Dolphins may have ushered in new Patriots era during nasty victory

Fans who sat through the entirety of the Miami Dolphins' narrow win against the New England Patriots should be entitled to some sort of financial compensation. The Tyler Huntley/Jacoby Brissett quarterback duel looked exactly as thrilling and high-octane as those two heavyweight signal-callers would entail.

The Patriots continued their lackluster offensive showing. Brissett, who has yet to throw for 700 combined passing yards through five games, completed just 18 of 34 passes for 160 yards. The Patriots are now 31st in the league in points per game, with only the banged-up Miami behind them.

While the Dolphins can take solace in the fact they got to 2-3 and took home a road win against a divisional rival, they may have inadvertently started the next era of Patriots football. Drake Maye has been on the bench for the last five games, but the time to switch over to the former North Carolina star could be coming soon.

Mike Reiss of ESPN is reporting that New England is considering starting Maye against the Houston Texans. Miami's defense may have beaten the Patriots so thoroughly that Brissett had to go to the bench. If Maye ends up being excellent, this could be a rudimentary version of the Mo Lewis game.

Dolphins win vs. Patriots could make Drake Maye starting QB

The Dolphins' win also illustrated exactly why Jerod Mayo has been keeping Maye on the bench. The Patriots have a terrible wide receiver room, and their best skill position player (Rhamondre Stevenson) has serious fumbling issues surrounding him this season.

The offensive line was bad at full strength. It is by no means an exaggeration to say their offensive line as currently constructed is one of the worst the NFL has seen in years and borders on non-functional. Maye could be crushed into a million pieces behind this group.

However, as a banged-up Dolphins defense that was without star pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips showed, there is a very clear avenue to beating the Patriots when Brissett is in the game. Miami's offense may have sputtered once again, but their defense was able to take control and assert their will against a clearly wounded opponent.

While the Patriots will likely be very bad for the remainder of the 2024 season, Maye could give them a spark that Brissett just doesn't have. If this kick-starts the next great Patriots team, Miami may be inadvertently to blame.