Postgame Notes

Postgame Notes – Week 14 – New England

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
Hard Rock Stadium
December 11, 2017 | 8:30 PM
POSTGAME NOTES

DOLPHINS END PATRIOTS’ EIGHT-GAME WINNING STREAK

  • The Dolphins’ win tonight is the team’s fourth in their past five home meetings with New England.
  • Miami is now 15-9 in its past 24 regular season games.
  • The Dolphins are now 4-2 at Hard Rock Stadium this season.
  • This is Adam Gase’s 10th win in the 14 games he has coached at Hard Rock Stadium since becoming the Dolphins head coach in 2016.
  • The Dolphins have won 11 of their past 15 games at Hard Rock Stadium, its best mark at the venue since they went 14-4 in an 18-game stretch from Dec. 2, 2001 to Nov. 23, 2003.
  • The win snaps New England’s eight-game winning streak and their 14-game winning streak in road games.
  • Miami has now defeated both Super Bowl participants from last season after Miami also defeated Atlanta in Week 6. The only other season the Dolphins have done this is 1993, when they beat the defending AFC champion Buffalo Bills on Sept. 26 and the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25.
  • The Dolphins held a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. It was New England’s largest deficit in a game since they trailed by 25 points in Super Bowl LI vs. Atlanta.

MIAMI’S DEFENSE SHINES ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

  • The Dolphins defense held New England to just 20 points and 248 total yards this evening. It was just the second time this season the Patriots have been held to less than 21 points (19 at Tampa Bay on Oct. 5, 2017).
  • New England’s 248 total yards were their lowest output since Jan. 3, 2016, also in Miami, when they gained 196 yards. Including playoff contests, that is a span of 34 games.
  • Miami held the Patriots to zero third-down conversions after New England went 0-for-11 (0.0 pct.) on third down. It’s the first time in the Bill Belichick-era a New England offense was held without a third-down conversion. The last time New England didn’t have a third-down conversion was on Sept. 29, 1991 at the Cardinals, when the Patriots were 0-for-6 (0.0 pct.).
  • This is just the fourth time since 1991 the Dolphins have not given up a third-down conversion in a game. The other three occurrences were Oct. 30, 2005 at New Orleans, Nov. 20, 2011 vs. Buffalo and Dec. 18, 2011 at Buffalo.
  • Over the past two games, the Dolphins have held their opponents to 1-of-24 (4.2 pct.) on third down. The Patriots were 0-of-11 (0.0 pct.) tonight and the Broncos were 1-of-13 (7.7 pct.) last week.
  • The Dolphins held New England to 0 points and just 2 total yards in the first quarter. It’s the fourth-fewest yards gained by New England in the first quarter of a game in their franchise’s history and fewest since Nov. 10, 1996 at N.Y. Jets. It’s the fewest first-quarter yards allowed by the Dolphins since they limited Houston to 0 in the first quarter on Oct. 25, 2015.

HOWARD PICKS OFF BRADY TWICE

  • CB Xavien Howard picked up right where he left off after his career game last week vs. Denver, picking off Patriots QB Tom Brady on New England’s first offensive series. He added another interception on New England’s first possession of the second half.
  • Howard is the first cornerback in Dolphins history to have multiple interceptions in consecutive games.
  • The interceptions were Howard’s third and fourth in his past two games after he did not have an interception in the first 18 regular season games of his career.

DRAKE TOPS 100 YARDS AGAIN

  • RB Kenyan Drake rushed for 100 yards in the second straight week, the first two 100-yard games of his career. He totaled 25 carries for 114 yards (4.6 avg.) and added five receptions for 79 yards (15.8 avg.).
  • Drake is the first Dolphins player to lead the team in both rushing and receiving in a game since Arian Foster did so on Sept. 11, 2016 at Seattle.
  • Drake’s 79 receiving yards are the most by a Dolphins running back since Lamar Miller had 97 at Buffalo on Nov. 8, 2015.
  • The last time the Dolphins had a 100-yard rusher in back-to-back games was when Jay Ajayi posted three straight 100-yard performances from Oct. 16, 2016 to Nov. 6, 2016.
  • Drake became just the third Dolphins player to record 100-plus rushing yards and 75-plus receiving yards in a game, joining Troy Stradford (169 rushing, 83 receiving) at Dallas on Nov. 27, 1987 and Ronnie Brown (112 rushing, 99 receiving) vs. the N.Y. Jets on Sept. 23, 2007.

