Tough night in Miami for Brady, Patriots

Dec 12, 2017 - 6:42 AM MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Only one of Tom Brady's first-quarter passes was caught Monday night, but that grab was made by the other team.

It was that kind of night for Brady and the New England Patriots, who were upset 27-20 by the sub-.500 Miami Dolphins on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

"This was a bad night," the star quarterback said.

There is no arguing that fact, at least from New England's perspective. Miami (6-7) was a double-digit underdog.

Brady finished better than he started, but it wasn't enough to lead his team to victory.

After missing on all four of his first-quarter passes, he finished with modest numbers for a player of his stature: 24 completions out of 43 attempts for 233 yards and one touchdown. He also was intercepted twice -- both by cornerback Xavien Howard.

Before Monday, Brady had just four interceptions all season and never more than one in a game. His last multiple-interception game was in 2015.

The Monday result was stunning given that the Patriots (10-3) are so good in prime-time moments and the Dolphins have been terrible lately in those same scenarios.

Even with the loss, New England is 16-4 in its past 20 night games. Miami is 2-7 in its past nine appearances on "Monday Night Football."

So what happened?

For starters, Brady was missing his star tight end, Rob Gronkowski, who served a one-game suspension for an intentional late hit last week.

"He's a big player," Brady said of Gronkowski. "Anytime he's out there, it helps us."

In addition, tight end Martellus Bennett (shoulder) and wide receivers Julian Edelman (knee) and Malcolm Mitchell (knee) are all out.

Brady was also missing starting right tackle Marcus Cannon, and it showed as he was sacked twice and hit six other times. Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was particularly difficult to block, posting one sack and two QB hits.

Beyond personnel issues, the Patriots also failed in the clutch, going 0-for-11 on third-down conversions.

Miami traditionally plays New England tough at home, beating the Patriots four of the past five years at Hard Rock Stadium. The only exception to that run of Dolphins' success came last year.

New England coach Bill Belichick, asked by a Miami reporter about the Dolphins' recent success here, seemed more irritated than usual.

"Didn't we win last year?" Belichick said.

The reporter said yes but reminded the coach about the overall stretch of four home wins in five years.

"Every game is different," Belichick said. "Every year is different. One year has nothing to do with the next."

Belichick was also asked if his Patriots were looking ahead to next week's titanic trip to play at the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2), who would clinch home field throughout the AFC playoffs with a win.

"Give me a break," Belichick said when about whether his team was caught glancing ahead at the schedule.

Brady, though, had more to say about the Steelers game.

"We can't go up there and play as poorly as we did tonight," Brady said. "We have to do a lot of things better. We have to go to Pittsburgh and try to beat a real good team."