Key Takeaways From Patriots’ Win Over Dolphins

It’s officially tournament time for the New England Patriots.

Sunday’s 38-10 win over the Miami Dolphins marked the end of an incredibly surprising — and overwhelmingly positive — 14-3 regular season for the Patriots.

As the second seed in the AFC, they’re now set to host the seventh-seed Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round.

Playoff football officially returns to Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

Before we move ahead to postseason play, let’s take a look at what worked well for New England in yet another blowout win this past weekend — and what it could foreshadow as the calendar flips deeper into January.

Even prior to the start of training camp, New England fans had been excited at the prospect of a “thunder & lightning” combination in the offensive backfield with Rhamondre Stevenson and Ohio State rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson.

It may have taken all 18 weeks of the season to get there, but Sunday’s win was as close as we’ve come to seeing a true split in production from the duo.

Early in the season, it was Stevenson who shouldered the lion’s share of the backfield load between the two, with Henderson taking some time to get up to speed in McDaniels’ offense. Stevenson’s most productive game prior to this past week also came against the Dolphins. In their Week 2 matchup, Stevenson accrued 16 total touches for 142 scrimmage yards.

Henderson played just 19 (31.7%) snaps in that game and touched the ball five times, following an early-season trend where he averaged just about 35% of the team’s offensive snaps per game through the first month of the year.

When Stevenson was sidelined with a toe injury and missed Weeks 9-11, Henderson was thrust into the lead-back role by necessity — and was awarded the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Month in November for his efforts. Henderson tallied 65 rushing attempts for 330 yards (a 5.1 yards-per-attempt average) and 5 total touchdowns in November.

Since Stevenson’s return, the Ohio State product has maintained a significant snap count (averaging about 50% when healthy) and consistently received more touches within the structure of the offense.

While at first this could have been attributed to Stevenson’s slow ramp-up to a full workload, that remained true following the bye week and through the final week of the regular season.

On Sunday, Stevenson led the backfield in yardage with seven carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He also added two catches for 22 yards and a receiving touchdown.

Henderson finished the game with 13 carries for 53 yards and two rushing touchdowns. It marked Henderson’s fourth game of the year with at least two rushing touchdowns.

The tandem helped New England rush for a team total of 243 rushing yards on the day — and it marked the third time in four games the Patriots rushed for 150+ yards.

Their four rushing touchdowns tied the team’s single-game record, and it was the second time in the last month they accomplished the feat. They also ran for four touchdowns against Buffalo on December 14.

Now, as the playoffs get underway, New England enters with two running backs capable of generating explosive plays in every phase of the offense.

Each can rotate into the game and make a significant impact — and without much of a “tell” to the opposing sideline. Henderson is a home-run hitter in space, but he has gotten more effective between the tackles. Stevenson’s primary use is in heavy personnel packages, but he has shown versatility as a pass protector and receiver out of the backfield.

It may have taken all of 2025 to get to this point, but the Patriots may have finally figured things out on the ground — and have a “thunder and lightning” duo that can take pressure off Maye and the passing game.

Striking with more balance has made New England look near impossible to stop on offense at points during the past month — we’ll see if that continues against Los Angeles.

New England’s defense has survived injuries to several key contributors over the course of the season.

Christian Gonzalez missed the first three weeks, Milton Williams missed Weeks 12-17, and Robert Spillane has been shelved for the past four games.

In what has been an up-and-down year, we may have yet to see the best from this group.

By Sunday’s game, Spillane was the only major piece missing for a Patriots defense that has shown room for improvement in several key defensive metrics for playoff success.

A staple of New England’s success on defense early in the year was its ability to shut down an opponent’s rushing attack. Through their first eight games, they did not allow a 50-plus-yard rusher. When Williams went out on November 13, that story shifted.

From Weeks 10-17, the Patriots saw their opponents’ rushing average balloon all the way to 104.1 yards per game for the season.

New England’s defensive line was depleted further than just Williams through that span. Defensive tackles Khyiris Tonga and Joshua Farmer (IR) and edge rusher Harold Landry also missed significant time, leaving the Patriots to rely on Corey Durden and Eric Gregory in key situations.

With Williams’ return to action in Week 18, the Patriots looked to return to form against the run.

