Tyreek Hill joins elite company to reach 1,000 yards in eight games in Dolphins’ win over Patriots

Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill needed just eight games this season to break 1,000 receiving yards, as another stellar performance helped his team to victory on Sunday. 

The Dolphins took down their AFC East-rival New England Patriots. 31-17, thanks in part to hill’s 112-yard performance on eight catches that included his eighth receiving touchdown of the season. 

Hill came into this game with a league-leading 902 receiving yards, so he now sits at 1,014 yards. He is the fourth player in NFL history – first in the Super Bowl era – to reach 1,000 yards in just eight games. 

After Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception that led to a Patriots’ touchdown in the first quarterback, Hill helped him return the favor to New England. On a play-action pass, Tagovailoa saw Hill streaking between two defenders, and he put the ball right in the bread basket for a 42-yard touchdown. 

That was the spark the Dolphins needed to get their offense going again. On their next drive, Tagovailoa led a 14-play drive that resulted in a one-yard strike to Cedric Wilson Jr. to make it 14-7. 

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The Dolphins’ defense decided to get involved once the Patriots got the ball, too, and it was cornerback Jalen Ramsey, making his Dolphins debut after rehabbing a torn meniscus that he had suffered in training camp, intercepting Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. His pick led to a Jason Sanders field goal, giving the Dolphins a 17-7 lead at the half. 

But there was much more offense from Miami in the second half, and a lot of it came from the leading receiver in this game. No, it wasn’t Hill. 

Instead, his counterpart Jaylen Waddle was the team’s leading receiver with 121 yards on seven catches, which included his 31-yards touchdown where he was uncovered in the middle of the field to make it 31-17 late in the fourth quarter. 

Tagovailoa finished 30 of 45 for 324 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Raheem Moster didn’t have the best day on the ground with 46 yards on 13 carries, but he did find the end zone on a one-yard rush in the second half to add to his touchdown total on the year. 

As for the Patriots, Jones, riding high after a game-winning drive against the Buffalo Bills the week prior, was brought back down to Earth. He was 19 of 29 for 161 yards with two touchdowns and the interception thrown to Ramsey. 

Jones founded Kendrick Bourne for a 24-yard touchdown that opened the scoring in this game, but the Patriots couldn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter when Jones found Juju Smith-Schuster out in the flat to cut the Dolphins’ lead to one touchdown, 24-17. 

In the end, the Dolphins got back to winning after falling to the Philadelphia Eagles a week earlier, moving to 6-2 on the year. Meanwhile, the Patriots are 2-6 now after being unable to produce a winning streak after snapping a four-game drought last week at home.