The Dolphins offense moved the ball without scoring points through the first 28-plus minutes of Sunday’s game against the Patriots, but they changed that just before the half.
Ryan Tannehill hit Rishard Matthews for 24 yards and Marlon Moore for 11 more to move the ball into Patriots territory and then found Mike Wallace for a 39-yard touchdown to make the score 10-7 with 40 seconds to go in the half. Wallace got to the end zone by breaking through a tackle by Marquice Cole, who was in the game because Kyle Arrington was getting worked on by trainers on the New England sideline.
Until that point the Dolphins had seen their best scoring chance go up in smoke when John Denney’s snap on a field goal went off holder Brandon Fields’ helmet. The Patriots had some early success, but sputtered for much of the half until they followed that botched snap by moving quickly down the field. Danny Amendola did the heavy lifting and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui got the touchdown on a nifty one-handed grab.
Arrington’s loss would be a big one because the Patriots have yielded 201 yards already today. Three sacks and a couple of tackles just short of the sticks on third down have kept the Dolphins off the scoreboard, but they’ll need to tighten things up to keep Miami from building on Wallace’s score.