New England Patriots 20-27 Miami Dolphins: Tom Brady has off night
Tuesday 12 December 2017 11:14, UK
Tom Brady was intercepted twice as the Miami Dolphins snapped the New England Patriots' eight-game winning streak with a surprising 27-20 victory on Monday Night Football.
The Dolphins (6-7) were 11-point underdogs at home, but they kept the Patriots (10-3) from clinching their ninth consecutive AFC East title for at least for another week - New England also lose ground on the Pittsburgh Steelers in their pursuit of the No 1 seed in the AFC. The two teams meet in Week 15.
Brady went 24 for 43 for 233 yards passing, with one touchdown. Miami sacked him twice and hit him five times, and held the Patriots to only 25 yards rushing. New England were 0 for 11 on third down.
Miami quarterback Jay Cutler, meanwhile, put in one of his best games for the Dolphins since coming out of retirement to join the team in the offseason - he threw for 263 yards and three scores, including two to Jarvis Landry. Kenyan Drake had 114 yards rushing and 79 receiving.
The Patriots were sluggish from the outset. They were outgained 123 yards to two in the first quarter, when Brady went 0 for 4 with an interception.
Miami could only capitalise with a pair of Cody Parker field goals, however, and New England then took the lead with a Rex Burkhead three-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Miami were back ahead by half-time thanks to Cutler and Landry's first scoring connection, and then when the pair linked up again in the third quarter, the Dolphins pulled away into a 27-10 lead.
Following his second TD, Landry appeared to make light of the Patriots' infamous 'Deflategate' scandal, setting the ball down in the endzone and pumping it repeatedly.
A Brady touchdown pass to James White cut the deficit to 10 points with 13 minutes left, but the Patriots' next three possessions netted only five yards. Then, after a New England field goal, Miami sealed the victory by recovering an onside kick with 53 seconds to go.
With the win, the Dolphins snapped the Patriots' 14-game road winning streak, second-best behind San Francisco's 18 in a row from 1988-90.
