Oct. 19, 2003. Pro Player Stadium.
With the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins tied late in regulation, Richard Seymour blocked a go-ahead field-goal attempt by Olindo Mare, sending the game to overtime. After Mare pushed another try wide left early in the extra session, Tom Brady uncorked an 82-yard, walk-off, game-winning touchdown pass to Troy Brown.
Final score: Patriots 19, Dolphins 16.
It was an important midseason victory over a tough divisional opponent. But for Brady and the Patriots, that win represented so much more.
“I remember the bus ride leaving was pretty cool,” the legendary QB recalled years later. “We were flipping people off. It was out of control. We hadn’t won there in so long. You would have thought we won five Super Bowls in a row. It was pretty fun.”
For the Patriots, who’d go on to win an actual Super Bowl later that season, the triumph in Miami was a long-awaited relief. They’d lost in their previous five visits to South Florida, dating back to Year 1 of the Pete Carroll era. And that came after a six-game losing streak there that stretched from the late 1980s to the mid-’90s.
“That was a pretty special day,” Brady said in 2018. “There was a long history of us playing a lot of bad football games down there, and that kind of broke that a little bit. Not that it’s been stellar (since), but at least that one got us out of the basement.”
Out of the basement, yes. But that ’03 W, as celebrated as it was at the time, was only a temporary respite. The Dolphins’ home stadium continued to be a house of horrors for New England throughout its 20-year run as the NFL’s most dominant franchise.
It took Brady a full decade to win back-to-back starts in Miami, with the Patriots taking three straight from 2010 to 2012. (They also won consecutive games in ’07 and ’08, but Matt Cassel was their QB for the latter.)
Overall, Brady finished his Patriots tenure with a sub-.500 record in road games against the Dolphins, going 8-10 (.444). In games played at any other venue, he was 211-54 (.796).
A full rundown of those defeats:
2001
Dolphins 30, Patriots 10
Miami holds Brady to 86 passing yards and sacks him four times to hand the then-unproven QB the first loss of his NFL career.
2002
Dolphins 26, Patriots 13
Brady throws two touchdown passes to David Patten but also two interceptions, including one in the fourth quarter. Ricky Williams runs for 105 yards and the Dolphins win comfortably.
2004
Dolphins 29, Patriots 28
The 2-11 Dolphins score two touchdowns in the final 2:07, sandwiched around a Brady interception, to shock the 12-1, Super Bowl-bound Patriots on “Monday Night Football.”
2009
Dolphins 22, Patriots 21
After consecutive Patriots three-and-outs, Dan Carpenter drills a go-ahead field goal with 1:07 remaining, and a final New England drive ends in an interception.
2013
Dolphins 24, Patriots 20
The teams combine for 24 fourth-quarter points, with Ryan Tannehill hitting Marcus Thigpen for a game-winning touchdown with 1:15 left. The Patriots respond with a 13-play drive into Miami’s red zone, but Brady is picked off at the goal line in the final seconds.
2014
Dolphins 34, Patriots 20
The Patriots lead 20-10 but collapse in the second half, allowing 24 unanswered points in a Week 1 loss.
2015
Dolphins 20, Patriots 10
In easily the ugliest game on this list, the Patriots, with a playoff spot locked up but home-field advantage still within reach, opt to play their starters but employ an extremely conservative game plan. Steven Jackson and Brandon Bolden combine for 25 carries for 66 yards, Brady injures his ankle on a hit from Ndamukong Suh, and the Patriots hand the No. 1 seed to the Broncos — then go on to lose in Denver in the AFC Championship Game.
2017
Dolphins 27, Patriots 20
With Rob Gronkowski suspended, the Patriots go 0-for-11 on third down and Brady throws a pair of interceptions to Xavien Howard in a Monday night loss to Jay Cutler.
2018
Dolphins 34, Patriots 33
The Miami Miracle game.
Brady enjoyed much more success in home games against the Dolphins, going a sterling 16-2 against Miami at Foxboro or Gillette Stadium.
One of those losses was a meaningless Week 17 game in which Brady played just one quarter before giving way to Cassel, but the other was one of the most surprising and devastating results in recent Patriots history: the Brian Flores- and Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Dolphins 27, Patriots 24 in the 2019 season finale.
The Patriots’ loss as 17.5-point home favorites robbed them of a first-round playoff bye, and the Tennessee Titans ended both their season and Brady’s illustrious New England tenure one week later.