New England gave up 63 total rushing yards against Miami, with the team’s leading rusher — Jaylen Wright — accounting for just 23 yards on 13 carries.

The Dolphins’ inability to sustain a consistent rushing attack threw their play-calling balance off — especially in the second half — and put more on rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers’ shoulders.

Once New England began to take away the short screens and misdirection in the passing game, Miami ceased to move the ball for the remainder of the game.

The Patriots are hopeful that Landry and Tonga will both return for the postseason run, which would give another boost to that group.

Perhaps the greatest indicator of success is red zone defense — and the Patriots had been one of the worst in the NFL this year. They ranked 32nd on the season and allowed touchdowns on 70% of offensive red zone trips entering Sunday.

In Week 18, New England held Miami to seven points on three red zone trips (1-of-3).

On the Dolphins’ first trip inside the 20-yard line, Jack Gibbens broke up a pass in the end zone to force a turnover on downs.

On their third trip, Jaylinn Hawkins intercepted a pass in the end zone that could have been the game-tying score to begin the third quarter.

More than the stats, the Patriots’ defense seemed to have a response for every Dolphins attack — through every ebb and flow of the game’s action.

When the offense began to stall in the second quarter, the defense generated takeaways.

A forced fumble in the second quarter and an interception to begin the third quarter negated Miami’s chances to tie or take the lead, and provided enough space for the New England offense to reassert its dominance and put the score out of reach.

In the second half, New England’s defense surrendered just 42 total yards and allowed no points.

While some of the numbers weren’t pretty the entire year, the performances the Patriots strung together in critical situations over the last two weeks should give them confidence when adversity strikes in the playoffs.

Now healthy and confident, the best has yet to come from New England on the defensive side of the football.

We’ll get that in the postseason.

The Patriots haven’t lost many games this season, but when they have, it’s looked bad in all three phases of the game.

In their most recent defeat against Buffalo, New England held a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and a 24-7 advantage coming out of halftime. Aside from one singular explosive play on offense, both sides’ second-half performances were equally to blame in their 35-31 loss.

The Patriots’ defense allowed five consecutive touchdown drives and the offense struggled to stay on the field.

Adversity struck, and the Patriots failed to respond.

That was the last time we’d see that story play out during the regular season.

In Baltimore, New England rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit — not allowing any points in the final 10 minutes of play and scoring two consecutive touchdowns to win the game.

Against the Jets, Maye engineered six consecutive touchdown drives of his own and the defense only allowed one single field goal before the reserves took the field.

And on Sunday, the Patriots continued to show that they can overcome adversity by playing great complementary football.

The Patriots opened Sunday’s game with two straight touchdown drives. Then, in the second quarter, the offense struggled to sustain momentum — with consecutive three-and-out and four-and-out series.

The defense was there to pick them up.

With opportunistic takeaways and critical stops, New England got the ball back on Hawkins’ end zone interception to begin the second half leading by a touchdown.

The offense responded, driving 80 yards to score a touchdown that effectively put the game away in the third quarter.

Defensively, New England continued to hold Miami to minimal gains, allowing the offense to pour on two more scores and send in reserves.

The Patriots may have failed to respond to adversity on December 14, but that’s not who this team is.

What we’ve seen since is a team hungry to prove its identity — and a team that’s played as good complementary football as we’ve seen in the league this year.

Sunday was a microcosm of that, and a great sign of what’s to come for the Patriots when they face similar afflictions in the playoffs.

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New England showed promise in several key areas of weakness in its final outing of the regular season. While those advancements came against a Miami team that was missing key contributors, it could be a sign of more to come.

This upcoming week’s Wild Card showdown with the Chargers will be the best indication of where this team still has improvements to make — or where its strengths actually lie.

In a win-or-go-home playoff matchup, we’ll see the true makeup and identity of this Patriots team.

Will all of New England’s production fall on the arm of Maye, or will a running game that’s found new life balance the scales offensively?

Will the Patriots’ red zone woes rear their ugly heads, or will their improvements in those areas lift them through the first round?

We’ll be previewing everything to watch for on Sunday night in the coming days.

Before I let you go, here are a few things to “empty the notebook” from Sunday:

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