Stinky Fish

All the chatter about New England’s demise, the fall of the Patriots dynasty, was drastically overstated.

The Miami Dolphins annual trip to Foxborough looked the same as it has for the past decade, with the Dolphins self destructing at some point in the game — this time in the second quarter, where New England built a 24-0 lead — and having to dig themselves out of a massive hole.

But coach Adam Gase’s team left it’s shovel and big-play offense at home in Sunday’s 38-7 loss to the Patriots, which produced Miami’s first loss of the season, ended New England’s two-game losing streak — and should silence all the talk about Miami dethroning the Patriots for AFC East supremacy.

“There isn’t any position group that feels like they played well,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “It starts with me, I have to play better.”

Tannehill completed 11-of-20 passes for 100 yards and threw one interception. He produced a season-low 47.9 passer rating.

On the flip side, Tom Brady, who completed 23-of-35 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns against Miami, pushed his record to 16-0 in starts he’s made in Foxborough against the Dolphins, who haven’t won in Gillette Stadium since 2008.

“It is what it is. They beat us. They beat is in every phase of the game,” said Gase, who owns a 1-4 record against New England, which produced points on four of its first six offensive drives.

Stephen Gostkowski’s 20-yard field goal concluded the Patriots first possession, and then receiver Cordarrelle Patterson found himself wide open downfield because of a pick-play and turned the run-after-catch play into a 55-yard touchdown.

Then Travis Swanson, who was in the game for starting center Daniel Kilgore, who suffered an arm injury in the second quarter, snapped a ball Tannehill fumbled and New England recovered on Miami’s 22-yard line.

Just like all Bill Belichick teams are known to do, the Patriots capitalized on Miami’s mistake quickly as former St. Thomas Aquinas High standout James White produced a a 22-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to, 17-0.

It didn’t take long for New England to build on that three-score lead considering it started wearing down Miami’s injury-depleted defensive front with its running game. The Dolphins, who were playing without William Hayes and Andre Branch for the first time because of the knee injuries that got Hayes placed on injured reserve and will sideline Branch for a couple of weeks, allowed 175 rushing yards on 40 carries to the Patriots, and 118 of those came in the first half, when the game was still within reach.

A good portion of those yards came on New England’s final offensive drive of the first half, which concluded with former St. Thomas Aquinas and Miami Hurricanes standout Phillip Dorsett scoring on a 9-yard touchdown reception, which pushed the Patriots lead to 24 points.

The Dolphins would continue to get carved up in the second half, which featured a 14-yard touchdown reception from White, and Sony Michel’s 10-yard rushing touchdown.

Michel, an American Heritage Plantation High standout the Patriots selected in the first round of this year’s draft, produced his first 100-yard rushing performance against his hometown team, gaining 112 yards on 25 carries.

“A lot of mistakes on our part,” defensive tackle Akeem Spence said, referring to the defensive front. “We didn’t play the defense all the way through. They just had our number. Everything was going their way and we couldn’t stop the bleeding.”

The Dolphins eventually waved the white flag midway through the fourth quarter, replacing Tannehill with Brock Osweiler, whose 6-yard touchdown pass to tailback Frank Gore prevented the third shutout of the Gase era.

“It’s a great learning experience for us. We’re 3-1, [but] we got to get better,” said receiver Danny Amendola, who caught two of the three passes thrown his way in his first game back in New England. “They are a good team. We didn’t play well enough to beat them.”

So what was billed as a statement game between the biggest NFL power and the Dolphins, who have lived in New England’s shadow for nearly two decades, turned out to be a blowout, one that reminds the rest of the league that New England hasn’t lost its swagger.