New England turned a 10-point halftime deficit into a road win, with two long scoring passes and a touchdown run from its quarterback.
The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 24-19 on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, recovering from a 13-3 halftime deficit with three unanswered touchdowns. Miami added a late score but could not finish the comeback of its own.
File image: Drake Maye playing against Tennessee on November 3, 2024; not the November 1, 2026 game. Photo: Tennessee Titans. Source photograph · CC BY 3.0.
Local 10's report documented the rainy afternoon and the lost lead, which dropped the Dolphins to 1-6. New England improved to 5-3.
Maye changes the second half
The Football Database's scoring summary records the three drives that transformed the game. Drake Maye found Kyle Williams for a 43-yard touchdown in the third quarter, then scored on a two-yard run to put New England ahead 17-13.
Maye's 48-yard touchdown pass to Demario Douglas early in the fourth quarter stretched the margin to 24-13. The two long scoring passes supplied the explosive plays that the Patriots had lacked on the scoreboard before halftime.
Maye finished 16 of 20 for 199 passing yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions. His rushing touchdown added another route to the end zone on a day New England needed to improve without a full complement of receiving options.
A shorthanded offense finds enough
Sports Illustrated's Patriots coverage described the win in the context of the available personnel and wet conditions. Those circumstances made the second-half response more valuable: the offense had to create points with the group it could put on the field.
The comeback was also a change in finishing. Miami had taken the lead into halftime; New England turned its next stretch of productive offense into touchdowns. That difference made the final quarter look very different from the first two.
Miami's last score leaves a five-point gap
Malik Willis connected with Kevin Coleman for a 35-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter, according to the scoring record. The attempted two-point conversion failed, leaving the score at 24-19.
The Dolphins had earned an opportunity to protect a two-score halftime lead. Allowing the Patriots' three-touchdown response forced them to spend the closing minutes chasing the game instead. The late touchdown narrowed the result without repairing the stretch that decided it.
For New England, the immediate return is a road division win built on a convincing halftime response. For Miami, the difficult question is how to preserve the advantage it had already created. Read more in Taken Social's Sports section.
