Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots 2024 Week 12: The five biggest plays

The Miami Dolphins made it three straight when they defeated the New England Patriots 34-15 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

We rank and analyze the game’s five biggest, most important plays.

We could pick any of a number of Tua Tagovailoa completions for the top spot, but we’ll go with the first of the two touchdown passes to running back De’Von Achane because it gave Miami a 14-0 lead and that almost had the feeling of an insurmountable lead at the time. The score came on a beautifully designed quick throw that Achane was able to easily navigate to the end zone behind three blockers.

The Dolphins’ first score came on a third-and-goal from the 7 and showed Tua’s patience in the pocket. He waited for Smith to come free underneath, and Smith dove the rest of the way into the end zone for his third touchdown in two games.

This may be hard to fathom, but the Dolphins didn’t score at all in the first quarter, but they ended the quarter with a first-and-goal after they were able to draw the Patriots offside as the clock wound down. After doing it late in the third quarter against the Raiders, the Dolphins did it again, this time turning a third-and-3 from the 12-yard line into a first-and-goal from the 7 to start the second quarter .

After a failed first drive and a missed New England field goal, the Dolphins continued to take charge with a drive that began with three completions of 10 yards or more. The highlight was Tua’s strike to Jaylen Waddle on the pick for a 24-yard gain to the New England 29.

The Dolphins were in control for virtually the entire game, but they made it unnecessarily interesting when Skylar Thompson and Jaylen Wright got a handoff and the Patriots returned the fumble for a touchdown that made it 31-15 after the two-point conversion. It almost got lopsided when the Patriots got the ball back two scores and moved into Dolphins territory. But then came the clinching play when Jalen Ramsey hit Drake Maye as he was about to throw, and freshman linebacker Tyrel Dodson made a nice one-handed catch to end the drive.