Turning Point: Patriots defense falters on 4th down

With 24 seconds left in the first half and his team facing 4th and 7 from the Patriot 42-yard line, Miami head coach Mike McDaniel had to make a decision. It was a bit too far for a field goal and a punt might only flip the field 20 yards. If the Dolphins didn’t convert, the Patriots offense would take over with maybe a little less than 20 seconds left and no timeouts. McDaniel decided to go for it and the decision ended up being the turning point in the Patriots 20-7 defeat.

For most of the first half, the Patriots defense had more than held their own against the new look Miami offense, holding them to only a field goal as Miami scored a defensive touchdown for a 10-0 lead. When a Patriots punt was downed at the Miami 8-yard line with 4 minutes to go in the second quarter, it seemed that a quick stop might result in good field position for the offense and possibly points before halftime.

However, the Patriots defense picked a wrong time to have their worst drive of the game. After Miami picked up a quick first down to get out of the shadows of their own endzone, the Patriot defense still had a chance to get the ball back before the two-minute warning. With the Dolphins facing a 3rd and 7 from their own 26, cornerback Myles Bryant gave wide receiver Jaylen Waddle too much of a cushion allowing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to hit him for an 8-yard gain to move the sticks.

After the two-minute warning, Tagovailoa looked like he was about to be picked off by rookie Jack Jones, but wideout Tyreek Hill made an unbelievable catch in traffic for a 26-yard gain to move the ball into New England territory. An incompletion and a sack by Matthew Judon brought up 3rd and 19, and it looked like the defense would avoid giving up points prior to the half, but a soft zone allowed Miami to pick up 12 yards, bringing us to the Turning Point.

Tagovailoa took the 4th down snap and hit Waddle on a slant in front of cornerback Jalen Mills, giving the Dolphins enough for a first down. However, Mills didn’t provide too much effort to make a tackle and safety Kyle Dugger took a poor angle in his pursuit as Waddle was able to break free for a 42-yard touchdown, giving the Dolphins a 17-0 lead at the half. After the game, Judon spoke about the play being a back breaker for the defense.

"“We know they’ve got to pass it, fourth and long, and we give up six going into the half, and then they get the ball back. So that hurt us. It definitely stings, and we can’t do that if we want to be a good team."

It was only one mistake by the Patriots defense, but it proved costly as the offense could only muster 7 points, struggling to move the ball all afternoon and turning it over at inopportune times. but give credit to McDaniel and the Dolphins for the gutsy call. It gave them points, took the air out of the Patriots before the half and ended up being the Turning Point in their win.