BSJ Game Report: Patriots 23, Dolphins 21 - New England keeps hope alive thanks to Dugger pick-6

Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ win over the Dolphins in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Patriots stay alive in AFC playoff race: With their win over the Dolphins, the Patriots passed Miami and are the seventh and final team in the AFC playoff race. Of course, they need to beat the Bills in Buffalo in the season finale to assure themselves a postseason berth, which will be no easy task. With the Chiefs beating the Broncos today, the Bills will need to win against the Patriots to make sure they have the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

"I think we don't want to go out there and not give it our all I think because of the guys next to us," said Devin McCourty. "We're fully aware of this team, it won't be the same next year. We got one more opportunity that we're guaranteed. We're going to go out there and play together, give it our best shot for 60 minutes. I think that's something we can live with. Anything else I think will crush us as individuals. I think that's why you see this team coming out here next week, practice our butts off, go out there in Buffalo and try to get in the playoffs.”

Dugger does it again: With the Patriots trailing 14-10 late in the third quarter, Kyle Dugger picked off Teddy Bridgewater on 3rd and 15 and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown to give the Patriots' the lead for the final time in the game. It was Dugger's third touchdown of the season. He is the first New England player since 1970 with three defensive touchdowns in a single season. He had a 59-yard fumble returned for a touchdown vs. Detroit on Oct. 9 and a 16-yard interception returned for a touchdown at Las Vegas on Dec. 18. The last NFL player with three defensive touchdowns in a season was Darius Slay of Philadelphia in 2021 with one interception returned for a touchdown and two fumbles returned for a touchdown.

"It was a great play," said Bill Belichick. "It was a great run. The interception, it was a good play, a good catch and all that but he made a lot of yards on his own. ... We all know Kyle's a very, very explosive, athletic player. He's done a great job for us jamming receivers, making the run, tackling, making big plays. When he gets his hands on the ball, he's a hard guy to get. Not many guys out there that are going to catch him from behind on offense, so if it was the Detroit scoop-and-score play, the interceptions here he's had the last couple weeks, last few weeks, he’s really helped us."

The Patriots scored on defense for the fourth straight week. It is the first time in team history that the Patriots have scored on defense in four straight weeks. The last NFL team to score in four straight weeks on defense was Tampa Bay in 2002.

The Patriots scored on defense for the seventh time in 2022 to establish a team record. The Patriots scored on defense six times in 2003 (5 interceptions and 1 fumble return) and 2007 (3 interception returns and 3 fumble returns). It is the most defensive touchdowns in a season since the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars had seven defensive touchdowns.

Dolphins down to 3rd QB, LT: Miami came into this game just as beat up as the Patriots in the secondary, and were dealing with backups at quarterback (Teddy Bridgewater) and left tackle (Kendall Lamm). Both didn't make it through the game and it obviously affected the Dolphins' offense, which saw the Patriots limit WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to just seven catches and 107 yards combined.

"It feels in the moment like we are having to adjust the lineups more frequently than I can remember," coach Mike McDaniel said. "Whether that's the case, who knows. I know one thing; there's not anybody in the locker room that is asterisking this loss because they know deep down that we were plenty capable of getting the job done, and we didn't."

Offense puts it together ... enough for a win: The Patriots had three drives of 81 net yards (opening drive), 51 (field goal) and 89 (touchdown) to produce 15 points — and they needed all of them. On the other seven drives, the Patriots totaled 56 yards. Not exactly high-octane.

"I think it was a great day here just fighting through a lot of different things on offense," said Mac Jones, who finished 20 of 33 for 203 and two TDs (98.4 rating). "I didn't play very well in the middle of the game. ... I didn't play as good as I wanted to in the middle of the game. I thought our guys just kept fighting. We made some big plays in some big moments. That's what the NFL is all about. Obviously defense did great job of putting us in a good spot, special teams."

SECOND GUESS

4Q NE-4-4-MIA 29 (2:34) (Shotgun) 10-M.Jones sacked at MIA 39 for -10 yards (92-Z.Sieler).

I understand not taking a chance a field goal here, since the Dolphins would still need two scores. But they didn't have a better play, considering the clock would stop on downs? How about going for it for once? Showing some confidence in your team? Or, at the very least, punting and pinning the opponent.

Q: On the sack that Mac took in the fourth quarter from the 29 yard line, how much consideration was there to kicking in that situation? What was the thought process to not kick?

BB: The thought process is try to pick up the first down. It was a long kick.

Q: How about the play? Was that the play you wanted there?

BB: Was that the play we wanted? Yeah, we called the play.

FOUR UP

Kyle Dugger: All he does is score touchdowns ... something like that.

Jabrill Peppers: Felt like he was making a big hit on every other play. 

Jakobi Meyers: His line doesn't look great (6 for 48, TD), but all the catches seemed big and he drew a long DPI call that setup the last touchdown.

Christian Barmore: Was back to being impactful with a sack and four total QB hits.

THREE DOWN

Michael Palardy: Really had an awful punting day with some bad net punts and missed inside the 20 opportunities (zero with two unnecessary touchbacks). 

Nick Folk: Another missed kick, this one an extra point, almost really cost this team.

Mac Jones: Admitted he wasn't sharp in this game during stretches and while some of the same route issues came up again, he missed some throws and had a -5 Completion Percentage Above Expectation, which isn't good.

INJURIES

Jakobi Meyers (shoulder): Re-injured his shoulder on the touchdown.

Jonathan Jones (shoulder): Returned to the game, talked to reporters after the game.

Ja'Whaun Bentley: Returned to the game. 

TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

A win's a win, but it's another over a backup (and third-string quarterback): Nobody cares how you get your victories in the NFL, and context doesn't matter in five or 10 years, but it's tough to make out of this game due to the fact that Patriots squeezed by a backup QB for their seventh victory, leaving Jared Goff as the only current starting QB the Patriots have beaten this season. Did enough, living another week, but don't try to make more of it. It's pointless. It's there for them to go beat a good team next week. Go do it.

Cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino is the Pats coach of the year: He already had getting rookies Jack Jones and Marcus Jones to play at veteran levels on his candidacy. He also helped transition career slot guy Jonathan Jones to play on the outside against No. 1 WRs. Now, he got unknowns Tae Hayes and Quandre Mosley ready to play in a big game with playoff implications. Give that guy a raise!