Dolphins–Patriots rivalry
 Dolphins and Patriots face off during the 2013 season. | |
| Location | Miami, Boston |
|---|---|
| First meeting | November 27, 1966 Patriots 20, Dolphins 14[1] |
| Latest meeting | October 6, 2024 Dolphins 15, Patriots 10[1] |
| Next meeting | November 24, 2024 |
| Stadiums | Dolphins: Hard Rock Stadium Patriots: Gillette Stadium |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 118[1] |
| All-time series | Dolphins: 63–55[1] |
| Regular season series | Dolphins: 62–53[1] |
| Postseason results | Patriots: 2–1[1] |
| Largest victory | Dolphins: 52–0 (1972) Patriots: 43–0 (2019)[1] |
| Longest win streak | Dolphins: 9 (1989-1993) Patriots: 7 (1986-1988; 2010-2013)[1] |
| Current win streak | Dolphins: 3 (2023–present)[1] |
| Post-season history[1] | |
| |
The Dolphins–Patriots rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.
The Dolphins joined the AFL in the 1966 season, being placed in the AFL Eastern Division alongside the Patriots, becoming divisional rivals with them. Following the AFL–NFL merger, the Dolphins and Patriots joined the National Football League (NFL) and were placed in the American Football Conference (AFC) and the AFC East.
The Dolphins lead the overall series, 63–55. The two teams have met three times in the playoffs, with the Patriots holding a 2–1 record.[1]
Characteristics and history
[edit]
While not as famous as some other rivalries, the rivalry has a long history that dates back to the 1960s. The beginning of the rivalry was dominated by the Dolphins, as at the time the Dolphins were one of the NFL's most successful teams, while the Patriots were one of the worst. This trend would change during the early 2000s when the Patriots became more and more successful, eventually culminating with the Brady & Belichick dynasty, while the Dolphins, and the rest of the AFC East, would become mired in mediocrity.[2][3][4][5][6] The Patriots finally made the Super Bowl in 1985, having defeated Miami in the AFC Championship game to get there.[7]
Starting in 1986, the rivalry was a little bit more even, with the Pats having a 7-game winning streak from 1986 to 1988. The Dolphins then took over the rivalry once again, winning 13 of the next 15 matchups between the 2 teams. Both teams had great quarterbacks in the 1990s, with the Patriots having Drew Bledsoe and the Dolphins with Dan Marino, both of whom appeared in at least one Super Bowl; Marino in Super Bowl XIX and Bledsoe in Super Bowl XXXI. The Dolphins continued to dominate the rivalry through the late 1990s with the Dolphins sweeping the Patriots in back to back years, 1999 and 2000.
Miami is one of 3 teams in the AFC with a winning overall record against New England (the others being the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs). Since 2003, the Patriots have dominated the rivalry, but not as much as their rivalries with their two other AFC East opponents.[8][9] In 2004, one of the most famous moments in the rivalry happened where the Dolphins, 2–11 at the time, upset the defending champion Patriots, who were 12–1, in a game that has been known as "The Night That Courage Wore Orange".[10] The rivalry briefly intensified in 2005 when Nick Saban (who previously served as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, coached by Bill Belichick at the time) was hired as the Dolphins head coach and when he nearly signed quarterback Drew Brees with the Dolphins, as well as in 2008 when the Dolphins became the only team other than the Patriots since 2003 to win the division.[11] In Week 3 of the aforementioned 2008 season, the Dolphins used the Wildcat formation to throw the Patriots (who were without Tom Brady that year because of an ACL injury earlier in the season) off and went on to upset them, 38–13, snapping their 20-game regular season winning streak that dated back to December 10, 2006, which coincidentally, the Patriots were also beat by the Dolphins.[12] In 2018, the Dolphins upset the Patriots in Miami for the second year in a row, this time with a last-minute hook and lateral scoring play in what is known as the "Miracle in Miami".[13]
On February 4, 2019, the Dolphins hired a long-time Patriots assistant, Brian Flores (who had been with the team since their 2004 Super Bowl-winning season) as the 12th head coach in franchise history. In 2021, the rivalry intensified once again after the Patriots drafted Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, a former college teammate of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whom Jones backed up in the first half of the 2019 season until a season-ending hip injury from Tagovailoa caused Jones to take the helms at quarterback for Alabama. Both quarterbacks led Alabama to national titles in 2018 and 2021, respectively. In 2022, the Dolphins hired former Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker to be their new wide receivers coach. Welker previously played for the Dolphins from 2004 to 2006 and the hiring would reunite him with Dolphins defensive coordinator and former long-time Patriots assistant Josh Boyer, whom was serving as a defensive assistant and later the defensive backs coach during Welker's tenure with New England (2007–2012).
