Maye, Patriots get Vrabel first win with wild 33-27 victory over Dolphins in Week 2

Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots are in the win column, after beating the Dolphins, 33-27, in a wild Week 2 showdown in Miami. It was a thrilling affair at Hard Rock Stadium, where the Patriots had lost five straight entering Sunday's AFC East matchup.

The Patriots got a big game from quarterback Drake Maye, who completed 19 of his 23 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns and also ran in a score. Rhamondre Stevenson had a monster game on the overall for New England with 142 total yards (54 rushing, 88 receiving on five catches) while Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins both caught touchdowns.

The Patriots scored on their first two possessions, but led just 15-14 at halftime and fell behind early in the third quarter. The Dolphins took a 27-23 lead midway through the fourth quarter on a 74-yard punt return by Malik Washington, but the Patriots took the lead right back thanks to a 90-yard kickoff return by Antonio Gibson. It made for a pretty wild 12 seconds in Miami.

"I felt like we were willing to get into a street fight," Vrabel said after the win. "We had a little lull, but we didn't quit."

Andy Borregales, who missed two extra points in the first half, hit a 53-yard field goal with 1:47 left to give New England a 33-27 lead. It looked like the Dolphins had taken the lead with just over a minute to play when De"von Achane took a short pass from Tua Tagovailoa into a long touchdown, but he had stepped out of bounds at the New England 26.

Milton Williams sacked Tagovailoa on a fourth-and-12 play with under a minute left to seal the win for the Patriots and get Vrabel his first victory as head coach of New England. It was the Patriots first win in Miami since the 2019 season.

"I appreciate the character," Vrabel said of his team. "We don't have to put it to the test all the time with mistakes and silly penalties. There are a lot of things out there we have to do better. But we didn't pout or drop our head. We went on to the next play and kept competing."

Vrabel was proud to see his team continually battle throughout a game that featured five lead changes.

"We're not front runners and that's a big thing in this league. You have to be willing to take some punches and that's OK. You have to be willing to give more than you take," said Vrabel. "I'm proud of our team. It's always about the players, now and forever."

"It took everybody," Maye said. "Special teams. Offense. Defense. Trainers. Everyone helped us out. Proud of our guys for sticking with it, with so many ebbs and flows. Just proud of the guys. This one feels good."

Here's how it all played out for the Patriots in Miami on Sunday.

Patriots strike first with opening drive touchdown

The Patriots got the ball first and made it count. The Patriots ran the ball three straight times to start the game, and got a fresh set of downs when Stevenson bounced off a blocker and picked up nine yards on a third-and-1 carry.

Maye was sacked on the next play, but made some bigtime throws the rest of the drive. He hit Stefon Diggs over the middle for 10 yards on a gotta-have-it fourth-and-3, and then hit Austin Hooper for 22 yards on a play-action pass to get the Pats to the Miami 11-yard line.

On second-and-7, Maye hit Hollins on a nice curl in the end zone for their first TD connection of the season. 

But the Patriots only took a 6-0 lead because rookie Borregales hit the right upright on his extra-point attempt. It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise great opening drive by New England, which covered 68 yards on 10 plays over 5:31.

Pats score another touchdown drive on second possession

After the Dolphins had the ball for only 1:35, the Patriots went on another lengthy touchdown drive. New England marched 70 yards downfield on 11 plays and ate 7:05 off the clock.

And once again the drive ended in the end zone, when Maye found Boutte with a lovely pass from 16 yards out. Boutte finished with an even nicer one-handed grab as he went to the ground for another six points for the Patriots.

But it was only six points again, as Borregales missed the extra point again. 

The Patriots converted three third downs on their second touchdown drive: a 15-yard wheel route to Henderson on third-and-4, a 13-yard scramble by Maye on a third-and-6, and Maye's touchdown pass to Boutte on a third-and-6.

Dolphins score to start second quarter, Pats answer with field goal

The Dolphins got on the board early in the second quarter, when Tua hit Jaylen Waddle for an 18-yard touchdown strike over corner Alex Austin. It capped off an 83-yard drive for Miami where the New England defense didn't offer up much resistance.

The Patriots answered with another long drive, going 71 yards down field on 15 plays. It took nearly 10 minutes off the clock.

But Maye's third-and-goal pass to an open Hunter Henry in the end zone was tipped at the line and fell incomplete, and the Patriots settled for three points. Borregales connected on his 22-yard field goal to make it a 15-7 game. 

That score made it 10 straight drives the Miami defense allowed points on to start the season (five touchdowns, five field goals). 

Dolphins add touchdown before halftime

The New England defense got picked apart during Miami's two-minute drill. The Dolphins got 51 of their 77 yards on two plays: A 22-yard Tua-to-Hill connection on first-and-10, and then a 29-yard catch-and-run touchdown by De'Von Achane where he found a massive hole in New England's zone defense (he made Robert Spillane, Craig Woodson, and Christian Elliss miss badly) and found his way into the end zone. 

