FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ By the time New England tight end Martellus Bennett stiff-armed Dolphins cornerback Byron Maxwell en route to a 20-yard gain early in the third quarter Sunday, the rout was on, and there was little hope of a miracle comeback.
As it turned out a little hope was all the Dolphins needed. They pushed and pushed, cutting their deficit to one touchdown before losing to the Patriots, 31-24, for the eighth consecutive year at Gillette Stadium.
But the Dolphins, who trailed, 31-3, with 8:44 left in the third quarter put up a late-game fight, whittled their deficit to 31-24 with 6:06 remaining after driving 74 yards in nine plays.
In the end however, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins came up short as he threw an interception in the end zone with two seconds left. Patriots cornerback Duron Harmon picked off a pass intended for wide receiver DeVante Parker in the corner of the end zone.
New England left the door open for the miracle comeback when kicker Stephen Gostkowski, one of the NFL's best, missed wide right from 37 yards with 1:04 left.
Tannehill completed a 20-yard pass to Parker to get the Dolphins to their own 49-yard line. After an incompletion, Tannehill gained 17 yards on a scramble.
After a spike to stop the clock with 19 second left Tannehill hit wide receiver Jarvis Landry for a 5-yard gain to New England's 29 yard line with 16 second left. But Tannehill was incomplete for wide receiver Kenny Stills near the 5-yard line.
That brought up fourth and five from the 29-yard line with nine seconds left, which led to the interception.
New England was playing without its top two quarterbacks in the second half _ Tom Brady (suspended) and Jimmy Garoppolo (right shoulder) _ as well as tight end Rob Gronkwoski (shoulder), guard Jonathan Cooper, and linebacker Dont'a Hightower (knee).
Garoppolo got knocked out of the game in the second quarter after linebacker Kiko Alonso sacked him and landed on his right (throwing shoulder).
That left much of the game to rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett, the former North Carolina State standout.
The Dolphins (0-2) fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter and 24-0 in the second after New England scored touchdowns on its first three possessions.
At that time the game appeared to on its way to a blowout. By halftime, the Patriots (2-0) had 17 first downs and 290 yards compared to seven first downs for the Dolphins and 149 yards.
Garoppolo was carving up the Dolphins defense to the tune of 234 yards and three touchdowns on 18 for 27 passing.
The wide receivers trio of Julian Edelman (six receptions, 69 yards), Danny Amendola (four receptions, 50 yards, two touchdowns) and Chris Hogan (three receptions, 47 yards) blistered the Dolphins' secondary in the first half.
The Dolphins host Cleveland in their home opener next week.
