“Coffee is for closers.”

That line comes from the film “Glengarry, Glen Ross” when a struggling salesman reaches for the office coffee pot his supervisor tells him basically that only people who do their jobs have time for coffee.

“Do your job.”  That’s a Bill Belichick mantra that every Patriots fan is or should be familiar with.  He has always felt if the players do their job good things happen will happen for the team.

The New England Patriots all deserve a cup of coffee.

Today the big difference between the Patriots and next weeks opponents the Ravens and the four other AFC teams who have been eliminated is that those two teams are closers.

Next week either New England or Baltimore will be a closer and the other will go home.  On a seasonably warm winter afternoon in Foxboro the New England Patriots earned a chance to play for their 9th AFC Championship, should they beat the Baltimore Ravens they will play in the franchises 8th Super Bowl.  A huge reason to be a closer.

They got this far because they were able to close out the Houston Texans, 41-28 in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated.

Led by 2nd year running backs Shane Vereen, who had 124 yards from scrimmage (83 receiving on 5 catches and 41 rushing on 7 carries) and 3 TD’s (2 receiving, 1 rushing) and Stevan Ridley, who had 82 yards and a TD on 15 carries and caught 1 pass for 13 yards they have advanced to host the AFC Championship game. 

The solid play of Vereen and Ridley, made up for missing RB Woodhead, who injured his thumb early and TE Rob Gronkowski, who re-injured his broken arm along with solid defense were the keys to this team win. 

The defense for the most part was solid as they kept Houston RB Arian Foster under 100 rushing yards and WR Andre Johnson under 100 receiving yards.  Foster had 90 yards on 22 carries and 40 of those came on back-to-back runs that led to a second quarter Texans touchdown.  He also added 63 receiving yards on 7 catches and had two TD’s one in the air, one on the ground.  Johnson finished with 8 catches for 95 yards. 

New England’s secondary led the way in tackles as CB Aqib Talib and S Steve Gregory each had ten tackles and S Devin McCourty and LB Jerod Mayo added 7 a piece to led the team defensively.

The biggest play in the game for the Patriots defensively actually came on special teams on the opening kickoff when McCourty ran down Danieal Manning from behind and saved a touchdown.  The Patriots defense then held on three plays inside the red zone and forced Houston to field goal.  That one play set the tone for the game.

After that it was just a matter of time before the Patriots started clicking taking a 3-0 deficit and turning it into a 17-3 lead which would be whittled down to 17-13 at the half.

A string third quarter saw the Patriots expand their lead to 31-13 and then 38-13 early in the fourth quarter after TD’s by Ridley, Vereen and WR Brandon Lloyd.

The Texans crawled back in when the Patriots defense softened up a bit to kill some clock and got to within 38-28 before a Stephen Gostkowski field goal sealed the win and closed out the Texans.

I’m looking forward to next week’s AFC title game rematch against Baltimore. After all it is Ray Lewis’ last ride and it’d be pretty sweet to see the end of the line come in Gillette Stadium.

Texans at Patriots Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Texans at Patriots Recap.

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Turning Point(s) of the Game

S Devin McCourty’s amazing run down of Houston KR Danieal Manning on the games opening kickoff to save a TD.  Combine that with the Patriots defense holding the Texans to a field goal and that set the tone for the game.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

RB Shane Vereen had 124 yards from scrimmage.  83 yards receiving on 5 catches and 41 yards rushing on 7 carries.  He had 3 TD’s, 1 on the ground and two off of Tom Brady passes.