Miami was going to go for a game-tying two-point conversion until the line was hit with a false start. But the extra point cut New England's lead to just 15-14 at the break. 

Dolphins take lead out of halftime

The Patriots' defense gave up another huge play out of halftime, when Tua hit Hill for 47 yards on a bad deep pass on a third-and-13. While Tua underthrew Hill, Alex Austin made a bad desperation play on the ball late that allowed the receiver to make the comeback catch, which got the Dolphins to the New England 27. 

It looked like Miami converted on a third-and-7 a few plays later, but Malik Washington was hit with an Illegal Formation penalty before he brought in the 11-yard reception. Miami settled for a field goal to take a 17-15 lead early in the third.

The Patriots didn't answer, as they went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half. After Stevenson picked up three yards on first down, Maye threw behind Diggs on second-and-7. The quarterback was sacked by Jordyn Brooks on third down when the rookie Henderson couldn't hold his block on the Miami linebacker and the drive was over for New England.

Patriots' D gets a stop, Maye runs one in to take the lead

The Patriots defense forced a punt on Miami's next time out, despite losing Craig Woodson, Carlton Davis, and Christian Barmore to injuries on the drive. The New England offense made the most of its next possession, thanks to one huge play between Maye and Stevenson.

Maye felt some pressure from the Miami pass rush on a third-and-3, but he stepped up and hit Stevenson in stride downfield. Stevenson's catch went for 55 yards down to the Miami 21, and a few plays later Maye ran it in himself from six yards out (outrunning Matthew Judon in the process) to put the Patriots back on top. Stevenson ran in the two-point conversion, and the Patriots took a 23-20 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Patriots absolutely needed to convert that third-and-3, and got their biggest play of the season so far.

Patriots hurt themselves after defensive stop

The New England defense got a stop, but the New England offense hurt themselves three times on its next possession. Two penalties -- a false start on Morgan Moses and an illegal shift on Hunter Henry -- made things more difficult than it needed to be for Maye and company. Then on a second-and-13 from the New England 21, Garrett Bradbury rolled his snap to Maye, which went in the books as a fumble on the center and a 13-yard loss.

Antonio Gibson was wrapped up after just one yard on third-and-26, and the Patriots had to punt it away.   

The bad snap came a few plays after Bradbury (and rookie guard Jared Wilson) threw some great blocks for Stevenson when the back ran for 14 yards and a first down on third-and-13. 

Back-to-back kick returns in fourth quarter 

The Dolphins took a 27-23 lead when Washington took Bryce Baringer's punt back 74 yards to the house. Brenden Schooler missed a tackle right after Washington fielded the punt, and Washington outran everyone else on the field as he returned Miami's first punt return touchdown in five seasons.

The lead didn't last very long. On Miami's kickoff, Gibson got some great blocking and made a wonderful cut to the right for a 90-yard touchdown return. Vrabel even ran a few yards downfield with Gibson on the return, which put the Patriots on top, 30-27, with 7:06 to play.

Yes, it was 30-27, because Borregales hit his extra point. 

Patriots' defense makes two plays to seemingly seal it

The Dolphins got to midfield, but the New England defense made two big plays.

The first game on third-and-7 from midfield, when Harold Landry broke through to sack Tua. On fouth-and-9, the QB went looking for Washington but his throw was wild and found Patriots linebacker Marte Mapu for an interception with 2:21 to play.

Patriots still had to sweat it out

The Patriots' offense just had to kill the clock, but couldn't do so. They were going to go for a fourth-and-2 at the Miami 30 to keep their possession going, until Morgan Moses jumped early for a false start. The Patriots were hit with 12 penalties for 75 yards in Week 2.

Vrabel opted to let Borregales kick a 53-yard field goal, which the rookie nailed to atone for his missed extra points and give the team a 33-27 lead with 1:47.

Borregales then sent his kickoff short of landing zone, which set the Dolphins up at their own 40. It looked like Achane had scored a go-ahead touchdown, but he stepped out of bounds at the New England 26. A Miami false start followed, and Tua was chased out of bounds on third-and-12 to set up a must-have play.

On fourth down, Milton Williams sacked Tua as New England's big free-agent prize saved the day for the Patriots. It was New England's fifth sack of the afternoon. 

What's next for the New England Patriots?

The Patriots will now return home for two straight games, starting with a Week 3 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh is 1-1 on the season after losing to the Seattle Seahawks, 31-17, on Sunday.

The Patriots will host the Carolina Panthers in Week 4, and then play three straight road games against the Buffalo Bills (on Sunday Night Football), New Orleans Saints, and Tennessee Titans. 

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