‣ NFL 2025 Regular Season, Week 1 - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
(0-0) New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (0-0)
NE | 3 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 34
MIA | 14 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 31
Tua, Hill's record setting day not enough in Dolphins loss to Patriots
Tua Tagovailoa's first pass of the regular season for 47 yards and two plays later, he would find Jaylen Waddle for the 21-yard touchdown. On the next series, he'd go back to Tyreek Hill for the 66-yard completion which would prove to be just a snippet of what was to come as Hill set a Dolphins record with 277 yards receiving.
But it somehow wasn't enough as Tua's three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, would prove to be too much to overcome paired with New England's balanced offense that rushed for 189 yards in the 34-31 win in the opener.
New England did find more success limiting Hill in the second half as Christian Gonzalez took on the assignment over Marcus Jones and was able to be more physical at the line of scrimmage with Hill who still found some success on some crossing routes but was less explosive. Gonzalez also intercepted a pass that was intended for Hill in the first half.
New England's passing defense was hampered by the fact that newly acquired pass rusher Chase Young left the game with an injury in the first quarter.
Drake Maye took advantage of his new weapons, finding rookie Barion Brown for a 41-yard touchdown and completed three passes to Cooper Kupp for 24 yards, all on third downs. After Jason Sanders missed a 55-yard field goal to tie the game, Maye and the Patriots would extend their lead to two possessions with Maye's touchdown pass to rookie tight end Oscar Delp.
The Dolphins would score a touchdown but took over two minutes to do so and burned their timeouts, effectively sealing their fate after they failed to recover the onside kick.
Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
Jaylen Waddle 21 Yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (10:37)
Andre Borregales, 23 Yd FG (4:49) Tyreek Hill 4 Yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (3:32)Quarter 2
Andre Borregales, 46 Yd FG (11:56) Antonio Gibson, 15 Yd run (6:37) Jabril Peppers, returned interception 55 Yds (0:58) Jonnu Smith 3 Yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (0:33)Quarter 3
Jason Sanders, 19 Yd FG (6:21) Kyle Monangai, 1 Yd run (1:03)Quarter 4
Oscar Delp 22 Yd pass from Drake Maye (3:08) Tua Tagovailoa, 1 Yd run (1:25)
QB Drake Maye: 16-30, 177 yds, TD, INT
HB Rhamondre Stevenson: 14 att, 84 yds
HB Antonio Gibson: 14 att, 77 yds, TD
WR Demario Douglas: 4 rec, 32 yds
WR Cooper Kupp: 3 rec, 24 yds
WR Barion Brown: 2 rec, 52 yds
CB Christian Gonzalez: 10 tkl, INT
EDGE Josh Uche: 8 tkl, 2 TFL, 0.5 sack
S Jabril Peppers: 6 tkl, 2 INT
QB Tua Tagovailoa: 31-42, 457 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT, sacked once, 5 att, 20 yds, TD
HB De'Von Achane: 9 att, 18 yds
WR Tyreek Hill: 15 rec, 277 yds, TD
WR Jaylen Waddle: 5 rec, 99 yds, TD
LB Nicholas Morrow: 14 tkl
LB Jordyn Brooks: 9 tkl, TFL, INT
