, two against Division rivals, Buffalo Bills including a game in frigid Orchard Park next Sunday, and the other against the Kansas City Chiefs. If the team repeats the form it found against Denver and New England they could win these three games and be in the playoffs.
Speaking to the media after Monday night’s games, winning is a big motivator, especially the mood of the victorious team in the locker room. He said the win over the Patriots will serve the team well in their remaining games.
Underscoring the significance of Miami’s victory on Monday it was the first time Coach Adam Gase was leading the team in defeating New England in four tries. The Dolphins also broke the Patriots’ 14-game road winning streak, the best NFL record since San Francisco won 18 road games in a row from 1988-90.
