What the Miami Dolphins had to say after getting smoked by the Patriots
"I think it’s one game in a 16-game season."
Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase isn’t going to let Sunday’s 38-7 shellacking by the Patriots damper his 3-1 team’s spirits.
“It is what it is,” Gase said after the deafening defeat. “They beat us. They beat us in every phase of the game. They out-physicaled us, but at the same time, we have to put things into perspective. One game. We have to go back to work. We have to find a way to win another game on the road.”
“We didn’t get it done today,” former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola added. “We got to look at film [and] see what we can learn. It’s a great learning experience for us. We’re 3-1, and we’ve got to get better. So back to work this week and get ready for our next game.”
The Dolphins got off to an encouraging 3-0 start — their best since 2013 — and, with the Patriots falling to 1-2 last week, had a chance to take control of the AFC East. But New England stomped on Miami’s undefeated dreams, racking up 38 points while keeping the Dolphins scoreless through 53 minutes of football.
“Any time you play a game or you have a chance to pull away from somebody in the division or go 4-0, I mean, there’s not a lot times that opportunity comes about,” Gase said. “There’s a reason [the Patriots] haven’t lost three games in, you know, 20 years, or whatever it’s been — probably since coach [Bill] Belichick’s been here. We had an opportunity. We came into a place that’s tough to win, and we didn’t do a good job in any aspect of the game.”
As the questions about the offensive and defensive struggles came flying in from reporters, Gase issued a blanket statement: “We didn’t do anything good today, so every question you ask can be the same thing.” One area he did pinpoint, however, was the lack of physicality from his team — something that surprised him.
“We really didn’t anticipate getting out-physicaled like the way we did,” Gase said. “We just couldn’t get anything going. We were getting pushed back, a lot of pressure on [quarterback] Ryan [Tannehill] even though they weren’t pressuring with blitzes. When you are getting pressured on three, four-man rushes, that’s going to be an issue and that’s really what happened. We could not get anything going on offense, and then it just kind of trickles down to the defense.
“I didn’t see this coming. I didn’t think that we would get out-physicaled. That surprised me. I knew it was going to be tough because that’s just what it is. You come here, I mean, I didn’t see too many teams walk out of here [with a win] against a Hall of Fame quarterback. It’s just not going to happen. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up, but it’s fixable.”
Tannehill agreed “a lot went wrong,” lamenting the Dolphins’ inability to convert on third down. (Miami was three of 11.) While his comments were dripping with disappointment, Tannehill and the rest of the team stressed the loss represented only one game of their season.
“I think it’s one game in a 16-game season,” Gase said. “We’re going to have to work, that’s what the NFL is. Trust me, by Wednesday they’ll forget about it.”
Linebacker Kiko Alonso borrowed one of Belichick’s infamous lines.
“That’s what it is and although it was ugly, it is just one loss,” Alonso said. “We are on to Cincinnati, and, obviously, we have to get better.”
