Tom Brady picked up his 100th win as an NFL quarterback thanks to the efforts of safety Patrick Chung and the special teams as the New England Patriots defeated the host Miami Dolphins 41-14 on Monday.
Brandon Tate returned a kickoff for a touchdown and Chung blocked a punt and a field goal and returned an interception for a touchdown for the Patriots (3-1), who won for just the third time in their last 10 road games.
The Patriots trailed 7-6 at the half but took care of that deficit right away when Tate ran the opening kickoff of the third quarter back 103 yards for a touchdown.
New England’s special teams got the job done again less than two minutes later when Chung blocked a punt and Brandon Spikes recovered at Miami’s 15-yard-line.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis cashed it in from there, rushing twice for a total of 15 yards and the touchdown to push it to 20-7.
The Dolphins (2-2) drew to within 20-14 on Ricky Williams’ 28-yard receiving touchdown, but Brady hit Danny Woodhead with an 11-yard touchdown pass later in the third quarter before New England's special teams took over once again in the fourth.
Miami's Dan Carpenter lined up for a 53-yard field goal try, but Chung broke through up the middle to block the kick. Kyle Arrington recovered the ball and returned it 35 yards for the score.
Rob Ninkovich added two interceptions and a sack for New England.
Brady was 19 of 24 for 153 yards and a touchdown. He is the fastest quarterback to reach 100 career wins, accomplishing the feat in his 131st game.
Chad Henne threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-39 passing but was also intercepted three times.
New England | Miami | |
BenJarvus Green-Ellis | Player | Ricky Williams |
16 | Attempts | 8 |
76 | Yards | 56 |
4.8 | Avg Yards | 7.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
12 | Long | 16 |
New England | Miami | |
Wes Welker | Player | Davone Bess |
8 | Receptions | 8 |
70 | Yards | 96 |
8.8 | Avg Yards | 12.0 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
17 | Long | 21 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
New England | 265 | 119 | 146 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 0 |
Miami | 400 | 92 | 308 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 |