Miami Dolphins defeat New England Patriots thanks to Xavien Howard's big play

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots never did challenge Xavien Howard, so he took it upon himself to change the game.

Howard forced a fumble of New England running back Damien Harris, and recovered it himself, to seal a 17-16 victory in the Miami Dolphins' season-opener on Sunday.

When Howard made the play, the Dolphins were leading by just one point, the Patriots had driven within Miami's 10-yard line and there were less than four minutes to play.

It was billed as a matchup between former Alabama quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones. And while both quarterbacks showed promise, it's pretty clear neither youngster is fully formed.

Statistically, Jones, the rookie, held an edge on Sunday.

Jones passed for 281 yards, with a quarterback rating of 102.6.

Tagovailoa passed for 202 yards, with a quarterback rating of 79.6.

Miami's strong defense also helped bail out Tagovailoa, who made a poor choice that led to an interception with just over eight minutes to play and Miami leading by one.

Under pressure, on third down, Tagovailoa threw it up toward the right sideline and it was tipped by Albert Wilson, then Mike Gesicki twice, before being corralled by New England defensive back Jonathan Jones.

No matter. Miami's defense held.

The Dolphins are 1-0. The Patriots are 0-1.

And for at least one day, all is well for the Dolphins in the AFC East.

Here are five takeaways:

Tua 2.0

The first drive of Tagovailoa's second season could not have gone better.

Tagovailoa led Miami 10 plays, 80 yards, for a touchdown capped by a 3-yard run by the quarterback.

Tagovailoa was accurate. He utilized tempo. He made good decisions.

The rest of the first half was not quite as impressive for Tagovailoa. Miami had punts on three consecutive possessions.

Tagovailoa did lead a field goal drive at the end of the first half to tie the score at 10.

And then, on the first drive of the second half, Tua led another long drive, capped by a short touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle.

Tagovailoa seems more poised, more comfortable and more confident.

And Tua seemed to enjoy operating an offense designed by co-offensive coordinators George Godsey and Eric Studesville.

It was not a remarkably impressive statistical output by Tagovailoa, and he continues to appear to be an improved player.

The fourth-quarter interception was one he'd certainly want back.

Rookie Report

There are many Miami rookies who will be given an opportunity to contribute this season.

On Sunday, safety Jevon Holland forced a fumble, even though he backed up veteran Jason McCourty, who had an impressive deep-pass breakup.

Miami trusted Holland and had him on the field alongside safeties McCourty and Eric Rowe with the team clinging to a fourth-quarter lead.

Linebacker Jaelan Phillips, a first-rounder, did not start and in fact largely worked behind veteran Brennan Scarlett. It might take some time for Phillips to adjust to the NFL.

Receiver Waddle got off to a strong start, taking the first offensive snap of Miami's season 17 yards on a run-pass option slant.

On a drive shortly before half, Waddle made a deep completion of 36 yards to help set up a game-tying field goal.

Waddle did fail to haul in a third-down pass from Tua he probably could have caught. That stalled a second-quarter drive.

But in the second half, Waddle caught the first touchdown of his career. What makes Waddle so special and unique is his explosiveness and ability to create separation.

It's something Tua lacked so badly last season. 

Offensive line performance

Speaking of rookies, Liam Eichenberg of Notre Dame got the call at left tackle, even though Austin Jackson was active.

Jackson didn't practice all week, as he was on the NFL's COVID-19 list.

And so even though Eichenberg had largely practiced at right tackle and left guard for Miami, the second-rounder started.

Eichenberg had a holding penalty declined in the first quarter. And on one play in the second quarter he was steamrolled by Josh Uche for a third-down sack. In the fourth quarter, Eichenberg was called again for holding.

All in all, it was not an entirely terrible outing by Eichenberg, who was a standout pass-protector at left tackle for the Irish. 

It was also a decent outing overall by Miami's offensive line. Through three quarters, Tagovailoa had been hit seven times. By comparison, New England's Mac Jones had been hit three times.

Run defense concern

The Patriots posted 83 first-half rushing yards.

Early in the game, Miami lost stud defensive tackle Raekwon Davis to a knee injury. It was indicated on CBS that Davis braced up and wanted to return, but he did not.

Davis is Miami's most important run-stopper. 

Elandon Roberts, who had a questionable roughing-the-passer penalty in the second quarter, is an enforcer. And he had better be very good this season, after Miami chose to cut run-stuffing linebacker Benardrick McKinney.

Without Davis, especially, Miami needed defensive linemen Zach Sieler and Emmanuel Ogbah to make an impact and in this game, their presence was frequently felt.

One thing Miami's defense seemed poised to do in 2021 as they did in 2020 is cause turnovers.

In the first half on Sunday, Holland, Christian Wilkins and Eric Rowe all forced fumbles, with Rowe's being recovered by Zach Sieler.

What the scratches tell us

The Dolphins made second-year cornerback Noah Igbinoghene a healthy scratch.

Igbinoghene was drafted in the first round in 2020, so this is not ideal. The Dolphins suited up Jamal Perry for his special teams prowess.

Miami also has flexibility with Jason McCourty, who is playing safety but could shift to cornerback in a pinch.

The Dolphins scratched offensive tackle Greg Little, which tells you the club feels he needs more time to learn the offensive.

And Preston Williams did not play, mostly because he is not all the way back from a knee injury. It's going to be even harder for Williams to get back into the lineup when Will Fuller returns from his NFL-mandated suspension in Week 2.