The New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins 24-19 on Nov. 1, as Cory Durden and Carlton Davis contributed to the Patriots defense.
New England recorded a season-high five sacks and six tackles for loss while limiting Miami to 74 rushing yards on 23 carries, according to Boston.com. The Patriots trailed by 10 points at halftime before winning the game.
How the Patriots defense produced five sacks
The pass rush began making an impact on Miami’s second offensive snap. Durden and Christian Elliss split a sack of quarterback Malik Willis, giving Durden the first sack of his NFL career after he had played in 33 games over four seasons with three franchises.
Durden recorded his first solo sack on Miami’s next drive. Boston.com reported that he chased Willis as the quarterback tried to spin away from Gabe Jacas. Jacas and Durden led New England with 1.5 sacks apiece. Elliss, Christian Barmore, Jaylen Reed and Elijah Ponder each recorded half a sack, accounting for the rest of the team’s total.
Durden described the front’s performance positively after the game. “I feel like we dominated up front,” Durden said, according to Boston.com. “The score obviously doesn’t show it, but we dominated up front. We had a bunch of sacks, a bunch of TFLs, just a bunch of production, from the defensive line. That’s what you want to see as a d-tackle.”
Run defense added to the Patriots sacks
The five sacks were part of a broader defensive effort against Miami’s rushing attack. The Dolphins finished with 74 rushing yards on 23 carries, and New England’s six tackles for loss ended Miami’s streak of five straight games with at least 100 rushing yards.
Boston.com reported that Patriots defenders disrupted runs by pushing Miami’s offensive linemen into the backfield. The pressure also helped New England affect Willis in the passing game, including a tipped-pass interception.
New England also limited the damage after a turnover put Miami in the red zone. Coach Mike Vrabel said the Patriots held the Dolphins to a field goal after that sudden-change opportunity. “We have to be able to tip passes, affect the quarterback,” Vrabel said, according to Boston.com.
Vrabel also credited the defense for responding after the turnover and emphasized the value of creating more takeaways, particularly on the road. The Patriots’ offense capitalized on its opportunities well enough to finish the comeback with a 24-19 victory.
The Dolphins scored twice before halftime on two field goals and a short Willis touchdown pass to Malik Washington. That combination put New England in a 10-point deficit at the break.
Carlton Davis returned as the Patriots secondary reunited
Carlton Davis returned from a neck injury against Miami. His return marked the first time New England’s starting secondary had played together since the season opener against Seattle.
Kevin Byard said the secondary did not challenge Miami’s receivers well enough during the first half, then improved after halftime by using a variety of coverages against Willis. Byard said the group had a plan to keep vision on the quarterback and make Willis beat the defense.
Miami rookie Kevin Coleman finished with 46 receiving yards. Boston.com reported that most of Coleman’s production came when Charles Woods slipped on a double move, leaving Coleman open. Coleman also caught Miami’s only second-half touchdown from Willis.
Byard said the defense essentially kept Miami from scoring outside of that double-move touchdown after halftime. “We just keep battling,” Byard said, according to Boston.com. “We weren’t playing complimentary enough and honestly we didn’t feel like we were making enough plays.”
Byard said the defense recognized at halftime that another 30 minutes remained and needed to continue competing after the late first-half drive. The Patriots then held Miami to one second-half touchdown while New England completed its comeback.
The return of Davis reunited New England’s starting secondary for the first time since Week 1, while the front produced five sacks shared by six players. Durden and Jacas led the Patriots with 1.5 sacks each, and the team finished with six tackles for loss against Miami.
Byard said the reunited secondary still had areas to clean up, but viewed the performance as a starting point. “We’ve been talking about this secondary being one of the best in the league and to finally have us back out there, hopefully we can continue to build on that,” Byard said, according to Boston.com. “There’s definitely some things we need to clean up for sure but this was a good start.”