Defensive Player(s) of the Game

DE Rob Ninkovich had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hit, 1 INT and 2 passes defensed.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

• LT Solder
• LG Mankins
• C Wendell
• RG Connolly
• RT Vollmer
• TE Gronkowski
• TE Hernandez
• WR Welker
• WR Lloyd
• QB Brady
• RB Woodhead

On Defense:

• DE Ninkovich
• DT Deaderick
• DT Wilfork
• DE Jones
• LB Mayo
• LB Spikes
• LB Hightower
• LCB Talib
• RCB Dennard
• S Gregory
• S McCourty

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. WR Kamar Aiken

2. CB Derrick Martin

3. DB Malcolm Williams

4. G Nick McDonald

5. G Markus Zusevics

6. TE Daniel Fells

7. DE Jake Bequette

Texans

1. CB Roc Carmichael

2. CB Stanford Routt

3. LB Cameron Collins

4. G Antoine Caldwell

5. T Andrew Gardner

6. G Cody White

7. NT Terrell McClain

The spread (Patriots minus 9) WAS covered.  The over/under (47.5) WAS COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Texans) and took the OVER.  I am now 4-13 vs. the spread and 11 of 17 calling the under/over.

Patriots lead the overall series vs. the Texans, 4-1 including 1-0 in the post season.

This is the Patriot 20th playoff season, it was the 30th playoff game of the Kraft Era (20-10) and the team is now 24-16 all-time in the post season.

They are now 10-6 in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Patriots now are 10-2 at Gillette Stadium in the post season, 14-3 overall as the home team.

When the Patriots have a positive turnover ratio in a playoff game they are 18-1 on Sunday they were PLUS 1.

Bill Belichick is now 205-108 including post season. 

Belichick’s 205 wins are good for a tie for 6th all-time with Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers.

He is 18-7 in the playoffs, 17-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.

His 18 playoff wins are the third most all-time behind only Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

Belichick is 4-1 vs. the Texans in his career, 1-0 in the post season.

Tom Brady is 17-6 in the playoffs and has an overall record of 153-45.

His 17 playoff wins are the most all-time for any quarterback.

Brady is 3rd all-time in postseason TD passes with 41.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 and Joe Montana leads with 45.

Brady holds the NFL record with 524 postseason completions.

Brady holds the franchise lead for most playoff games as a Patriot (23).

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 118 consecutive games including playoffs, 101 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker is the all-time franchise leader with 61 playoff receptions.

WR Brandon Lloyd (10 yrs), CB Aqib Talib (5), DE Trevor Scott (5) and G Donald Thomas (5) all played in their first NFL playoff game.

Houston finishes the season at 13-5 including the playoffs.  They were 12-4 in the regular season and won the AFC South and were the #3 seed in the AFC.  They went 1-1 in the playoffs and lost in the Division Round for the second consecutive season.

The Texans are now 2-2 all-time in the post season.

This was the first post season game in franchise history in which the Texans did not outrush their opponent.

Houston is 1-4 all-time vs. New England and is 0-3 in Gillette Stadium.

In the Texans three losses at Gillette they’ve allowed at least 40 points in each game.

The Texans are 12-13 all-time against the AFC East including the post season.

Houston head coach Gary Kubiak is 2-2 in the post season and has an overall record of 61-55.

Kubiak is 1-3 in his career vs. New England including post season.

Houston QB Matt Schaub is now 45-39 all-time including 1-1 in the post season.

RB Arian Foster had his streak of post season 100+ yard rushing games snapped at 3 when he was held to 90 yards.

It was the second time this season that the Patriots held Foster to less than 100 yards rushing.

WR Andre Johnson has caught at least 1 pass in 107 consecutive games including playoffs.

Tony Corrente was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 51, cloudy and mild.

Attendance – 68,756 at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro MA.  It was the 204th consecutive shutout at a Patriots home game. 

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com

Next Game

The Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.  Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.                

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Divisional Playoffs on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

The Texans		—-	The Patriots
Overall	13-4		Overall	12-4
Road record	6-2		Home record	6-2
AFC East	3-1		AFC East	6-0
AFC	10-2		AFC	11-1

Tony Corrente is the referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 9.  The over/under is 47.5. 

My Prediction is Patriots 31, Texans, 24.  Take the points (TEXANS) and take the over.  I am 4-12 against the spread and 10 of 16 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 204th consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking information and map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good. 

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game nationally and Jim Nantz will do play by play while Phil Simms will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules; flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos, who is retiring after the playoffs, handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do the game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Sirius Channel 86, XM Channel 226 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Texans Radio Network has Mark Vandermeer calling the game while former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware provides the game analysis and Rich Lord covers the sideline via their flagship station KILT AM/FM.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 92, XM Channel 225 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 812.

