Another sloppy Patriots performance, but another divisional win - NBC Sports Boston

The 2026 New England Patriots secured another divisional victory despite a sloppy performance against the Miami Dolphins, escaping with a narrow five-point win on Sunday as rain fell intermittently in South Florida.

While head coach Mike Vrabel’s squad improved to a superior standing over their AFC East rivals compared to earlier struggles against the New York Jets and Miami, Sunday’s game featured early deficits and significant execution errors. NBC Sports Boston reported on the postgame reactions from the Patriots Postgame Live crew, highlighting both the persistent historical difficulties in Miami and the second-half resilience that ultimately sealed the victory.

Overcoming a Slow Start and Historical Hurdles in Miami

The Patriots fell behind 13-3 in the first half as penalties, a fumbled snap, and a fumble by Efton Chism disrupted offensive momentum. Speaking on Patriots Postgame Live, Phil Perry noted that despite missing the team’s top three wide receivers and losing starting tight end Hunter Henry to a foot injury during the game, the roster’s backups still possess the capability to win.

Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson reached another milestone in Sunday's win vs. Dolphins 🏈 pic.twitter.com/ZK9gNyRgTE

— https://x.com/NBCSBoston/status/2117068522182353383

I think there’s just value in this game. I think there’s value in saying, ‘This is a division game, the weather sucks, we’re banged up.’ … If you’re Mike Vrabel, you can look at this and say he could have been all kinds of miffed at them at halftime, and the way they responded, whether he spoke to them in that way or not, at the break in the middle of the game, you have to look at it and say, ‘OK, we were down, it’s a difficult environment historically for this team, it’s a difficult place to play — period.’ And they came back and they won. And so I do think there is some value in that. — Phil Perry, NBC Sports Boston

Ted Johnson pointed out the unusual, persistent struggles the franchise has historically faced in Miami regardless of talent disparities. Recalling the 2004 Patriots team losing late in the season to a 2-11 Dolphins squad, Johnson contrasted past eras with Drake Maye’s current performance.

I feel like Tom [Brady] had bad games down there more times than not. So I’m looking at Drake’s performances the last two years in Miami, and they’re pretty good, right? He did not want to throw an interception today. He was holding the ball maybe longer than he needed to, and he didn’t have any turnovers. So he’s 2-0. That’s a good sign that Drake Maye doesn’t seem to have those issues like maybe the rest of the Patriots teams have had in the past. — Ted Johnson, NBC Sports Boston

Offensive Line Pressures and Leadership in the Second Half

Tom E. Curran observed that veteran leadership carried the team through the final 30 minutes, specifically praising Rhamondre Stevenson, Drake Maye, Kevin Byard, Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss, and Carlton Davis for anchoring the effort.

However, analysts heavily scrutinized the offensive line’s pass protection in the first half. Curran highlighted a recurring issue with unblocked rushers finding a path straight to the quarterback.

They had, it seemed, time to throw, and then there’d be a rogue rusher just running in on [Maye] that came from nowhere. He seemed as if they had a pocket, but it was continual one rogue rusher agitating, and it was, ‘Just, can you cover up all five at one point and get things done?’ — Tom E. Curran, NBC Sports Boston

Johnson added that Maye faced pressure on roughly 50 percent of his dropbacks in the first half, noting that the young quarterback’s mobility and execution have frequently masked underlying deficiencies in pass protection over the last four games.