3. Punt Block Doesn’t Pay Off
The Patriots took three penalties on their first drive of the second quarter, the same amount of offensive plays they ran on the lackluster possession. New England vacillated between bad mistakes and big plays in the first half, getting enough key contributions at the right moments to offset the bad with the good.
They got another big play after the Patriots defense got a stop, forcing Miami to line up former Patriot Jake Bailey for a punt, backed up in their own territory. Brenden Schooler ducked under his blocker off the edge and got a hand on the ball for a block. Isaiah Bolden got the recovery, setting up the Patriots on Miami’s 23-yard line.
Just like Gonzalez reproduced last year’s interception against Miami, Schooler reproduced his own punt block from last year’s matchup in Foxborough. This time he didn’t have to time it up and come screaming off the edge, he used strong body position to make the play.
Penalties continued to add up for the Pats though, with two more calls on the drive stunting any positive movement. DeMario Douglas’ 19-yard gain helped offset some of the lost yardage but ultimately the Patriots couldn’t do enough to get into the end zone.
Joey Slye then missed the 33-yard field goal attempt as the Pats continued to ping-pong between good plays and bad ones.
Miami helped the Pats out on their drive with a big mistake of their own. Facing a third down from inside field goal range a wild snap rolled all the way back to New England’s 42-yard line, forcing Miami to punt instead of putting more points on the board.
The Dolphins had success moving the ball in the first half but plays by New England and ill-timed mistakes held them to just three first-half points.