Dial Global Sports is carrying the game nationally via their affiliate network.  Ian Eagle, Trent Green and Lewis Johnson will call the game starting at 4:15 p.m.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 88, XM Channel 88 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 88.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Houston Texans at New England Patriots Divisional Playoffs Preview, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots had a first round bye after shutting out the Dolphins in Week 17, 28-0.  The Texans beat the Bengals in the Wild Card Round, 19-13.

History

• The teams have never met in the playoffs.
• This is the third time the Texans have come to Gillette Stadium second time in 5 weeks.
• Patriots lead the overall series, 3-1.
• New England won in Week 14 when they dismantled the Texans 42-14 on Monday Night Football.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 426-369-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are 23-16 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2011 when they beat Denver home in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 45-10 and defeated Baltimore 23-20 in Foxboro in the AFC Championship Game.  They lost Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants 21-17. 

The Patriots are the defending four-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 10 times including this season and the conference 5 times since 2000.

Patriots Playoff History (20 seasons)

Year    How Qualified           Seed   Record          Result

2012  Division Champions   2        x-x     TBA

2011   Division Champions   1        2-1     AFC Champions

2010   Division Champions   1        0-1     AFC Divisional

2009   Division Champions   3        0-1     Wild Card Round

2007   Division Champions   1        2-1     AFC Champions

2006   Division Champions   4        2-1     AFC Finalist

2005   Division Champions   4        1-1     AFC Divisional

2004   Division Champions   2        3-0     SB Champions

2003   Division Champions   1        3-0     SB Champions

2001   Division Champions   2        3-0     SB Champions

1998   Wild Card               6        0-1     Wild Card Round

1997   Division Champions   3        1-1     AFC Divisional

1996   Division Champions   2        2-1     AFC Champions

1994   Wild Card               5        0-1     Wild Card Round

1986   Division Champions   3        0-1     AFC Divisional

1985   Wild Card               5        3-1     AFC Champions

1982* 16-Team Format       7        0-1     First Round

1978   Division Champions   2        0-1     AFC Divisional

1976   Wild Card               4        0-1     AFC Divisional

1963   Division Champions   —       1-1     AFL Finalists

*-Strike Year

New England has the 4th highest winning percentage (.589) in the post season of teams having played a minimum of 15 games.  Only San Francisco (.591), Pittsburgh (.611) and Green Bay (.630) have higher winning percentages.

Since 2001 the Patriots have secured a bye week 7 times.  It is the highest total in the NFL in that time span.  Chicago and Pittsburgh have done it 4 times each since 2001.

Patriots Divisional Playoff Results (9-6)

Date             Opponent                W/L    Score

01/13/13       Houston Texans        TBA    TBA

01/14/12       Denver Broncos        W       45-10

01/16/11       New York Jets          L        21-28

01/12/08       Jacksonville             W       31-20

01/14/07       at San Diego            W       24-21

01/14/06       at Denver                L        13-27

01/16/05       Indianapolis             W       20-3

01/10/04       Tennessee               W       17-14

01/19/02       Oakland                  W (ot) 16-13

01/03/98       at Pittsburgh            L        6-7

01/05/97       Pittsburgh                W       28-3

01/04/87       at Denver                L        17-22

01/05/86       at LA Raiders           W       27-20

12/31/78       Houston Oilers          L        14-31

12/18/76       at Oakland               L        21-24

12/28/63       at Buffalo                W       26-8

This will be the 30th playoff game of the Kraft ownership era.  They are 19-10 in the post season since 1994.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002 New England is 9-2 at home in the playoffs.

Overall the Patriots are 13-3 (.813) as the home team in the postseason.  Only Green Bay 15-3 (.833) has a better post season homefield winning percentage.

The Patriots had seven non-offensive touchdowns in 2012. The 2010 Patriots and 1961 Patriots teams own the team record with nine non-offensive touchdowns.

