MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — — Antonio Gibson burst through the Miami Dolphins‘ coverage unit on a kick return and dived into the end zone while New England coach Mike Vrabel excitedly chased him almost the entire way down the Patriots’ sideline.
Gibson, whose 90-yard score helped the Patriots beat the Dolphins 33-27 on Sunday for Vrabel’s first win as coach of the team he starred for as a player, had no idea Vrabel was running nearly in step with him. When he found out after the game, he was ready with a zinger.
“If he almost caught me then I need to run faster,” Gibson said.
Second-year quarterback Drake Maye threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another to help lead the Patriots top their AFC East rival for the first time since 2022. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson finished with 142 total yards — five catches for 88 yards and 11 carries for 54.
Maye completed 19 of 23 passes for 230 yards. He had an 8-yard TD pass to former Dolphin Mack Hollins and a 16-yard scoring toss to Kayshon Boutte.
“It took everybody,” Maye said. “That’s the biggest thing. It took everybody — special teams, offense, defense, trainers, everybody that helps us out. I’m proud of our guys for sticking with it. So many ebbs and flows of the game. Just proud of the guys, that one feels good.”
The Dolphins took a 27-23 lead midway through the fourth when Malik Washington returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown. Before Miami fans were even done celebrating the play, Gibson took the ensuing kickoff to the house to give the Patriots a three-point lead.
Linebacker Marte Mapu intercepted Tua Tagovailoa on Miami’s next drive, and Maye drove the Patriots into field-goal range to set up a 53-yarder by Andy Borregales, who had missed two extra points earlier.
“There’s a lot of things out there that we have to do better, but we didn’t pout, we didn’t drop our head,” Vrabel said. “We went on to the next play, and we kept competing and I appreciate that. We’ve got to learn how to compete and believe that we can come down here and win football games, and I think they did.”
Miami’s final drive was doomed by operational issues and penalties. Tagovailoa was sacked on fourth-and-12, and the Dolphins fell to 0-2 for the first time under Mike McDaniel.
“That was really frustrating,” Tagovailoa said. “It was frustrating with the communication, with the guys inside the huddle and then what the personnel is, then the play for those guys. Do we have too many guys in, why do we have another guy running in? Just the whole operation of that was not up to standard, was not up to par and I’ve got to do a better job with our guys in that sense.”
Tagovailoa completed 26 of 32 passes for 315 yards. He threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle and a 29-yard TD pass to De’Von Achane. Tyreek Hill caught six passes for 109 yards, including a 47-yard catch in the third quarter — the star receiver’s first reception of more than 30 yards since last season’s opener.
After an embarrassing season-opening loss at Indianapolis, the Dolphins again came out flat, punting on their opening possession and falling behind 12-0 in the first quarter. Fans booed after Tagovailoa nearly threw an interception on the opening drive, and many headed for the exits after Miami’s failed fourth-down conversion late in the game.
“The fans pay money, their hard-earned money to come and see their team play,” Tagovailoa said, “and we go out there and we don’t look the part as we have previous years. So it’s all understandable, and it comes with the game. You get the boos, you get the cheers. It’s like anything else, you get the highs, you get the lows. But for us mentally as players, we’ve got to stay even-keeled. We’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to continue to trust one another and build off of whatever this game was.”
The Dolphins couldn’t stop Maye and the Patriots early on, giving up scores on New England’s first three drives and extending a dubious season-opening streak of possessions without a stop to 10. The Colts scored on all seven drives in Week 1.
That streak ended with a kneel-down at the end of the first half, and the Dolphins forced their first punt of the season on the Patriots’ first drive of the second half.
Dolphins: LB Chop Robinson went down in the fourth grabbing at his left knee but jogged off the field.
Patriots: Host Pittsburgh next Sunday.
Dolphins: Visit Buffalo on Thursday night.
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