In their final prime-time appearance of the season, the Dolphins put together their best performance of 2017.
Jay Cutler threw three touchdown passes, including two to Jarvis Landry, Kenyan Drake had 193 yards from scrimmage, and Xavien Howard had two interceptions when the Dolphins defeated the New England Patriots 27-20 at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night.
Drake rushed for 114 yards, his second consecutive 100-yard performance.
Jakeem Grant also had a touchdown for the Dolphins, who beat New England in Miami for the fourth time in five years.
The Dolphins ended New England's 14-game road winning streak, which was the second-longest in NFL history. The Dolphins defense held New England to 0-for-11 in third-down conversions, the first time since 1991 the Patriots were shut out in that category.
The Dolphins led 27-10 going into the fourth quarter before New England made it a closer final score.
Howard, who had two picks in the 35-9 victory against the Denver Broncos eight days earlier, became the first cornerback in Dolphins history to record two interceptions in back-to-back games.
Howard's first interception came on New England's first drive after Cody Parkey had given the Dolphins a 3-0 lead with a 30-yard field goal. The big play on the drive was Drake's 26-yard run on his first carry of the game.
The Dolphins later converted a fourth-and-1 from the New England 36-yard line when Cutler threw a 15-yard pass to Parker after rolling out on a naked bootleg.
The first quarter ended with the Dolphins leading 6-0 and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady at 0-for-4 passing.
New England took the lead early in the second quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Rex Burkhead, but the Dolphins answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive that end with a 5-yard pass to Landry. The big play in the drive was a 47-yard completion to Drake down the right sideline.
New England cut the Dolphins lead to 13-10 in the final seconds of the first half on a 46-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.
Howard's second interception came on the opening possession of the second half and gave the Dolphins the ball at the Patriots 46-yard line.
The Dolphins needed just five plays to cover those 46 yards, with Grant going over cornerback Malcolm Butler to catch Cutler's pass in the end zone.
After Howard broke up a Brady pass on third down on the ensuing possession, the Dolphins increased their lead to 27-10 with an 82-yard touchdown drive. Drake again had the big play on the drive with a 31-yard run to the New England 4-yard line. Two plays later, Cutler hit Landry in the middle of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown.
New England cut the lead to 27-17 four plays into the fourth quarter on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Brady to running back James White.
The Dolphins defense stiffened after that, stopping New England with three consecutive three-and-outs before the Patriots got a first down on the last play before the two-minute warning. Among the big defensive plays in the fourth quarter was a sack by Ndamukong Suh.
After New England kicked a field goal with 53 seconds left, Michael Thomas recovered an onside kick to clinch the victory.
The Dolphins (6-7) return to action Sunday when they take on the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field.
