Dolphins Defense Preserves Victory At New England

Despite a subpar performance from Miami's special teams, the Dolphins defeated the New England Patriots 15-10.

New England running back Antonio Gibson is tripped up and sent flying by Miami defender Marcus Maye in the 4th quarter. / Kris Craig/The Providence Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins found their ground game at the right time. Their bend-but-don't-break defense made a stop when it was needed, and the Dolphins defeated the New England Patriots 15-10.'

"That's a character-building win. We did a lot of stuff wrong," defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. "That was a heck of a ballgame, especially in the first half, but we didn't flinch."

The loss ended Miami's three-game losing streak. The Dolphins (2-3) also got their first divisional win, which happened to come on the road.

Miami has a bye next week.

The Dolphins rushed for 193 yards in a ground-and-pound effort to take the pressure off quarterback Tyler Huntley. Huntley had a decent game as he went 18-of-31 for 194 yards and one interception.

"It's my second week, we have a bye coming up, we will get back in the lab," Huntley said. "We will come out and be ready to fire. We will get a step up and we will be ready."

New England scored its only touchdown after a first-quarter interception as Rhamondre Stevenson scored from 33 yards out. New England would get a field goal but would not cross the goal line the rest of the way.

"Certain weeks you have to strap out and win the line of scrimmage and do it down in and down out," head coach Mike McDaniel said. "We challenged each other to win a game like that. We didn't have super explosive plays, but we stayed locked in and won the game with a 17-play drive at the end."

FULLBACK ALEC INGOLD PLAYS A BIG ROLE IN THE OFFENSE

Fullback Alec Ingold scored the game-winning touchdown for Miami with 4:24 remaining from three yards out.

"It was cool to end a 17-play drive like that. It was something we needed badly. It was guard center guard and I walked right in. To see a 17-play drive in the fourth quarter when we needed it was cool for the organization as we really needed it."

Technically, it was a 15-play drive, but the Dolphins were flagged for holding on two other plays.

Ingold was also a blocking machine the entire afternoon as rookie Jaylen Wright had a career game with 86 yards, and Raheem Mostert returned from a chest injury to spark the Dolphins with 80 yards.

"It was a full team win," Ingold said. "It was a sloppy execution win, but when you get that win, we are building toward something good. We are fighting to find that silver lining and right the ship."

The Dolphins' great ground game was possible without speedy running back De'Von Achane, who left the game in the first quarter with a concussion.

Ingold's touchdown was the only time Miami found the end zone all afternoon. They missed the two-point conversion but scored three Jason Sanders field goals, which comprised the remainder of their points.

Miami also left at least six points on the field as Sanders had one of his tries hit the left upright. Another attempt saw Blake Ferguson roll a snap that holder Jake Bailey could not get down in time. Sanders picked up the ball on the ground and was tackled for a 9-yard loss.

"You have a couple of things that don't go your way. You hit a post and you have a snap that you'd like to have back," McDaniel said. "But we will learn from that and it's much easier to do when you are in the win column."

Bailey also had a punt blocked in the first half. It could have been a better first half for the special teams.

"You could put the blocked punt in there, but I had complete faith that it would be corrected," McDaniel said. "It is very important to work on and fix."