After his 215-yard performance in Week 1, Hill was slowed to 40 yards on five catches Sunday night, but he caught an important TD late in the first half to push the Dolphins’ lead to 14. Hill wasn’t worried about his shortcoming. big plays against Bill Belichick’s defense.
“We won, didn’t we?” he said. “That should be the only focus. That’s why we play the game.”
The Patriots played more than five defensive backs on 32 of 61 snaps, according to Next Generation Stats, to slow down the speedy Hill and fellow running back Jaylen Waddle. It worked for the most part, but the Dolphins beat New England with an excellent running game and passing the ball around.
Rookie Christian Gonzalez did a fantastic job catching Hill (with help over the top). The rookie was the closest defender on four of Hill’s nine targets and allowed one catch for eight yards.
Hill was held to -36 receiving yards against expectations on nine targets, per NGS, his second-lowest mark since joining Miami in 2022. The Patriots held Hill to a negative RecYOE in all three games with the Dolphins. Miami won all three games.
“It feels good, man. It always feels good to beat probably one of the greatest coaches of all time,” Hill said. “To come here in a tough environment, to win a game like this on Sunday night, it feels good – especially the way this team played, the way this team dealt with adversity. It just shows that if you put in the mental work, physically and come into this game prepared, you’ll be prepared for those situations.”