Date             Game                     Touchdown

9/9/12          at Tennessee           Dont’a Hightower 6-yd. Fumble Return

10/21/12       vs. N.Y. Jets            Devin McCourty 104-yd. Kickoff Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Julian Edelman 68-yd. Punt Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Aqib Talib 59-yd. Int. Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Alfonzo Dennard 87-yd. Int. return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Steve Gregory 32-yd. Fumble Return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Julian Edelman 22-yd. Fumble Return

New England set a NFL record with 444 first downs in 2012.

They had the fewest fumbles (7) in team history and led the NFL in turnover differential (+25) which was the second highest total in team history.

When the Patriots have a positive turnover ratio in a playoff game they are 17-1.  They are 3-3 when the turnovers are even and are 3-12 when they have a negative turnover ratio.

The Patriots have never lost a playoff game when they had a 100-yard rusher they are 7-0.

In the Week 14 game against the Texans the Patriots were 3 for 3 (100%) in the red zone with 3 TDs.  New England was 6 for 12 (50%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

This season New England led the NFL in yards per game (427.9), interception rate (1.40%), first downs per game (27.8), third down conversions (48.6%), red zone pct (70%), points per game (34.8) and point differential (14.1).

The Patriots lead the league in points per game with 34.8.  While they allowed 20.7 points per game good for a tie for 9th.

The New England defense sacked the opponents quarterback 37 times this season while Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett were sacked 27 times.

New England ended the season PLUS 25 in turnover differential, 1st in the NFL. The offense gave up 9 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense had 20 INTs and 21 fumble recoveries. 

For the season the Patriots were 110 for 226 (48.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 8 for 12 (75%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents were 82 for 205 (40%) in 3rd down efficiency and 9 for 23 (39.1%) on 4th down attempts.

For 2012 New England was 40 of 58 (70%) in the red zone while opponents were 20 for 36 (55.5%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England was 31 for 37 (83.7%) and opponents were 15 for 21 (71.4%).

In 2012 the Patriots scored over 400 points for the 6 consecutive season.  They also became the first NFL franchise to have 4 consecutive seasons of 500+ points.

New England led the NFL with 25 rushing TD’s in 2012.

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 205.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 224.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 12.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 14.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

Patriots Staff Notes

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Dolphins.

Bill Belichick is 3-1 vs. the Texans in his career.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 187-101 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 151-57 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 204-108.

Belichick’s 204 wins are good for 7th all-time.  Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers is 6th with 205 wins.

His 17 playoff wins are tied for third most all-time with Joe Gibbs and behind only Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

Belichick’s .708 post season win percentage is 4th all-time behind Bill Walsh (.714), Tom Flores (.727) and Vince Lombardi (.900).

Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (3) and Bill Walsh (3).  Those men are all in the Hall of Fame.

He is the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons.

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 10 consecutive seasons.

Belichick has 10 seasons of 11+ wins he is tied for 2nd most all-time with Tom Landry.  Don Shula is the all-time leader with 13 seasons of 11+ wins.

The following staff has Texas ties:

Special Teams Coach Scott O’Brien served as the Linebackers/Special Teams Coach for Rice University during the 1986 season.

Wide Receivers Coach Chad O’Shea was born in Houston. O’Shea went to Marshall University to play quarterback before transferring to the University of Houston (1994-1995). He got his coaching experience started at his alma mater acting as the teams graduate assistant (1996), wide receivers.

Offensive Line Coach/Assistant Head Coach Dante Scarnecchia had two coaching stints at SMU (1975-76; 1980-81).

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Soldier
• LG: Mankins
• C: Wendell
• RG: Connolly
• RT: Vollmer
• TE: Hernandez
• TE: Gronkowski
• WR: Lloyd
• WR: Welker
• QB: Brady
• RB: Ridley

Defense:

• DE: Scott
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: C. Jones
• LB: Mayo
• LB: Spikes
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: Talib
• RCB: Dennard
• S: McCourty
• S: Gregory

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 3-1 vs. the Texans.  This is the first time they have met in the playoffs.

