Patriots, Stevenson Hammer Dolphins 38-10, Finish 14-3, #2 Seed

The Patriots capped off a remarkable turnaround 2025 regular season by routing the Miami Dolphins 38-10, winning their 14th game of the season, after dropping 13 games the past two years.

By going 14-3, the Patriots secured the #2 seed in the playoffs. Denver finished with an identical 14-3 record but had the tiebreaker over New England and earned the #1 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Next Sunday at 8:00 p.m., the Patriots will host the #7 seed Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium for the Wildcard game.

But first, the Patriots had to take care of business against the Miami Dolphins. And they did, hammering Miami’s defense for 243 yards on the ground. Rhamondre Stevenson led the way, rushing for 131 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries. Stevenson added 22 yards receiving on two catches, including a 15-yard touchdown.

TreVeyon Henderson added 53 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns. The running backs combined for 184 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries, averaging more than nine yards per carry.

With the running game clicking, Drake Maye didn’t have to throw much, and he didn’t, tossing just 18 passes, completing 14 of them for 191 yards (10.6-yard average) with a touchdown and a passer rating of 129.6. The Patriots didn’t feel the need to pad his stats with touchdown passes down on the goalline.

Maye finished the regular season completing 72 percent of his throws for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions. He led the league in completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating (113.4), among others.

Maye’s 72.0 completion percentage is a new Patriots franchise record and the sixth-highest total in NFL history. He also added 450 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

The game began like the Patriots would finish this one off before halftime. They took the opening kickoff and went 70 yards in three plays with Stevenson going for a 56-yard run on the second play, before Henderson took it in from the five-yard line to put them up 7-0.

However, the defense struggled against Miami’s motion and the Dolphins moved to the Patriots’ eight-yard line before failing on a fourth and goal in the end zone.

There the Patriots went 92 yards on nine plays, with the big one a 35-yard pass play to Efton Chism. With a second and goal from the two, Maye went in motion to the outside and Stevenson took a direct snap. He powered in for a touchdown and the score was 14-0.

The second quarter was not the Patriots’ best, Miami took the kickoff and went 65 yards on ten plays capped off with Quinn Ewers tossing a two-yard touchdown pass to Malik Washington.

The Patriots went three and out and then failed on a 4th down run on the next possession. Miami fumbled and the Patriots moved to kick a FG but it was blocked. Miami recovered on the Patriot’s 40, but could only make it six yards before kicking a FG to narrow the score to 14-10 with 28 seconds to go in the half.

Maye then relit the offense, and moved the Patriots to a 59-yard field goal with no time left in the half. Andy Borregales boomed it right down the middle as time expired.

Miami took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and went 52 yards to the Patriots 13, where Jaylinn Hawkins picked off Ewers in the end zone, and effectively ended Miami’s offensive output for the day. The rest of the game saw the Patriots defense step up and hold Miami to just one first down for the rest of the game.

The Patriots held them to just 12 net yards from that point while Maye and the offense scored three straight touchdowns to make the score 38-10. Then it was time for Maye and other starters to take a seat and let the backups mop up in the fourth quarter.

Stefon Diggs caught a 34-yard pass from Maye which pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for the seventh time in his career, and kicked in a $500,000 bonus. It was the first Patriot reaching 1,000 yards since Julian Edelman did it in 2019,

Hunter Henry caught his 60th pass of the year, and kicked in a $250,000 bonus.

Henry led all pass catchers with five catches for 56 yards. The offensive line should get a ton of credit, generating holes for the running game to run for 243 yards and not allowing a sack of Maye.

Despite the poor start by the defense, Miami’s shorthanded offense could only must 180 net yards in total. And just 58 yards after those first two drives.

And the team welcomed back Milton Williams, Will Campbell and Kayshon Boutte from injuries. All three factored in the game.

Asked about the team getting to 14 wins, head coach Mike Vrabel made it clear that the real season begins now.

“It means we are the second seed, and we’re gonna host the Chargers, and start over,” Vrabel said. “The only wins that are gonna matter is gonna be the ones we can get moving forward.

“… We’ll get ready and get rolling, and do what we do every week.”

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About Steve Balestrieri

A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)

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