New England Patriots overpower Miami Dolphins Part Four
The lead that the Dolphins had managed to create and hold onto in the first two quarters was utterly destroyed in the third, thanks to a 103 yard touchdown run by Tate and a turnover by Patrick Chung in Miami’s red zone. Only one
touchdown was scored in the first two quarters but in the third alone there were four touchdowns, 3 of which came from the New England Patriots.
The 3rd quarter ended while the Dolphins were making their way to the end zone. Miami were doing reasonably well in the third quarter but when the fourth opened the offence was just not the same. Dolphins quarterback
Chad Henne couldn’t complete the pass in the first play and in the second he got sacked for 7 yards. Rob Ninkovich was once again tormenting the Dolphin’s quarterback. Running back Lousaka Polite tried to block Ninkovich, but the Patriot was just too fast
for him as he rushed past Polite and crashed into Henne in such a way that can be called anything but polite.
Pushed back to the 36 yard line, Henne tried another pass but after failing again the Dolphins got into punt formation. For the second time in the game the punt would be blocked and the consequences of it would this time be felt
immediately.
The punt was blocked again by Patrick Chung. The Patriots, it seemed, had found the Achilles Heel of Miami’s offence. The special teams weren’t just blocking plays, they were scoring too. Miami’s Lyndon Murtha on the offensive
line just didn’t know what to do as Chung moved in on his right side and Kyle Arrington on the left. Chung got himself in the path of the ball and blocked the punt while Kyle picked up the live ball. Having pushed past the offensive line already, the path
for Kyle was wide open all the way to the end for a 35 yards touchdown.
After the touchdown Miami’s offence came on the field again and they could do no better this time around. They started on the 20 yard line after a touchback. They moved slowly. In 7 plays the Dolphins were on the 45 yard line.
With an all or nothing attitude Miami tried to push through instead of the punt. They had to gain two yards on the 45 yard line or it would be a turnover on downs for the Dolphins. Henne aimed for Ronnie Brown on the right and the pass was completed successfully
but Patriots’ cornerback Devin McCourty denied Brown any more yards in the play and cut him off just short of the mark.
The Patriots offence, though starting in Miami’s half, couldn’t capitalize on the turnover. The drive started with Danny Woodhead losing two yards in a rush, a six yard pass to Hernandez and the quarterback getting sacked for a
yard. The Patriots covered the quarterback well but there were no open receivers. Brady waited until finally deciding to run the ball. Brady was able to get past most of Miami’s linemen but Koa Misi pulled him down.
10 minutes remained in the final quarter as the Patriots led 34 against 14 over the Dolphins. Though anything can happen in football, neither the Miami fans nor the players appeared to really believe that the game could be salvaged.
After Brady was sacked the Patriots got into punt formation and the Dolphins began their offence on the 18 yard line. In 5 plays the Dolphin advanced 29 yards to their 47 yard line before calling a timeout.
After the timeout Chad Henne threw a pass at Brandon Marshall but in a bit of confusion, threw it to Chung instead. The quarterback threw the ball a little to the left of Marshall to make sure he didn’t miss the leftwards bound
receiver. But Marshall suddenly stopped in his track before the quarterback released the ball. The ball went straight to Chung. The Safety cut left and was quickly out of the reach of any of the Dolphins all the way to the endzone. Chung had a brilliant night
with two blocks, both of which led to touchdowns, and a 51 yard touchdown of his own, off an interception.
Dolphins sent Tyler Thigpen to replace Chad Henne in the final minutes of the game. Thigpen in his only drive of the night was also intercepted after 7 plays and 27 yards.
The game ended without any more points being put on the board after Chung’s touchdown. The New England Patriots won with 41 points against the Miami Dolphins’ 14.
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