Patriots come back to beat Dolphins, keep playoff hopes alive entering season's final week

FOXBORO -- The Patriots' playoff hopes will live on for another week.

A shorthanded Patriots team got the better of a shorthanded Dolphins team on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, coming back from a 14-7 deficit to eke out a 23-21 win.

Now, the Patriots can clinch a playoff spot by beating the Bills in Buffalo in Week 18.

Mac Jones was 20-for-33 for 203 yards and two touchdowns, his second consecutive two-touchdown performance.

Teddy Bridgewater completed 12 of his 19 passes for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception before leaving with a finger injury. Skylar Thompson entered and went 12-for-21 for 104 yards with an interception and a touchdown with 64 seconds left to make the game interesting. 

But the Patriots recovered the onside kick, allowing Mac Jones to kneel out the remainder of the clock.

In this one, the Patriots got on the board first, after Tyreek Hill was ruled to have been out of bounds on a deep third-down pass on the Dolphins' opening possession. The Patriots benefited from a pair of third-down defensive penalties on Miami on the ensuing possession, which ended with a 7-yard connection from Mac Jones to Tyquan Thornton for a touchdown.

That was the second touchdown of the year for the rookie, and it gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead.

The Dolphins came back with a touchdown drive of their own, though, driving 75 yards on 13 plays over 7:20 -- a drive that included a fourth-and-1 conversion in Miami territory after a running into the kicker penalty wiped out a Dolphins punt. The drive ended with a backward pass to Tyreek Hill, who outran everyone to the pylon to score his eighth touchdown -- and first rushing touchdown -- of the season.

Both teams then missed out on points. Jones was sacked for a loss of 12 yards on a third-and-1 from the Miami 33-yard line, leading to a punt ... which ended up in the end zone for a touchback. The Dolphins then drove 47 yards, but Jason Sanders missed his 51-yard field goal wide right, keeping the score at 7-7.

The score remained knotted at 7-7 through halftime, and the Patriots went three-and-out to start the second half. The Dolphins then went three-and-out ... before the Patriots went three-and-out once again.

The Dolphins started their second possession at the New England 41-yard line, and a 23-yard catch-and-run by Jaylen Waddle quickly got them into the red zone. On second-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Bridgewater shoveled a pass forward for Mostert, who made the catch to give Miami a 14-7 lead.

The Patriots responded with their first scoring drive since their opening possession, though they had to settle for a long field goal attempt for Nick Folk. The kick was good from 49 yards, and the Dolphins' lead was cut to 14-10 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.

The Patriots then regained the lead with a huge play from Kyle Dugger, who stepped in front of a Bridgewater pass on third-and-15 and made a spectacular 39-yard return for a touchdown.

Nick Folk's PAT was no good, though, so the Patriots' lead was 16-14.

Bridgewater suffered a finger injury after getting stiff-armed by Dugger at the goal line, so Skylar Thompson replaced him on Miami's next drive. Jonathan Jones picked him off near the sideline on a third-and-14, but New England's offense couldn't capitalize, going three-and-out and punting it back to Miami.

But New England's defense came up with another stop, before the offense went on an 88-yard touchdown drive to take a two-possession lead late in the fourth quarter. Kendrick Bourne started the drive with a 16-yard gain on a wide receiver screen, and Jones hit Meyers for a 25-yard gain on third-and-5 a few plays later. Meyers drew a pass interference penalty at the 5-yard line later in the drive, and Meyers hung on to a touchdown grab despite a violent collision with the turf to cap the drive with a score.

The PAT was good, giving New England a 23-14 lead with less than five minutes to play. Meyers suffered a shoulder injury on the play.

Miami tried to convert a fourth-and-16 on their ensuing drive, but a short completion was stopped well short of the sticks, leading to a turnover on downs. New England gave the ball back after an ill-conceived play on fourth-and-4.

The Dolphins engineered a touchdown drive on the ensuing possession, driving 61 yards and cutting the lead to just two points on a Thompson touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 1:04 left. The Dolphins' onside kick, though, was no good, allowing the Patriots to kneel out the clock.

The Patriots now move on to face the Bills, who will be on a short week after playing on Monday night in Cincinnati.