The 3-8 Patriots are facing a daunting task this week. Heck, if they were 8-3, they would face a daunting task. It’s their annual trip to Miami, where history is, to put it nicely, unkind to the Patriots.
New England’s all-time record in South Florida is 17-42 (.288). It might be easy to blame that low winning percentage on an 18-game losing streak in Miami between 1967 and 1985, but it’s more than that.
Tom Brady was 24-12 in his career against the Dolphins during the Patriots two-decade-long dynasty. But his record against the Dolphins in Miami? 7-10. The Patriots won six Super Bowls during Brady’s time in New England, but his teams were 2-4 in Miami during those championship seasons.
Since Brady left the Pats following the 2019 season, New England is 2-7 against the ’Phins and lost seven of the last eight. Miami selected Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, and Tagovailoa has made six starts vs. the Patriots. His record? 6-0.
In those six starts, Tagovailoa has completed 125-of-183 passes (68%) for 1,299 yards with seven touchdown passes and four interceptions while Miami has outscored New England by an average of 24.5 to 15.5. While he missed this season’s first meeting with a concussion, he will play this week in Miami.
The 2024 Dolphins were 1-1 when Tagovailoa suffered a head injury that forced him to miss four games. Miami went 1-3 in those four with its only win in Foxborough against the Patriots. Upon Tagovailoa’s return, the team lost two nailbiters but has since rebounded with a win over the Rams in LA and a home win over the Raiders. So they sit at 4-6 with their division rival set to visit.
So, history isn’t on the Patriots side this week though it never really is when they visit the Dolphins. That doesn’t mean, of course, that New England can’t or doesn’t win down in South Florida, but it seems it frequently finds ways to lose even when they are the vastly superior team.
The 2018 Miracle in Miami comes to mind when the Dolphins somehow scored on the last play of the game using laterals to carve through the Patriots prevent defense for an improbable 34-33 win. The Patriots did win in Miami in 2003 on an 82-yard overtime touchdown pass from Brady to Troy Brown on their way to a Super Bowl XXXVIII championship.
But the following year – also a Super Bowl championship season – the 12-1 Patriots lost to the 2-11 Dolphins after a late Brady interception thrown at his own 21-yard line as he was being hauled down set the stage for a fourth-and-10, twenty-one-yard touchdown pass with 1:23 left. It was the first time in NFL history that a team 10 games above .500 lost to a team 10 games below .500.
Only in Miami.
If the Patriots coaches want to encourage rookie quarterback Drake Maye by sharing Brady’s first-start-in-Miami-story? They shouldn’t. That one came in 2001 and was uglier than the 30-10 final score. Brady completed 12-of-24 passes for a measly 86 yards, was sacked four times and fumbled twice, including once for a scoop-and-score touchdown by Jason Taylor.
Sigh.
New England’s last road win against the Dolphins came in 2019 – a 43-0 win. So let’s hope for that?
The series:
- Miami leads the all-time series, 63-55
- The Patriots longest winning streak against Miami is seven games (2010-2013 & 1985-1988)
- The Dolphins longest winning streak against New England is nine (1989-1993)
- The Patriots are 17-42 on the road and 38-21 at home in the series
- There have been seven overtime games in the series and New England is 3-4 in those games
- Miami has won seven of the last eight meetings
- The Patriots last swept the season series in 2016 (Miami swept in 2023)
- The series dates back to Nov. 27, 1966 (a 20-14 Patriots win in Miami)
- The Patriots largest margin of victory is 43 (43-0 win in Miami on Sept. 15, 2019)
- The Dolphins largest margin of victory is 52 (52-0 win in Miami on Nov. 12, 1972)