Overall Brady is 136-39 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 152-45.  Brady is an 8 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

He is 3rd all-time in postseason TD passes with 38.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 and Joe Montana leads with 45.

Brady shares the record with 6 TD passes in one game (Denver 2011) with Oakland’s Darryl Lamonica (Houston 1969) and San Francisco’s Steve Young (San Diego 1994).

Brady holds the NFL record with 499 postseason completions.

Brady’s 16 playoff wins are tied for 1st all-time with Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana.

Brady is tied for the franchise lead with Tedy Bruschi for most playoff games as a Patriot (22).

In 2012 Brady was 401 of 637 (63%) for 4827 yards with 34 TDs and 8 INTs his passer rating was 98.7.

Earlier this season against Houston, Brady had his 14th career game with 4 TDs and 0 INTs, it is the most in NFL history.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 117 consecutive games including playoffs, 100 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker led the team with 118 catches for 1354 yards and he was 2nd on the team with 6 receiving TD’s.

He is the 1st player in NFL history to have five 100+ catch seasons.

Welker has the second most receptions (768) all-time among undrafted receivers. Rod Smith is the NFL’s all-time leader with 849.

Welker is third in franchise history with 53 playoff receptions.

WR Deion Branch is second in franchise history with 54 playoff receptions.  Troy Brown is 1st with 58.

Branch is the franchise leader in postseason receiving yards with 836.

RB Stevan Ridley finished the season with 290 attempts for 1263 yards and 12 TD’s.

Ridley was the 5th Patriot to have at least 1200 yards rushing in a season and he led the team in TD’s with 12.  TE Rob Gronkowski, who missed 5 weeks with an arm injury, was 2nd with 11 TD’s.

Ridley’s 1263 yards were the fourth highest total in Patriots history.

In the Week 14 matchup WR Brandon Lloyd and TE Aaron Hernandez were the Sox and Dawgs Offensive Players of the Game.  Lloyd had 7 catches for 89 yards and 2 TDs – 1 on a fumble recovery. Hernandez made 8 catches for 58 yards and 2 TDs.  They combined for 4 TDs, 15 catches and 147 yards receiving.

Hernandez also had his first 2 TD game since his rookie year in 2010 against the Texans in Week 14.

TE Rob Gronkowski joined WR Randy Moss and RB Corey Dillon as the only Patriots players to have had three straight seasons with 10+ TD’s.

K Stephen Gostkowski led the NFL in points with 153.

LB Jerod Mayo was the team leader in tackles again with 184 tackles (115 solo) it was the 5th highest total in team history.

Mayo (184) and LB Brandon Spikes (128) became the first Patriots teammates to record 100+ tackle season in the same year since 2006.

DE Rob Ninkovich finished with a team high 8 sacks in 2012.

Spikes and Ninkovich tied a team record this year with 5 forced fumbles each.  Mayo was second with 4 forced fumbles.

DT Vince Wilfork and Ninkovich had a team high 4 fumble recoveries in 2012.

In the Week 14 game Wilfork was the Sox and Dawgs Defensive Player of the Game.  He had 4 tackles (3 solo), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass defensed.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones had a team high 12 QB hits and he was second on the squad with 6 sacks.

CB/S Devin McCourty had 5 INT’s to lead the team.  Rookie S Tavon Wilson had 4 INT’s; rookie CB Alfonzo Dennard and S Steve Gregory each had 3 INT’s.

It was the 2nd time in 3 years that McCourty has led the team and the AFC in INT’s.

McCourty also led the team in passes defensed, while CB Kyle Arrington was 2nd on the year with 11 passes defensed.

CB Aqib Talib hurt his hip in the earlier meeting against Houston and has played only sparingly since.

WR Matthew Slater had 20 tackles on special teams and rookie S Nate Ebner was 2nd with 17 tackles on special teams.

The Patriots returned 2 INT’s and 3 fumbles for TD’s in 2012.  They also had a kickoff return and a punt return TD.

