Winners and losers from ‘Monday Night Football’ in Week 14

The Miami Dolphins hosted the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday Night Football to close out Week 14. Donning throwback jerseys everyone was raving about, they played like a throwback team, too.

Outplaying their AFC East rival from start to finish, the Fins stunned the Patriots to win, 27-20.

These were the biggest winners and losers from the game.

Winner: Jay Cutler went bonkers

Who was wearing No. 6 Monday night, and what did he do with Jay Cutler?

We ask this question, because the Cutler we watched sling the pigskin around the yard hasn’t been seen in ages. He evaded pressure magnificently to set up the first touchdown of the game for the Dolphins and then threw an incredible touchdown in the third quarter after Tom Brady threw his second interception of the game.

All told, Cutler completed 25-of-38 passes for 263 yards with three touchdowns and (gasp!) not a single turnover. It was a performance that likely had many fans wondering why Cutler can’t play like this all time time. But even if lasts for just one night, it was fun to watch.

Loser: Tom Brady unusually dull

What we’re really saying here is that Brady was far from his normally sharp self. He underthrew his first interception, tried to squeeze a pass in between the corner and safety on his second interception and was just off all game.

This was especially notable early on. The Patriots finished the first quarter with just two total yards, a career-worst in games Brady has started.

Brady ended up completing just 24-of-43 passes for 233 yards (much of it in garbage time when the game was over) with one touchdown and two interceptions. It was the first time all season that he threw more than one interception. The last time it happened was in the playoffs last season against the Houston Texans.

It’s worth mentioning that New England’s offensive line was pretty awful most of the night — holding calls, bad protection and hardly any running lanes to speak of. All in all, it was a shockingly poor outing from Brady and Co.

Winner: Kenyan Drake ripped the Patriots to shreds

Whenever the Dolphins needed a big play in the first half, Drake came through. He was Cutler’s security blanket, beating linebackers like a drum in the passing game and making tough runs between the tackles.

https://twitter.com/DylanADeSimone/status/940424043571814400

All game long, Drake proved last weekend’s career-best 120-yard rushing performance was no fluke. For the second game in a row he was the workhorse Miami needed. He finished with 114 yards on the ground. He also hauled in five passes for 79 yards and was electric from start to finish.

Loser: So much for New England’s revamped defense

The Patriots have been red hot of late on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve allowed under 11 points per game the past six games prior to Monday night.

While we knew they might be hard pressed to keep that hot pace dealing with some of the injuries up front, what occurred this week against the Dolphins was stunning.

The Patriots allowed a total of 362 yards, 21 first downs and, of course, 27 points. They repeatedly got torched at all levels, from the line of scrimmage in the run game to the back end deep down the field.

Matt Patricia has done a wonderful job this year making adjustments. But he had no answers for a Dolphins team that had its best game all year to break out of a five-game losing skid.

Winner: Xavien Howard picks Brady’s pocket…twice

What a night for the second-year cornerback out of Baylor.

In the first quarter, Howard shadowed Brandin Cooks perfectly on a corner route, undercutting it for an easy interception.

Though he was responsible for a pass interference penalty a bit later on that helped the Patriots finally score a touchdown, Howard more than made up for it early in the third quarter.

On third-and-long, Brady targeted Cooks deep down the middle of the field. It sure looked like New England was going to have a huge gain, but Howard showed off his speed to catch up to Cooks and made one of the sweetest interceptions we’ve seen all year (watch here).

It was an outstanding individual effort for Howard. He owned Cooks most of the night and now has four interceptions in his past two games.

Loser: New England’s receivers were MIA in MIA

For most of the night, Tom Brady had absolutely zero help from his receivers. Which is pretty strange considering Chris Hogan was back for the first time in weeks following a shoulder injury. He caught just one pass for three yards on five targets. The fact he was rusty isn’t shocking.

But Brandin Cooks catching just one pass on seven targets was stunning.

Danny Amendola did pick up some slack in the second half, catching six passes for 76 yards. But nary a single receiver hauled in a pass before the third quarter. It was rough.

Credit goes to Miami’s secondary, to be sure. But the Patriots cannot be happy about how sloppy the offense performed outside of the running backs.