The Miami Dolphins made it three straight wins by defeating the New England Patriots, 34-15, on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.

We rank and analyze the five biggest and most important plays in the game.

We could pick any of the many completed passes by Tua Tagovailoa for the top spot, but we’ll go with the first of two touchdown passes to running back De’Von Achane because it gave Miami a 14-0 lead , and he almost had the feeling of an insurmountable lead at this point. The score came on a beautifully designed fast throw, where Achane was easily able to navigate to the end zone behind three blockers.

The Dolphins’ first score came on a third-and-goal from 7 and showed Tua’s patience in the pocket. He waited for Smith to break free underneath and Smith made the rest of the dive into the end zone for his third touchdown in two games.

This may be hard to understand, but the Dolphins didn’t score at all in the first quarter, but they finished the quarter with a first and goal after successfully putting the Patriots offside as time expired . After doing so late in the third quarter against the Raiders, the Dolphins did it again, this time turning a third-and-3 from the 12-yard line into a first-and-goal from the 7 to start the second quarter. .

After an unsuccessful first drive and a missed New England field goal, the Dolphins took control with a drive that began with three completions for 10 yards or more. The highlight was Tua’s strike to Jaylen Waddle at number for a 24-yard gain to New England’s 29.

The Dolphins were in control for virtually the entire game, but they made it needlessly interesting when Skylar Thompson and Jaylen Wright botched a handoff and the Patriots returned the fumble for a touchdown that made it 31-15 after converting two points. It almost became dicey when the Patriots got the ball back two scores and moved into Dolphins territory. But then came the deciding play when Jalen Ramsey hit Drake Maye as he was about to throw and new linebacker Tyrel Dodson made a nice one-handed catch to stop the drive.