New England Patriots studs and duds from a crushing loss to the Dolphins in Week 15.
The New England Patriots entered Week 15 of the NFL regular season looking to get back into the win column while also looking to sweep a divisional opponent on the road.
Coming off of a loss a week ago, the Patriots remained away from home while battling the Miami Dolphins in an AFC East showdown which was the second and final contest between the two teams in the season series in 2020.
By the end of the game, New England allowed Miami to climb back into the game late to fall 22-12 and come to a 1-1 season series against the Dolphins in 2020.
In the first half, the Patriots were able to get out to an early lead while shutting down the Dolphins going into halftime. Neither team managed to get into the endzone in the first two quarters, but New England tallied a pair of field goals in the second quarter to grab a 6-0 going into the break in Miami.
To round out the game in the final two quarters, the Dolphins began the second half with a 7-3 advantage in the third quarter, breaking things open in the fourth quarter behind a 15-3 advantage to take the game by 10 points.
With the AFC East contest now over with between the Patriots and Dolphins, let’s go back and look at some studs and duds that took place for New England on Sunday.
Stud: Sony Michel, Patriots running game
The first star in the game for New England on Sunday in Miami was once again the running game on the side of the Patriots and that unit leading the offense. The most common thing that has taken place for New England in 2020 has been the consistency of the running attack, and that continued in Week 15 against the Dolphins.
In the game, the Patriots finished with just 22 rush attempts but tallied 117 yards on the ground in the game. Leading the way for New England was Sony Michel, who finished with 10 carries for 74 yards and a game-long run of 17 yards.
Dud: Passing attack
Let me know if you have heard this one before — the New England passing game struggles in a game yet again. The struggles on offense disappointingly continued for the Patriots this weekend, and the biggest disappointment was with the passing game led by Cam Newton under center.
In the loss on the road, Newton and New England finished with just 17 completions for 209 yards, failing to find the endzone through the air along the way. Newton managed to not throw an interception, which was good, but the passing attack still struggled yet again for Bill Belichick and company.