Patriots silence Dolphins 36-7

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

There was a lot of hype surrounding the Miami Dolphins coming into Foxborough, but the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots were up to the task. The Patriots defeated Miami 36-7 at Gillette Stadium.

Tom Brady was once again brilliant, going 26/38 for 356 yards and four touchdowns. In his return from an abdominal injury, Dion Lewis didn't miss a beat. The shifty running back rushed five times for 19 yards and caught six passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Brady put the game out of reach for Miami when he connected with Julian Edelman for a 10-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots got off to a fast start, scoring on the opening drive of the game. Brady hit Lewis for a 17-yard gain on third-and-16, and then hit Gronkowski for a 47-yard touchdown.

On the next Dolphins possession, Tannehill saw the ball go over his shoulder as soon as it was snapped, which resulted in a safety for New England. From there, it was all New England. A Stephen Gostkowski field goal made it 12-0, and then Brady hit Lewis for his only touchdown of the game towards the end of the first half to make it 19-0.

Tannehill finished his night going 28/44 for 300 yards and two interceptions to Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon.

There were some historic moments in this game as well. Stephen Gostkowski set a Patriots record with 26 consecutive field goals made on a 36-yard attempt late in the third quarter to put the Pats up 22-7.

Rob Gronkowski finished with another 100-plus-yard game, making that the 19th time in his career he's done that. That tied him with Shannon Sharpe for sixth all time for tight ends.

Gronk also exceeded 5,000 receiving yards for his career, making him the seventh Patriot to accomplish that feat.
If anyone was worried about Brady taking a cheap shot of any kind, it never happened. The offensive line did a good job of holding the heavy hitters on the Dolphins defense in check. Ndamukong Suh, Olivier Vernon and Cameron Wake combined for six tackles and two sacks, which came from Wake and Vernon.

Wake left in the fourth quarter with an achillies injury and did not return.

New England's defense was able to hold the suddenly high-flying Dolphins offense in check for nearly the entire game. They limited Lamar Miller to 15 yards and one touchdown on nine carries, and Chandler Jones continued his dominant play this season by sacking Ryan Tannehill twice. Jones now leads the NFL in sacks with 8.5.

Dont'a Hightower, Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty also got in on the fun, sacking Tannehill once each. They totaled five sacks in total.

The Patriots will look to remain unbeaten when they take on the Washington Redskins next Sunday at Gillette.

Follow me on Twitter - @JesseGaunce

For more of my articles, click here.