NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS
REGULAR SEASON WEEK 1
GAME SUMMARY
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (0-0) AT MIAMI DOLPHINS (0-0)
Sunday, September 11, 2022 • Hard Rock Stadium (64,767) • 1:00 p.m. ET
The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins will square off on opening day for the 11th time in team history and for the third straight season after the 17-16 season-opening loss vs. Miami on Sept. 12, 2021. The Patriots will open the season at Miami for the first time since the 2014 season. The Patriots and Dolphins will meet for the second time in the regular season at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 1. Last season, Miami swept the season series for the first time since 2000. The last time the Patriots opened the season against the same opponent for three straight years was 1981, 1982 and 1983 against the Baltimore Colts.
SERIES HISTORY
• The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins will square off for the first of two scheduled meetings and on opening day for the 11th time in team history. It is the third straight season the two teams have battled in Week 1. The Patriots will open the season at Miami for the first time since the 2014 season. The Patriots and Dolphins will meet for the second time in the regular season at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 1.
Last season, Miami swept the season series for the first time since 2000.
• The Patriots have had the upper hand at home against Miami, holding a 36-19 record in games played in New England in the regular season, including a 16-4 record at Gillette Stadium. But the Patriots are 17-40 all-time in Miami, including two postseason contests. Miami beat New England at Gillette Stadium for the first time in the final game of the 2005 season.
• The Dolphins and Patriots met for the first time in 1966 and began playing twice a year during the 1967 regular season, except in 1982 during a players’ strike.
• The two have played three times in the postseason with New England holding a 2-1 advantage.
SERIES HISTORY
MIAMI 59, NEW ENGLAND 54
(Including New England 2, Miami 1 in Playoffs)
Record in New England 37-19 (Incl. 1-0 in playoffs)
Record in Foxborough 35-17 (1-0)
Record in Boston 2-2
Record in Miami 17-40 (Incl. 1-1 in playoffs)
Record at Dolphins / Hard Rock 13-22
Record at Orange Bowl 3-18 (1-1)
Record in Tampa* 1-0
Season Sweeps Patriots 10, Dolphins 14
Season Splits 30 (Most recent 2020)
Bill Belichick vs. Miami 26-20 (26-18 with New England)
*A Miami home game was played in Tampa in 1969.
QUICK HITS
• Since Bill Belichick became Patriots head coach in 2000, New England is 26-18 (.591) against Miami.
• Since 2000, the Patriots are 99-37 (.728) against AFC East opponents. New England is 26-18 against the Dolphins over that span, 34-10 against the New York Jets and 36-8 against the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots were 3-1 against Indianapolis from 2000 through 2001 when
they were in the AFC East.
PATRIOTS VS. MIAMI IN SEASON OPENERS
The Patriots will be opening the season against the Miami Dolphins for the 11th time in team history and for the third straight season. The Patriots hosted Miami in the season-opener in 2020 and 2021 and will play at Miami to start the 2022 season. It will mark the first time since 2016 that the Patriots will open the season on the road and the first time opening the season at Miami since the 2014 season. The last time the Patriots opened the season against the same opponent for three straight years was 1981, 1982 and 1983 against the Baltimore Colts. The Patriots, who are 54-59 all-time against Miami, are 5-5 against the Dolphins when meeting in the season-opener. The Patriots are 1-3 when opening the year at Miami. Miami is the most frequent team that the Patriots open with. Buffalo is second with nine opening day meetings.
PATRIOTS VS. MIAMI IN SEASON OPENERS (5-5)
YEAR DATE OPPONENT SCORE
1970 09/20 vs. Miami 27-14 (W)
1974 09/15 vs. Miami 34-24 (W)
1987 09/13 vs. Miami 28-21 (W)
1990 09/09 vs. Miami 24-27 (L)
1994 09/04 at Miami 35-39 (L)
1996 09/01 at Miami 10-24 (L)
2011 09/12 at Miami 38-24 (W)
2014 09/07 at Miami 20-33 (L)
2020 09/13 vs. Miami 21-11 (W)
2021 09/12 vs. Miami 16-17 (L)
PATRIOTS VS. AFC EAST IN SEASON OPENERS
The Patriots will be opening the season against an AFC East opponent for the 27th time overall.