Also notable is the fact that the Dolphins and Patriots are the only NFL teams to post undefeated regular season records following the NFL-AFL merger. The 1972 Dolphins finished with a 14–0 regular season record and went on to win Super Bowl VII, finishing the only complete perfect season in NFL history,[14] while the 2007 Patriots were the first team to go undefeated in the regular season since the league expanded to 16 games, but famously lost Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants. Additionally, both teams have had long-tenured coaches in Don Shula and Bill Belichick, respectively.[15]
2023 deadly fan altercation
[edit]During the Dolphins–Patriots game in Foxboro on September 17, 2023, a Patriots fan died after an altercation with Dolphins fans.[16] The Patriots fan, Dale Mooney, had confronted a Dolphins fan who had been arguing with his group before another Dolphins fan delivered two punches to Mooney, who fell unconscious and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.[17] Despite the attack, an autopsy found that Mooney did not suffer a traumatic injury directly from the punches and instead succumbed to a "medical issue", which a witness to the altercation surmised was a heart attack from "getting worked up from the scuffle".[18] Two men from Rhode Island, John Vieira and Justin Mitchell, were later charged in Mooney's death for assault and battery and disorderly conduct, but not for homicide despite the medical examiner ruling Mooney's cause of death to be homicide.[19]
Season-by-season results
[edit]| Miami Dolphins vs. Boston/New England Patriots Season-by-Season Results[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1960s (Dolphins, 4–3)
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1970s (Dolphins, 13–7)
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1980s (Patriots, 11–10)
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1990s (Dolphins, 14–7)
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2000s (Patriots, 11–9)
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2010s (Patriots, 14–6)
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2020s (Dolphins, 7–2)
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Summary of Results
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Connections between the teams
[edit]Coaches/executives
[edit]| Name | Dolphins' tenure | Patriots' tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Boyer | Defensive pass game coordinator/Cornerbacks coach, 2019 Defensive coordinator, 2020–2023 |
Defensive assistant, 2006–2008 Defensive backs coach, 2009–2011 Cornerbacks coach, 2012–2018 |
| Dom Capers | Defensive coordinator, 2006–2007 | Special assistant and secondary coach, 2008 |
| Brian Daboll | Offensive coordinator, 2011 | Defensive assistant, 2000–2001 Wide receivers coach, 2002–2006 Tight ends coach, 2013–2016 |
| Dave DeGuglielmo | Offensive line coach, 2009–2011, 2017, 2019 (asst) | Offensive line coach, 2014–2015 |
| Brian Flores | Head coach, 2019–2021 | Scouting assistant, 2004–2005 Pro scout, 2006–2007 Special teams assistant, 2008–2009 Assistant offense & special teams, 2010 Defensive assistant, 2011 Safeties coach, 2012–2015 Linebackers coach, 2016–2018 Defensive play-caller, 2018 |
| George Godsey | Tight ends coach, 2019–present Co-offensive coordinator, 2021 |
Offensive assistant, 2011 Tight ends coach, 2012–2013 |
| Patrick Graham | Defensive coordinator, 2019 | Coaching assistant, 2009 Defensive assistant, 2010 Defensive line coach, 2012–2013 Linebackers coach, 2014–2015 |
| Chris Grier | Area scout, 2000–2002 National scout/assistant director of college scouting, 2003–2007 Director of college scouting, 2007–2015 General manager, 2016–present |
Intern, 1994 Regional scout, 1995–1999 |
| Chad O'Shea | Offensive coordinator, 2019 | Wide receivers coach, 2009–2018 |
| Jerry Schuplinski | Assistant quarterbacks coach, 2019 | Offensive assistant, 2013–2015 Assistant quarterbacks coach, 2016–2018 |
Players
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "All Matchups, Miami Dolphins vs. Boston/New England Patriots". Pro Football Reference.
- ^ Beguiristain, Joseph. "The 5 Moves That Put the Miami Dolphins into Mediocrity". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ Ahmed, Sam. "Miami Dolphins: An Uncertain Future for an Unstable Team". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ "Patriots Haters Should Blame the AFC East, Not Brady and Belichick". InsideHook. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ Levin •, Jake (28 August 2019). "The Patriots Have Been Utterly Dominant in the AFC East. Will That Continue in 2019?". NBC Boston. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ "These stats show the Patriots' dominance over teams outside the AFC East". RSN. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ "The Patriots and Dolphins are heading for a true rivalry". Boston Herald. 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ Schad, Joe. "Loved to hear it: Tom Brady cites Dolphins defense of early 2000's as toughest". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
- ^ "Which defense gave Brady the most trouble? QB gives surprising answer". RSN. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
- ^ Galicia, Thomas (October 4, 2010). "Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots: Greatest Games In The Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ^ "SI.com - Photo Gallery - Top 10 New NFL Rivalries". 2010-08-17. Archived from the original on 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Dolphins stun Patriots 38-13". The Seattle Times. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
- ^ Hoffman, Benjamin (December 9, 2018). "Dolphins Shock Patriots With a Miracle in Miami". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ 1972 Perfect Season - Miami Dolphins
- ^ "Giants prevent perfect season, beat Patriots". Sporting News. February 8, 2008. Archived from the original on February 7, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
- ^ Rorabaugh, Dan (2023-09-20). "Here's what we know about death of Patriots fan at Sunday's game who was punched by another fan". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ Congi, Sera (2023-09-21). "Patriots fan who died after Gillette altercation did not suffer traumatic injury, DA's office says". WCVB. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ Casselberry, Ian (2023-09-20). "Patriots Fan Who Died After Fight at Game Had 'Medical Issue,' Autopsy Showed". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ Sylla, Zenebou (2023-12-22). "2 men charged with assault in altercation that led to fan's death fan at Patriots game, prosecutors say". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-07.