FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots were perhaps a toe tap away from beating the Miami Dolphins. Instead, the Patriots lost 15-10 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday after rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk’s leaping bid at a game-winning touchdown catch with 1:02 remaining was overturned after replay.
The Patriots committed 12 penalties and allowed 193 rushing yards to a Miami team that came in averaging 97.8 yards on the ground through the first four games. New England is tied for the worst record in the NFL at 1-4 and has dropped four straight since winning at Cincinnati in the season opener.
“I think there’s no question we’re tough, but we have to be better from an execution standpoint,” coach Jerod Mayo said. “I would also say as the game wore on, our fundamentals began to slip.” So did New England’s judgment, which was questionable at best on the game’s final play.
Out of timeouts with the ball at the Miami 36-yard line, quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed a 25-yard pass to tight end Hunter Henry. The Patriots never got another chance to run a play as the game clock expired before Brissett could get off another play. “We’ve got to play better.
There’s no magic thing that we need to do. We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got to execute better.
We’ve got to play with good fundamentals better. We’ve got to do all the little things better,” Brissett said after failing to pass for 200 yards for the fifth straight game. “Wh.