The Dolphins wanted to rebound from last week's performance against Philadelphia and did exactly that Sunday afternoon against the New England Patriots. Impact performances from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and a big debut from cornerback Jalen Ramsey powered Miami to a 31-17 victory and the organization's first 6-2 start since 2001.
We go Inside the Numbers, presented by BDO, to take a look at the most notable team stats, individual metrics, milestones and more from Miami's Week 8 win over the Patriots.
Facing New England
After securing a regular season sweep of their division opponent, the Dolphins have now won six of their past seven meetings with New England. It is Miami's best seven-game stretch against the Patriots since a 6-1 run from Oct. 17, 1999 to Oct. 6, 2002.
Sunday's victory was also Miami's fourth straight home win against New England. The last time the Dolphins won at least four straight home contests against the Patriots was a five-game streak from 1998-2002.
The Dolphins are now 6-0 against the Patriots when Tagovailoa is the starter. He is the first quarterback to beat the Patriots six times in the regular season since 2000, passing Buffalo's Josh Allen (5-5) and Peyton Manning (5-10).
Home Success
The Dolphins continued their strong play at home in Week 8 and improved to 4-0 at Hard Rock Stadium this season.
Miami is now 16-2 in its past 18 home games, the club's best streak since a 23-2 stretch at the Orange Bowl from Oct. 30, 1983 to Jan. 4, 1986.
The team has outscored its opponents 174-74 in four home wins this season and leads the league in point differential (+100), total offense (516.0), scoring offense (43.5) and rushing offense (203.0) at home this year.
Hill Makes More History, Hits 100 Yards with Waddle
The Patriots had not allowed a 100-yard receiver all season heading into Week 8. On Sunday, wide receivers Jaylen Waddle (7 rec. for 121 yards) and Tyreek Hill (8 rec. for 111 yards) each eclipsed that mark and scored a touchdown.
The last time New England allowed two 100-yard receivers in the same game was on Oct. 14, 2018, when Hill (142) and running back Kareem Hunt (105) each reached triple digits while playing for Kansas City.
Additionally, with Sunday's performance, Hill became the first player in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to reach 1,000 receiving yards in the first eight games of a season. His 2,724 receiving yards since he joined the Dolphins in 2022 also edged out wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (2,625 in 2014-15 with N.Y. Giants) for the most receiving yards in a player's first 25 games with a new team in the Super Bowl era.
Individual and Team Firsts
Sunday was a day of firsts for the Dolphins. Wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. caught a one-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter for his first score with the organization.
Wide receiver Chase Claypool, in his second game as a Dolphin, caught his first pass for a 15-yard gain. It set up first-and-10 from the New England 14-yard line and eventually led to a one-yard touchdown run for running back Raheem Mostert.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey also helped put points on the board with an interception in his Dolphins debut. His 49-yard return led to a 30-yard field goal from kicker Jason Sanders and gave Miami a 17-7 lead heading into halftime.
Defensively, Miami held Patriots quarterback Mac Jones to just 161 passing yards on 19 completions. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne led New England with 36 receiving yards.
It was the lowest yardage total by the Patriots leading receiver in a game since Dec. 7, 2021, when Jones attempted just three passes, and the lowest in a game with 9+ pass attempts since Dec. 11, 2006, when the Dolphins shut out the Patriots 21-0 and Troy Brown led the team with 25 receiving yards.
Miami's second-leading tackler that day was Renaldo Hill, the team's current Passing Game Coordinator/Secondary Coach.
For more analysis on Sunday's win, listen to the latest episode of Drive Time with Travis Wingfield.