Patriots with Texas Connections:

• T Sebastian Vollmer attended the University of Houston.
• T Marcus Cannon is from Odessa and attended TCU.
• QB Ryan Mallett is from Texarkana.
• CB Aqib Talib is from Richardson.
• WR Wes Welker went to Texas Tech.
• CB Malcolm Williams is from Grand Prairie and went to TCU.

New England has 35 players who have playoff experience on the 53-man roster.

Of the 18 players on New England with no playoff experience, they have 4 players with at least 5 years of NFL experience who have never played in a NFL playoff game.  They are WR Brandon Lloyd (10 yrs), CB Aqib Talib (5), DE Trevor Scott (5) and G Donald Thomas (5).

There are only three players on the team who played on at least one of the Super Bowl championship teams, Brady (3), Deion Branch (2) and Wilfork (1).

Roster moves this week:

• Signed DL Tracy Robinson to the practice squad.
• Signed WR Andre Holmes to the practice squad.

The Patriots captains for 2012 are QB Tom Brady, DT Vince Wilfork, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty and WR Matthew Slater (special teams).

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR). 

They have 10 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); RB James Develin (Brown – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Texans Team Notes

Here is the Texans roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Texans Schedule/Results

Houston’s all-time record is 77-99-0 they are 2-1 in the post season. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals 19-13 last week at home in the AFC Wild Card game.

They have never played in a Super Bowl.

They are the AFC South champions for the second consecutive season.  They are the only team besides Indianapolis to win back-to-back AFC South titles.

In response to the horrific shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. on Dec. 14, the Houston Texans pledged to donate the proceeds from the team’s gameday silent auction at the Dec. 23 home game against the Minnesota Vikings to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.  Texans owner Bob McNair pledged to match every dollar raised at the auction, while Texans players and coaches also contributed to the fund. Thanks to the generosity of the Houston Texans’ fans, the organization was able to donate more than $70,000 to the fund, which will provide support services to the families and community that has been affected.

With a win on Sunday Houston will advance to its first AFC Championship Game.

A win on Sunday would also be the franchise’s first road playoff win.

The Texans defense didn’t allow a third down conversion to Cincinnati in the AFC Wild Card game last weekend.  The Bengals were 0 for 9 on third down.

In all three post season games in franchise history the Texans have outrushed their opponent.

Their first season was in 2002.  They began play on September 8, 2002 with a 19-10 win over Dallas.

Houston is 1-3 all-time vs. New England and is 0-2 in Gillette Stadium.

In the Texans two losses at Gillette they’ve allowed at least 40 points in each game.

The Texans are 12-12 all-time against the AFC East.

Last season was the first time the Texans made the playoffs winning the AFC South.

2012 was the team’s winningest season they finished 12-4.  The previous best season was 2011 when they went 10-6.

They had franchise high 12 wins in 2012.

The Texans have a team song called “It’s Football Time in Houston” written and performed by country star, Clay Walker.  They tried to replace the song in 2003 with one written by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback but a near riot quickly ensued.

The Texans also use “Bulls on Parade” by Rage Against The Machine.  The song has given the defense its nickname, Bulls on Parade.

The Texans mascot is Toro.

Houston was 1st in the NFL in time of possession averaging 32:53 per game.

The Texans defense has allowed opponents to convert 33% (71 for 215) of the time on 3^rd down and they are 31.3% (5 for 16) on 4th down.  The offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 37.6% (83 for 221) and on 4th down has converted 57.1% (4 for 7) of the time.

The Houston defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 44 times this season, while the Texans QB’s have been sacked 28 times.

The 44 sacks tied a team record (set in 2011) for most in a season.

The Texans were 8th in the NFL in points per game with 26.0.  While they allow 20.7 points per game good for a tie for 9th in the NFL.

Houston is PLUS 12 in turnover differential, good for 7th in the NFL. The offense has given up 13 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 15 INT and 14 fumble recoveries.

Their 17 turnovers are a record low for the franchise.

The 29 takeaways were one off the team record of 30 set in 2004.

Houston is 32 of 57 (56.1%) in the red zone while opponents are 20 for 40 (50%) in the red zone in 2012.

