MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Years from now, maybe this will be where it all began.
Maybe the Patriots will be good again and folks will point to a hot and humid Sunday when they finally threw off the Hard Luck at Hard Rock Stadium, refused to fold, and got a few breaks in a 33-27 road win vs. the Dolphins.
The lasting video clip will be the one of Mike Vrabel attempting to run stride for stride with 27-year-old burner Antonio Gibson while the kick returner was winning the game with a 90-yard dash to daylight, seconds after the Pats had allowed a 74-yard punt return which had all of Patriot Nation moaning, “Here we go, again.”
“We had just given up the punt return, but then Gibby answered,” said Vrabel, who no doubt submitted his best 40-time since he was a rookie linebacker for the Steelers in 1997. “I felt like we were willing to get into a street fight. We had a little lull, but we didn’t pack it up and quit.”
Street fight indeed. At times this looked like two teetering drunks trying to slug it out in the Seaport after last call. Vrabel’s first win as Patriots head coach was a sloppy 60 minutes between two NFL wannabes, but it was wildly entertaining.
Drake Maye (19 of 23, two touchdowns, NO turnovers) stepped up at big boy quarterback moments, did things on the run, and demonstrated the pocket presence and Sunday Afternoon Cool that Patriots fans dreamed about when he was the third pick in 2024. It marked only the second time Maye has won a game in which he started and finished.
We had Gibson’s kickoff return for a touchdown on the first play after a punt return for a touchdown by Malik Washington. Tell me when you’ve ever seen anything like that before.
And after all of that, we had the flashback nightmare of another Miami Miracle/Debacle when Dolphins running back De’Von Achane dashed into the end zone after the two-minute warning, apparently winning the game for Miami with a 44-yard touchdown, only to have the would-be TD taken off the books because Achane stepped out of bounds at the Patriots’ 26.
It needs to be said that Miami’s 0-2 start has the appearance of a team mutiny. The Dolphins were an absolute clown show of play execution and clock management down the stretch. With a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, they went from first and 10 on the 26, to second and 20 without even snapping the football. The Fins play the Bills on Thursday Night and hipster coach Mike McDaniel could be gone before Miami plays the Jets on Monday Night Football September 29.
But this is not our concern.
In a game marred by 22 penalties worth 140 yards, the Patriots scored more than 30 points for the first time since Bailey Zappe put a 38-15 beating on the Browns in October 2022. The victory was New England’s first in Miami since 2019 when a fellow named Tom Brady won, 43-0. The Pats had never beaten Tua Tagovailoa (7-0).
The Patriots look seriously flawed. New England’s defense gave up a bunch of chunk plays in the season-opening loss to the Raiders and Sunday let Tua and friends look respectable. The Pats didn’t tackle well, gave up almost 7 yards per play, and committed 12 penalties for 75 yards.
Kicking might be an area of need. New England’s rookie placekicker, Andy Borregales, a sixth-round draft pick, missed two extra points after shanking a field-goal attempt in the opener. A native of Hollywood, Fla., and big-time kicker for the University of Miami, he got some redemption in front of his hometown fans when he booted a 53-yarder with 1:47 left … but this might be a time to rent, not buy.
“I have a lot of confidence in him,” said Vrabel. “I’m happy for Andy. That’s why he’s here. After the first two, he really settled down and that’s what we’ll have to have.”
Gibson’s return goes down as the game-changer on a day that had a lot of unusual plays. The Pats were teed up to be 27-23 losers before the pride of Stockbridge, Ga., bailed them out.
Vrabel’s lucky he didn’t pull a hammy trying to keep up with the speedy back.
“I saw it on video and he’s slow as hell,” said wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
“I’m just excited for these guys,” said the 50-year-old coach. “I’m excited that they could fight and compete and come on the road and be in a game and get off to a good start and not be front-runners. … The only thing that stopped us today was us.
“I appreciate the character. We certainly don’t have to put it to the test all the time with mistakes and silly penalties. There’s a lot of things out there that we have to do better, but we didn’t pout. We didn’t drop our heads. We went on to the next play and competed. I’m proud of our team and it will always be about the players, now and forever.”
The Patriots come home to Gillette next weekend. Bill Parcells will be enshrined in the Patriots Hall of Fame on Saturday and the Pats will play host to Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers on Sunday.
That’s the 1-1 Patriots.
Which sure sounds a lot better than the 0-2 Pats.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.