The New England Patriots entered Sunday’s matchup against the Miami Dolphins with their backs against the wall in a must-win game.
After the embarrassing loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and then the heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, the Patriots stood up to the division rival Dolphins and sent them packing back to South Beach empty-handed.
Once again, New England’s defense starred in the 23-21 victory with the offense stepping up and making the plays they needed to make down the stretch.
With the victory, the Patriots control their destiny for a future playoff berth. It’s surprising considering how badly the team has played at various points in the season.
And yet, when it mattered most, they still did enough to stay in the fight. Here are the winners and losers from the Week 17 victory.
Winner: Tyquan Thornton
Patriots rookie receiver Tyquan Thornton finally showed life as a playmaker down the field. He got so hot that quarterback Mac Jones started heaving up random passes in his vicinity just to give him an opportunity to make a play.
Thornton finished the game with three receptions for 60 yards and one touchdown. Perhaps the best statistic from a Patriots perspective is the fact that he averaged 20 yards per reception. For a team desperately looking for explosive plays, Thornton came up big in this game.
The rookie finds the end zone!@Humble_Ty19 | #ForeverNE
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/QG2xEbPiAt
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 1, 2023
The rookie has all of the physical abilities to be everything the Patriots need at receiver. If consistency follows Sunday’s performance, it would be a game-changer for the team.
Winner: Kyle Dugger
It was Marcus Jones last week, and it was Kyle Dugger this week coming up with a pick-six in the second half to spark the Patriots. On a day when the offense sputtered, one of the Patriots’ best defensive playmakers stepped up and made a play.
Teach me how to Dugger.
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/Ea2mMeLiSH
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 1, 2023
Dugger has the potential to be a future All-Pro safety in the NFL. Granted, he has sort of flown under the radar with the Patriots struggling this season, but it’s only a matter of time before his on-field play starts getting the respect it deserves.
Big time players make big time plays, and Dugger is clearly a big time player.
Loser: Trent Brown
I really didn’t want to add a loser to this week’s article, but Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown made it hard with his constant penalty struggles.
We could definitely get onto the officiating for the horrendous no-call on the first drive fumble by the Dolphins, but they also cut the Patriots a lot of breaks with Brown’s early movements on the offensive front.
Penalties have been a struggle for the veteran offensive lineman all season long, and they’re an even bigger concern down the stretch in must-win games. It was just odd to see Brown consistently making the same mistakes over and over again.
Winner: Patriots secondary
Kyle Dugger got some individual recognition, but the entire secondary deserves credit for the Patriots stepping up and holding the Dolphins offense in check.
Things could have easily snowballed with the unit missing Marcus Jones, Jalen Mills and Jack Jones. They were down to Jonathan Jones and Myles Bryant on the field, which led to the team playing with an extra safety.
Jabrill Peppers stepped into that role and came up big with eight tackles, which was only second behind linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley. Injuries have clearly been an issue for the Patriots, but they’ve been able to work around them due to the incredible versatility from the players on the team.
Loser: Special Teams
It was a rough afternoon for the Patriots’ special teams unit.
Punter Michael Palardy has continued to struggle as a starter with punts being shanked on a weekly basis. The return unit also failed to create even decent field position with Marcus Jones out of action.
Rookie Brendan Schooler also had a bad running into the kicker penalty earlier in the game that kept a drive alive for the Dolphins. It was just one of those frustrating games where the unit made a lot of costly mistakes. The good news is they secured the onside kick attempt to put the Dolphins away in the fourth quarter.
So it wasn’t all bad.