LANDRY SCORES TWICE

  • WR Jarvis Landry totaled eight receptions for 46 yards (5.8 avg.) and two touchdowns this evening. The touchdowns were the seventh and eight of the season, extending his career high.
  • Landry is the only NFL player to catch at least five passes in all 13 games this season.
  • Landry extended his NFL record for most receptions in the first four years of a career and now has 376 of them.
  • With 88 receptions this season, Landry’s single-season total is now fourth-best in Dolphins history. Landry owns the top two spots with 110 catches in 2015 and 94 receptions in 2016.
  • Landry’s 88 receptions are tied for second in the NFL this year and his eight touchdowns are tied for fifth.
  • With his first touchdown catch this evening, Landry reached the 20 career touchdown plateau.

PARKEY KNOCKS THROUGH TWO MORE FIELD GOALS

  • K Cody Parkey made both of his field goal attempts, one from 30 yards and one from 44 yards in the first quarter. He is now 15-of-16 (93.8 pct.) on the season.
  • Parkey’s 93.8 field goal percentage is tied for fourth-best in the NFL and is second-best in the AFC.
  • Parkey is the only kicker in the NFL to have two successful onside kick attempts this season.
  • On Parkey’s kickoffs, opponents’ average starting field position is their own 22.2-yard line, which is the best in the NFL by a full yard.

INJURIES REPORTED IN THE PRESS BOX

MIAMI DOLPHINS

None

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

  • DT Alan Branch, first quarter– knee – questionable

CAPTAINS

  • S Reshad Jones, C Mike Pouncey, WR Kenny Stills, DT Ndamukong Suh, S Michael Thomas, DE Cameron Wake

QUICK HITS

  • There were 65,458 tickets distributed to today’s game.
  • LS John Denney played in his 205th consecutive game, extending his team-best streak, which is tied for third among all active NFL players. Denney’s 205 career games surpasses Jason Taylor for the second-most games played in Dolphins history.
  • DT Ndamukong Suh started his 96th consecutive game. It’s the longest games started streak among active NFL defensive tackle.
  • DT Ndamukong Suh recorded his fourth sack of the season and now has 51.5 career sacks, which are second-most in the NFL since he entered the NFL in 2010.
  • QB Jay Cutler started the 150th game of his NFL career tonight.
  • QB Jay Cutler completed the 3,000th pass of his NFL career this evening. He becomes the 24th NFL quarterback to complete 3,000 passes in a career.
  • QB Jay Cutler posted a quarterback rating of 112.1, the fourth time this season he has posted a rating above 100.
  • WR Jakeem Grant’s 25-yard touchdown was the first touchdown catch of his career and his longest career reception.
  • TE MarQueis Gray became the first Dolphins tight end since Larry Seiple in 1969 to throw a pass, catch a pass and record a rushing attempt in the same season.
  • CB Bobby McCain recorded the 100th tackle of his NFL career.
  • With three tackles (one solo) this evening, DT Davon Godchaux now has 34 tackles (21 solo) for the season, which is the second-most among all rookie defensive tackles.
  • S Michael Thomas recorded an assisted special teams stop, extending his team lead to 11 special teams tackles.
  • Tonight’s temperature at kickoff is 55 degrees. This was the coldest Dolphins home game since Dec. 26, 2004, against the Cleveland Browns when the temperature was also 55 degrees. The coldest Dolphins home game in history was on Dec. 24, 1989 vs. Kansas City (27-24 win by Chiefs): 40 degrees and clear.