PATRIOTS VS. MIAMI IN SEASON OPENERS (16-11)
YEAR DATE OPPONENT SCORE
1970 09/20 vs. Miami 27-14 (W)
1973 09/16 vs. Buffalo 13-31 (L)
1974 09/15 vs. Miami 34-24 (W)
1976 09/12 vs. Baltimore 13-27 (L)
1981 09/06 vs. Baltimore 28-29 (L)
1982 09/12 at Baltimore 24-13 (W)
1983 09/04 vs. Baltimore 23-29 (L) OT
1984 09/02 at Buffalo 21-17 (W)
1986 09/07 vs. Indianapolis 33-3 (W)
1987 09/13 vs. Miami 28-21 (W)
1988 09/04 vs. N.Y Jets 28-3 (W)
1989 09/10 at N.Y. Jets 27-24 (W)
1990 09/09 vs. Miami 24-27 (L)
1991 09/01 at Indianapolis 16-7 (W)
1993 09/05 at Buffalo 14-38 (L)
1994 09/04 at Miami 35-39 (L)
1996 09/01 at Miami 10-24 (L)
1999 09/12 at N.Y. Jets 30-28 (W)
2003 09/17 at Buffalo 0-31 (L)
2006 09/10 Buffalo 19-17 (W)
2007 09/09 at N.Y. Jets 38-14 (W)
2009 09/14 Buffalo 25-24 (W)
2011 09/12 at Miami 38-24 (W)
2013 09/08 at Buffalo 23-21 (W)
2014 09/07 at Miami 20-33 (L)
2020 09/13 vs. Miami 21-11 (W)
2021 09/12 vs. Miami 16-17 (L)
PATRIOTS TIED FOR THIRD-MOST OPENING DAY WINS AMONG AFC TEAMS
The New England Patriots have won seven of their past 10 openers on kickoff weekend. The Patriots are tied for the third-most Kickoff Weekend wins among AFC teams.
AFC TEAMS WITH THE MOST KICKOFF WINS
Team Kickoff Weekend Wins
Pittsburgh ………………………………………………..45
Denver……………………………………………………..40
New England………………………………………35
LA Chargers …………………………………………….35
Kansas City………………………………………………35
Indianapolis…………………………………………….. 33
TEAM NOTES…
• The team has had nine 300-yard passing games on opening day, 19 100-yard receiving games on opening day and seven 100-yard rushing games on opening day. RB Damien Harris finished with 100 yards rushing on 23 attempts in the 2021 season-opener vs. Miami on Sept. 12, 2021.
• The Patriots have had a rookie make a start on opening day 24 times under Bill Belichick, including five current players – Mac Jones (2021), Mike Onwenu (2020), Ja’Whaun Bentley (2018), David Andrews (2015) and Devin McCourty (2010).
• The Patriots have had a rookie free agent make the 53-man roster for 19 straight seasons, the third longest streak in the NFL behind the 26 years by the L.A. Chargers and the 24 straight years by Indianapolis. Two rookie free agents made New England’s 2022 initial 53-man roster with DL DaMarcus Mitchell and DB Brenden Schooler.
PATRIOTS
• The New England Patriots are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins in the NFL with six.
• The Patriots have played in 11 Super Bowls, the most by any team in NFL history. Dallas, Denver and Pittsburgh have played in eight.
• The Patriots are third in NFL history with 15 Conference Championship Game appearances, one behind the 16 by Pittsburgh and San Francisco.
• The New England Patriots have 37 postseason victories, the most in NFL history. Pittsburgh and Green Bay are second with 36 playoff wins all-time.
• The New England Patriots have earned seven No. 1 seeds, behind San Francisco (9) and Denver (8) since playoff seeding began in 1975.
• The Patriots have earned a first-round playoff bye an NFL-best 14 times since 1990. Pittsburgh and San Francisco are second with nine byes since 1990. New England is the only team in NFL history with nine straight first-round byes (2010-18).
• The Patriots have played in 59 postseason games, fourth-most in NFL history behind Dallas (64), Pittsburgh (63) and Green Bay (61). The Patriots need to play in one more postseason game in 2022 to become the fourth NFL team to play in 60 postseason games.
• The Patriots are second with 13 seasons of 12 wins since 1970, behind San Francisco’s 14 seasons with 12 victories
• New England has won 13 games in a single season seven times in franchise history. Only San Francisco has more 13-win seasons with 10.
• The New England Patriots have won 14 or more games in a season five times, most in NFL history. San Francisco is second with four 14-win seasons.
• New England has 28 undefeated months since 2000, most in the NFL over that span. Green Bay is second with 20 undefeated months during that time.
• The Patriots have 35 winning seasons since 1970, second all-time behind Pittsburgh’s 38
• The Patriots have 566 total victories, the fourth-most wins since 1960, behind the 577 wins by Pittsburgh, the 573 wins by Dallas and the 567 wins by Green Bay.
• New England (1,008) played their 1,000th game in franchise history (regular season and playoffs combined) against Cleveland on Nov. 14, 2021 and became the first original AFL team to play in 1,000 games.
• With rookie free agents DL DaMarcus Mitchell and DB Brenden Schooler making the initial 53-man roster in 2022, the Patriots have now had a rookie free agent make the opening day roster for the 19 straight seasons, the third-longest streak in the NFL. The L.A. Chargers have had a rookie free agent make their opening day roster for 26 straight seasons and Indianapolis has had a rookie free agent make their opening day roster for 24 straight seasons.
• The Patriots have finished in the top 10 for fewest points allowed in each of the last 10 seasons (2012-2021) to tie Tampa Bay, who became the last team to reach 10 straight seasons (1996-2005) for the fewest points allowed. The 2021 Patriots finished second in the NFL with 17.8 points allowed per game. Buffalo finished first with 17.0 points allowed per game.
