Tom Brady in red-hot form as New England Patriots dominate Miami Dolphins
Friday 30 October 2015 16:32, UK
Tom Brady continued his dominant season with four touchdown passes as the New England Patriots maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 36-7 demolition of the Miami Dolphins.
Patriots quarterback Brady threw for 356 yards and four scores on Thursday night to condemn new Dolphins coach Dan Campbell to a first defeat since he took over from Joe Philbin earlier this month.
Miami (3-4) had looked a much-improved team in their last two games - both victories - but Tennessee and Houston are not in New England's class and the Patriots were in ruthless form for much of the night at Gillette Stadium.
They never looked back after Brady hit Rob Gronkowski over the middle for a 47-yard touchdown with less than five minutes on the clock, although it took a while for a second touchdown to come.
Miami dug in on defense but were unable to drive the ball forward and went 9-0 down when Mike Pouncey snapped the ball before quarterback Ryan Tannehill was ready to give the Patriots two points from a safety.
Stephen Gostkowski hit a 52-yard field goal with 3:29 left in the first half and Brady took the chance of a final drive before the interval to make it 19-0 when he linked up with elusive running-back Dion Lewis for a 16-yard touchdown.
Miami got on the board early in the third quarter when Lamar Miller - held to only 15 yards rushing on nine carries - plunged over for a one-yard touchdown.
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Gostkowski made it 22-7 with his second field goal of the night, a momentous one for the kicker who broke Adam Vinatieri's franchise record with his 26th successful field goal in a row.
And there would be two more Brady touchdown passes in the final quarter, both going to favourite wide receiver target Julian Edelman, who scored from 10 and 16 yards.
The Patriots are 7-0 for the second time in franchise history and first time since going 16-0 in 2007 - they have scored at least 28 points in every game and 30 or more in six straight, and Brady has thrown 20 touchdown passes to go with only one interception.
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