The age of Mac Jones as quarterback for the Patriots (0-1) he started with a loss.
Although the rookie had a good game, the Miami Dolphins (1-0) defeated New England 17-16 in Week 1 from the 2021 NFL season.
In the Alabama ex-quarterback duel, the winner was Tua Tagovailoa, undisputed starter of the Dolphins, who decided to release veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who incidentally injured his hip in his presentation in Washington.
Miami ruined Jones’s debut who became the Patriots’ first rookie quarterback to start a season as a starter since Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
Jones is also the first quarterback to lose his first game under Bill Belichick; the previous ones were 6-0, including Eric Zeier (Cleveland, 1995) and Jacoby Brissett (2016), who had their first NFL starting game in their rookie campaign.
The Dolphins are now 30-25-1 at Opening Week, while the Patriots (35-27) lost only the third in Week 1 of the last 18 years.
Dolphins hit first
On his first drive of the afternoon, Miami covered 80 yards in 10 plays and five minutes. Tua Tagovailoa finished the series with a five-yard dash, on a read-option that worked perfectly, for 7-0 with 5:29 left on the first quarter clock.
With a lot of trouble moving the ball, Jones was finally able to make a big play on the Dolphins defense, when he hit a 25-yard throw down the middle of the field with Nelson Agholor to Miami’s 26th.
A roughing the passer penalty on Elandon Roberts gave the Patriots first and a goal at the Miami 8-yard line and, two plays later, Jones found Agholor for his first NFL touchdown pass.
Thus, at 2:30 from the end of the first half, New England took the lead, 10-7.
Tagovailoa immediately responded with a 36-yard spiral down the left wing at the hands of rookie Jaylen Waddle, another Alabama product.
A deflected pass in the end zone by Jalen Mills and a sack by Josh Uche forced the Dolphins to go for the field goal. Jason Sanders hit the 48-yard kick on the final play of the second quarter, which ended with a 10-10 draw at Foxborough.
Another effective starter
In the first offense of the second half, Tagovailoa hit a 30-yard pass with DeVante Parker by the right band until 43 of New England. Later, Tua found Waddle on a three-yard play for the touchdown that put Miami ahead, 17-10.
At the end of the third period, The Patriots put together a long 14-play, 57-yard offensive drive that consumed 5:37 but didn’t end with a touchdown. but with Nick Folk’s third field goal, this one from 33 yards, to bring the locals closer to 17-16, with 10:36 to play.
In a play in which he was trying to take the pressure off two defenders and was running for his life, Tagovailoa threw a pass that touched the hands of two Miami players, then fall into those of Jonathan Jones, Patriots cornerback, right in the middle of the field.
However, nine plays later, a Damien Harris fumble (second for the Patriots) it was recovered by Xavien Howard at the Miami 9-yard line with 3:35 left in the game.
The stats
Jones completed 29 of 39 for 281 yards, with a touchdown and rating of 102.6.
Damien Harris added 100 yards on the ground on 23 carries for the Patriots.
Tagovailoa went 16 of 27, 202 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a rating of 79.6. His best wide receiver was DeVante Parker, with four catches and 81 yards.
Miami only generated 74 yards rushing, including 49 by Myles Gaskin.
Week 2 will be divisional duels in the AFC East: Dolphins host Buffalo Bills (0-1), while the Patriots will play in New York against the Jets (0-1).