NFL: Miami Dolphins beat New England Patriots with Knowshon Moreno starring
Monday 8 September 2014 11:07, UK
The Miami Dolphins got their season off to a flying start as they produced a powerful second half performance to beat the New England Patriots 33-20 at SunLife Stadium in South Florida.
New England capitalised on three first half turnovers to lead 20-10 but Miami came storming back with 23 unanswered points in the second half while keeping a lid on Tom Brady and the Patriots offence in an impressive victory.
The Patriots had won ten previous opening day games on the spin with their last defeat being a mauling by Buffalo in 2003 – although in that season the Pats went on to win the Super Bowl.
There are plenty of questions to answer after their defeat in Miami though, with protecting star quarterback Brady a major one as he was sacked four times, lost two fumbles and was under duress throughout the second half.
Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill had issues of his own but recovered to throw TD passes to Lamar Miller and Mike Wallace, but the Dolphins offence was highlighted by running back Knowshon Moreno, a summer signing from Denver, who ran for 134 yards and a score and set the tone for his team with his power and aggression.
Fast start
The Dolphins started the game brilliantly as they forced the Patriots to punt on their first possession, and duly blocked the attempted kick giving them superb field position on their first possession.
Tannehill got the ball on the 15 yard line, and four plays later threw a short pass to Lamar Miller for a four-yard touchdown.
Brady responded in true Brady fashion, with a 13-play drive marching 80 yards in just over six minutes and finishing off with Shane Vereen going in from two yards to level things up.
Turnover then started to litter Miami’s offensive play, with Mike Wallace coughing up a fumble before Tannehill was intercepted when he went for a long touchdown attempt towards Wallace again.
New England capitalised with Brady finding his main touchdown target Rob Gronkowski, who is fit again after missing the end of last season with injury, with a six-yarder before the teams swapped field goals to see the Pats leading 20-10 at the half.
Second half
The Dolphins emerged a different side in the second half though, with the offence drawing inspiration from a marauding Moreno who was running with real menace and brutality while the defence were all over Brady at every opportunity.
Caleb Sturgis kicked field goals of 24 and 22 yards in the third quarter either side of a 14-yard Wallace TD grab from Tannehill, when the receiver did well to gather a bobbling ball after it was almost intercepted in the end zone.
Moreno then got the score his efforts deserved, with the four yard run summing up his day as he barged through a couple of tacklers before then lower his shoulder and bursting through the goal line.
Sturgis booted a 27-yarder with 2.44 left on the clock to complete a 20-point burst from Miami to put them in total control, and when Brady was unable to find any response it meant Miami had also held him without a point in the second half.
Tannehill finished with 178 yards, two TDs and one interception, while Brady had 249 yards and a score during a tough day at the office, with an impressive win possibly signalling a promising season to come for Miami while well-fancied New England have work to do for next week.
