Despite the New England Patriots playing for a first-round playoff bye, the Miami Dolphins scored a touchdown in the last minute of Sunday's game to win 27-24 and force New England to play in the Wild Card Round for the first time in a decade.
PFF's ReFocused series features immediate takeaways from the two analysts who graded the game live. The two offer a detailed breakdown of the game's most notable performances before the grades and advanced stats are reviewed and finalized by Senior Analysts.
All of PFF's grades and advanced stats from this game and the other games played this week will be finalized and made available to ELITE subscribers within 24 hours of the final whistle. ELITE subscribers can view player grades, advanced statistics, positional snap counts and more in Premium Stats.
PFF's ELITE subscribers can also preview NFL and NCAA games in PFF Greenline, an online dashboard with projections for the spread, totals and moneyline.
Final Score
Miami Dolphins 27, New England Patriots 24
Miami Dolphins
DeVante Parker continued his breakout season with some contested catches against one of the best corners in the league in Stephon Gilmore. Parker showed the athletic ability to high-point passes, especially on back-shoulder go routes, to beat Gilmore for more than 100 yards.
Ryan Fitzpatrick showed the standard Fitzpatrick game. He was able to move the Dolphins down the field with jump balls to Parker, but unlike normal Fitzpatrick games he never put the ball in any real danger as the Dolphins were able to pull out a shock win.
Eric Rowe picked off Tom Brady for a crucial pick-6 early in the game to put the Dolphins in a 10-0 lead.
Christian Wilkins was effective in the run game even though it didn't show in the stat sheet. Wilkins used his strength to good effect to make sure he was not getting moved off the line of scrimmage and to help the Dolphins defense contain the Patriots offense.
New England Patriots
Tom Brady and the Patriots passing offense struggled against the Dolphins defense, with only 221 yards passing. The Patriots resorted to a significant amount of short passes, because as soon as the ball traveled over 10 yards the offense struggled to complete anything. The best pass by Brady was the only deep shot he threw all game, which Phillip Dorsett hauled down.
Patriots linebacker-turned-fullback Elandon Roberts was able to show his ability to be more than just a blocker as he had one catch that went 38 yards on which he broke a tackle and went for a touchdown.
Jamie Collins only recorded 4 tackles but was a productive pass-rusher for the Patriots as he was able to use his speed to get around the Dolphins offensive line.
Stephon Gilmore struggled when targeted against DeVante Parker, as he was unable to match Parker's jumping ability.
© 2025 PFF - all rights reserved.