The Patriots had a lot on their plate going into Week 2, with a disappointing loss to the Raiders to kick off the season, and many analysts and fans feared doom and gloom was coming. It put a lot of pressure on Mike Vrabel to turn things around against a historically difficult game on the Patriots' schedule, playing the Dolphins in Miami, where they haven't won since 2019.
For that reason alone, there wasn't much optimism that they would pull out the win, and for most of the game, despite how well Drake Maye was playing, it didn't look too promising.