New England Patriots overpower Miami Dolphins Part Three
The Miami Dolphins got through the first two quarters of Monday night’s game maintaining a one point lead over the New England Patriots. It was a decent effort on their part but the fortunes were about to take a turn for the worst.
As the quarter opened, Dan Carpenters’ 73 yard kick was returned by Brandon Tate for a 103 yard touchdown. The Dolphins charged up at Tate who was covered by three teammates against the charge. On the 10 yard line Tate veered to the right and moved up to
the 20 yard line before angling downfield again. Linebacker Bobby Carpenter followed Tate almost out of bounds but he couldn’t catch up to Tate’s pace. The Dolphins were tumbling over each other trying to stop Tate but he wouldn’t be stopped. Before the 50
yard line Tate had left behind all his pursuers and had a clear path to the endzone. The 103 yard touchdown put the Patriots in the lead within minutes of opening the third quarter.
It wasn’t just the offence that was in high gear. After the touchdown the defence produced the third turnover of the game after just 3 plays and 6 yards from the Dolphins. The Dolphins were trying to punt the ball from their 26 yard line but the attempt
was blocked. Patrick Chung broke through Miami’s offensive line and lunged at the ball which had already been kicked but hadn’t cleared the defence. Chung got both hands on the ball in one of the most spectacular plays of the game. After the Block, Punter
Brandon Fields tried to take the ball back but the New England defence was already all over him. Patriots’ linebacker Brandon Spikes recovered the ball on the 15 yard line for the New England Patriots.
The offence wasn’t going to let such an opportunity go. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed 3 yards in the first play to get closer to the endzone and finished it off with a 12 yard Rush. Green-Ellis powered through the left side of the Dolphins’ defence using
raw momentum to slip through all who tried to slow him down.
In less than two minutes the New England Patriots had two touchdowns in the third quarter. Credit goes to Tate and Chung for two memorable plays.
After the two unexpected blows from the New England’s offence, the Dolphins came back with a scoring drive of their own. There were no spectacular plays but the Dolphins at least made sure they made no mistakes. In 8 plays Miami covered 52 yards to get to
the 28 yard line. They racked in yards in each of the 8 plays except one. On the 28 yard line Henne finished off the drive with a 28 yard pass to Ricky Williams. Williams received the pass on the 28 yard line and ran to the endzone with free safety James Sanders
blocking his path. Williams cut left to evade Sanders and made his way to the end for the Dolphins second and final touchdown of the game.
The very next drive ended in a touchdown too. The Patriots started the drive on the 22 yard line after returning 25 yards off a 73 yard kick from Miami’s punter. Danny Woodhead rushed and Tom Brady passed to get the Patriots to the 12 yard line off 11 plays.
The two accumulated 66 yards before the final touchdown play, a 12 yard pass to Woodhead. Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby was onto Woodhead before he could make it to the endzone but by the time Dansby was able to bring down Woodhead, he was already clear.
The Extra point was good.
Four minutes remained in the quarter, enough for one more drive by the Dolphins but the quarter ended before the drive. The Dolphins though were able to get from their 20 yard line to New England’s 34 yard line in 7 plays in the remaining time.
The quarter that began with the Patriots trailing by a point ended with them leading by 14. In the final quarter New England would increase that lead further.
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