Miami scored 31 unanswered points in the dominant 34-15 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
The win marked the 16th time that the Dolphins have swept the Patriots in the divisional series. It is the first time since the 1999 and 2000 seasons in which Miami has recorded sweeps over New England in back-to-back seasons. With the win, Head Coach Mike McDaniel is the first coach in Dolphins history to win five of his first six games against the Patriots.
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 12 win.
Tagovailoa Continues Undefeated Record vs. Patriots
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is now 7-0 as a starting quarterback against New England. His winning percentage of 1.000 against the Patriots is tied with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo against the L.A. Rams for the highest winning percentage among active quarterbacks with a minimum of seven games played against an opponent.
Tagovailoa completed 29-of-40 passes (72.5 pct.) for 317 yards, four passing touchdowns and zero interceptions with a passer rating of 128.9. It marked the fourth time in his career he has thrown for four touchdowns and the first time since Sept. 24, 2023 vs. Denver. The performance was also Tagovailoa's 14th career game with 300 passing yards.
Tagovailoa completed at least 70.0 percent of his passes for the fifth consecutive game, the longest streak in his career. It is the longest active streak in the NFL and the second longest streak by a quarterback in the league this season, trailing only Detroit's Jared Goff with six. Through Sunday's slate of games, Tagovailoa has the highest completion percentage (73.3 pct.) in the NFL this season.
Since his return in Week 8 against Arizona, Tagovailoa also has the highest passer rating among quarterbacks with a minimum of 50 pass attempts through Sunday's games.
Second Quarter Success
After a scoreless first quarter, Miami scored 24 unanswered points while compiling 209 offensive yards in the second quarter and controlling the clock for 10:26.
Tagovailoa recorded one of the best quarters of his career, completing 15-of-21 passes for 183
yards and three touchdowns with a 137.5 passer rating. It was the second time in Tagovailoa's career in which he threw for at least 175 yards and three touchdowns in a single quarter and first since Week 2 of the 2022 season against Baltimore.
The 24 points scored in the quarter is tied for the second-most by a team this season and the most by the Dolphins since they had a 28-point fourth quarter en route to their emphatic comeback win on Sept. 18, 2022 at Baltimore.
The Dolphins defense forced the Patriots to -10 yards in the second quarter while recording two sacks. Miami holding New England to -10 yards was the second-best defensive performance by a team in a single quarter this season, trailing only Pittsburgh who held the Los Angeles Chargers to -11 yards on Sept. 22, 2024. It is the best defensive quarter in terms of yardage allowed by the Dolphins since at least 2000.
Waddle Sets Season-Highs
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle had his best performance of the year, catching eight passes for 144 yards (18.0 avg.) and a receiving touchdown. His 144 receiving yards marked a season-high and is the second-best yardage output of his career.
This was Waddle's 12th career 100-yard performance, which is tied for fifth most in Dolphins history. His 118 yards in the first half were the most by a Dolphin player in a half since Waddle recorded 118 on Dec. 17, 2023 vs. the N.Y. Jets.
Waddle added his touchdown on a 23-yard completion from Tagovailoa in the third quarter, marking the 20th receiving touchdown of his career.
Smith Maintains Strong Stretch of Play
Tight end Jonnu Smith caught a career-high nine passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. His seven-yard receiving touchdown provided Miami with an early 7-0 lead, which they would not give up for the remainder of the game.
Smith's 188 receiving yards over the past two weeks are the most by a tight end and tied for fifth among all players over the past two weeks through Sunday's slate. He is also the first Dolphins tight end to have touchdown receptions in back-to-back games since Mike Gesicki caught touchdown passes in three consecutive games in 2020.
Robinson Continues to Find His Stride
Linebacker Chop Robinson notched the first multi-sack game of his career against New England, bringing his sack total over the last four weeks to 3.5. Among rookies, Robinson ranks second during that span behind Rams defensive tackle Braden Fiske (4.0).
Robinson's 3.5 sacks rank tied for seventh among rookies in Dolphins history.
Defense Delivers
Miami's defense held New England scoreless in the first half, marking the first time the Dolphins have shut out a team in a half since keeping Jacksonville scoreless in the second half of Miami's 20-17 season-opening win. The Dolphins limited the Patriots to just 269 total yards, marking the sixth game this season the team has limited opponents to less than 300 net yards, tied for the fourth-most in the NFL this season through Sunday's slate.
Linebacker Jordyn Brooks had a game-high nine tackles (seven solo), growing his season total to 92 tackles (56 solo). Brooks added his first fumble recovery of the season and his sixth tackle for loss. The fumble recovery, which he returned for 12 yards in the third quarter, was his first recovery since Oct. 2, 2023 vs. the New York Giants during his tenure with Seattle.
Linebacker Tyrel Dodson added five tackles (two solo), a pass deflection and an interception in the contest. The pick was the first of his career, while his five tackles pushed him past the 200-mark of his career.
Defensive tackle Zach Sieler recorded a sack fumble in the third quarter to pick up his fourth sack of the year and first forced fumble. The forced fumble marked the fifth of his career while the sack was his 24th. He totaled with four tackles (three solo), a sack, a forced fumble and two tackles for loss in the contest.
Individual/Team Stats and Milestones
Running back De'Von Achane carried the ball 10 times for 32 yards (3.2 avg.) and caught three passes for 24 yards (8.0 avg.) while adding two receiving touchdowns. The two-touchdown performance marked Achane's fifth multi-touchdown game of his career. His five such games are tied with Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs for the most among players from the 2023 Draft Class.
Both of Achane's receiving touchdowns came in the second quarter; one from nine yards out and the other from 11 yards away. Achane now leads the team in both rushing (three touchdowns) and receiving touchdowns (five touchdowns).
Kicker Jason Sanders' second quarter 21-yard field goal marked his 11th consecutive game with a field goal made, the longest streak of his career within a single season. In the fourth quarter, Sanders knocked through a 51-yard field goal to improve his tally from beyond 50
yards to seven-of-nine (77.8 pct.). He is now 21-for-25 on the season (84.0 pct.) and has made all 20 of his extra point attempts.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill caught five passes for 48 yards (9.6 avg.). He hauled in a 20-yard completion in the second quarter, his 61st 20-plus yard reception since joining the Dolphins in 2022. His 61 receptions of 20-plus yards rank third in the NFL behind Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson (72) and Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (63).
Several Dolphins achieved games played and started milestones. Tackle Terron Armstead appeared in his 130th career game, Tagovailoa appeared in his 60th career game, tackle Kendall Lamm made the 40th start of his career and tight end Julian Hill appeared in his 25th career game.
