FOXBOROUGH — Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ victory over the Dolphins in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Patriots completely dominate Dolphins: If you questioned whether New England's reign atop the AFC East could be over with the 3-0 Dolphins visiting Gillette against the 1-2 Patriots, raise your hand. Now, take that hand with your other hand, and beat yourself over the head with it. New England played great, the Dolphins laid an egg, and the result was one of those old-school Patriots' blowouts that was over in the third quarter. "We didn't do anything good today," said Dolphins coach Adam Gase. "They beat us. They beat us in every phase of the game. They out-physicaled us."
Offense gets its groove back with the running game: The Patriots' running game, from the blocking to the backs, had largely been inept this far into the season, especially during the two-game losing streak (85.5 yards per game). But they were able to take it to a Dolphins defense that is lacking on the interior and linebacker, and had a rookie safety. The Patriots had 175 yards and two touchdowns on 40 carries (5.5 average). Sony Michel busted out with 112 yards on 25 carries, and James White chipped 44 yards on eight carries, including a 22-yard touchdown in which teammate Joe Thuney was the only person to touch White. "I think both those guys did a great job – Sony, and James always does a great job," Tom Brady said. "We needed it, and hopefully we can build on it, gain some confidence in some things. You know, it’s a quick turnaround, so it’s good to win and we’ve got to get ready to go again here shortly."
Defense stopped the run, and then covered tight in the back end: A week after allowing the first Lions 100-yard rusher in over four years, the Patriots held the Dolphins to just 56 yards on 18 carries (3.1 average). That forced the Dolphins into long conversions on third down, and QB Ryan Tannehill couldn't handle it. He completed just 11 of 20 passes for 100 yards and an interception (47.9 rating). "This game, we just couldn’t get anything going," said Gase. "We were getting pushed back. (There was) a lot of pressure on Ryan, even though they weren’t pressuring with blitzes. So when you are getting pressured on three-, four-man rushes that’s going to be an issue. And that’s really what happened. We could not get anything going on offense, and then, it just kind of trickles down to the defense, because now they’re (back) on the field."
TURNING POINT
After finally getting the Patriots to punt from their own 40 with 7:50 left in the first half, the Dolphins had a chance to settle themselves down and get back into the game down, even though they were down 10-0. But on the first play of the drive, Tannehill couldn't handle the shotgun snap and then Kyle Van Noy ripped the ball away from the quarterback to set the Patriots up at the Miami 22-yard line.
SECOND GUESS
Don't mind Tom Brady being in the game up 38-0 with 9 minutes left — the offense has a lot of things to work on — but I do mind him being put into this position to be blasted while throwing an interception.
THREE UP
RB James White: The offense finally ran through the fleet-footed back and he responded with 16 touches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Should have been this way the whole season, but we digress.
Patriots offensive line: Will be interesting to see the Adjusted Line Yards at FootballOutsiders.com for the Patriots offensive line from this game, because we have a feeling it will be off the charts. It seemed like the Patriots' running backs didn't have to deal with tacklers until they were well past the line of scrimmage. The feeling here is we'll be giving most of the credit for the big rushing day to the line when the film is in. Brady wasn't sacked in the game, but he was hit a few times.
Patriots secondary: Anytime a quarterback completes 55 percent of his passes, and just one completion is beyond 10 yards, then the secondary is doing some work.
THREE DOWN
P Ryan Allen: Tough to find many in a 38-7 victory, but Allen's two punts went for an average of 40 yards and his net was just 28.5. The most egregious error came with 7:50 left in the second quarter when, from his own 40, he just 36 yards to Danny Amendola at the Miami 24, and it was returned 12 yards for a net of 24. That's just not good enough.
WR Chris Hogan: The Patriots needed Hogan to be huge during Julian Edelman's suspension, and he wasn't. In the first four games, Hogan had eight receptions and 109 yards on 15 targets. He had just one target, good for a 25-yard catch, against the Dolphins.
TE Dwayne Allen: Finally got a target from Brady and ... it was a 4-yard loss on a screen. His other target came on a deep pass in the seam, which wasn't close. With Rob Gronkowski leaving with an ankle injury, putting his status for the Thursday night game at risk, Allen is likely going to need to contribute more.
INJURIES
TE Rob Gronkowski (ankle): After being on the injury report the past two weeks with an ankle issue, he left with one in the third quarter. Didn't look like anything serious, but Gronkowski was being worked on before his final series, then caught a third-down pass, came up limping and waived a sub in. It will likely be a challenge for him to face the Colts on a short week.
TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Why did the Keionta Davis Experiment last so long?: With DE Keionta Davis a healthy scratch for this game, it's fair to wonder why he was even on the field — and playing a lot in the first three games of the season. In the first three games, Davis played 48 percent of the defensive snaps and started against the Jaguars. Now, suddenly, he's not even active. Davis and his ample playing time was part of the reason why the Patriots were so soft up front. It's been apparent for some time that he can't hold the edge — which used to be Job One for this defense — but the Patriots kept playing him when there were other options (namely, Deatrich Wise) available.
Dolphins are (almost) annual pretenders: Once out of every three years, the Dolphins make a little noise and their fans like to chirp about how they're coming for the Patriots and how Ryan Tannehill is a real, franchise quarterback. Yet time and again, in the games that matter, the Dolphins and Tannehill inevitably fall on their faces and then everyone goes back to ignoring them. That appears to be the case again.