Texans Staff Notes

Read what Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Houston head coach Gary Kubiak, is in his 7th season, he is 59-53 and 2-1 in the post season for an overall record of 61-54.

Kubiak is only the second head coach in Texans history he succeed Dom Capers who was 18-46 in the teams first four seasons.

Kubiak is 1-2 vs. New England.

Texans Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison began his coaching career at Suffield Academy in Suffield CT.

Texans Special Teams Coordinator Joe Marciano coached the wide receivers at The University of Rhode Island from 1978-79.

Texans Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Brown
• LG: W. Smith
• C: Myers
• RG: B. Jones
• RT: Newton
• TE: Daniels
• TE: G. Graham
• WR: Johnson
• WR: Walter
• QB: Schaub
• RB: Foster

Defense:

• DE: Watt
• NT: Cody
• DE: A. Smith
• LB: Reed
• LB: James
• LB: Ruud
• LB: Barwin
• LCB: Jackson
• RCB: Joseph
• S: Manning
• S: Quin

Texans Players Notes

Texans QB Matt Schaub is in his 9th NFL season.  He is 44-36 with Houston and 1-0 in the playoffs.  He was 0-2 with Atlanta for an overall record of 45-38.

Schaub was the 3rd round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by Atlanta out of the University of Virginia.

He got hurt in Week 10 last season and missed the rest of the season including the franchises first two playoff games.

Schaub has yet to throw a TD pass in the playoffs.

Has the best road winning percentage (.818) among NFL quarterbacks the last two seasons.

Since coming to Houston in 2007 Schaub has led the Texans on 10-game winning drives.

Schaub was 350 of 544 (64.3%) for 4008 yards, 22 TD’s and 12 INT’s and a 90.7 passer rating.

RB Arian Foster ran for 140 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries and became the first player to rush for more than 100 yards in each of his first three career playoff games.

Foster is 4th all-time with consecutive 100+ yard rushing games (3) in the playoffs behind Thurman Thomas (4), John Riggins (6) and Terrell Davis (7).

Foster led the team in rushing with 1424 yards on 351 carries.

He led the NFL with 15 rushing TD’s.

He is just the 3rd undrafted running back to have three consecutive seasons with 1,000 yards rushing.

He had at least 100 yards rushing in 5 of the 8 games Houston played on the road.

He has at least 100 rushing yards in 8 of the 10 games he has played on national television.

WR Andre Johnson had 112 catches for 1598 yards and 4 TD’s to lead the Texans.

He became the 6th fastest player in NFL history to 10,000 receiving yards.

Johnson has caught at least 1 pass in 106 consecutive games including playoffs.

He has 17 games in his career with 10 catches and 100 yards that is the highest total in NFL history Wes Welker is second and he has done it 16 times.

TE Phillip Supernaw’s (practice squad – IR) father is former country musician Doug Supernaw, who sang the hit songs “I Don’t Call Him Daddy” (#1 in 1993) and “Reno” (#4 in 1993).

DE J.J. Watt led the NFL in 2012 with 20.5 sacks.  He is the 9th player in NFL history to record 20+ sacks.

He holds the single season Houston franchise sack record.

Watt also led the team with, 42 QB hits, 4 forced fumbles, 16 passes defensed and 107 tackles (85 solo).

He is the first player in NFL history to have at least 15 sacks and 15 passes defensed in the same season.

Watt’s 16 passes defensed are a NFL record for a defensive lineman.

He was the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for December and was named the 2012 team MVP.

S Glover Quin and LB Bradie James were second on the team with 105 tackles each.

2011 team MVP LB Brian Cushing is on the IR with a torn ACL he suffered in Week 5 against the Jets.

S Danieal Manning was second on the team with 3 forced fumbles. 

CB Kareem Jackson was the team leader with 4 INT’s.

LB Tim Dobbins had 4 fumble recoveries to lead Houston.

LB Bryan Braman became the first Texan to block to punts in the same season when he did it Week 6 vs. Green Bay and Week 15 vs. Indianapolis

K Shayne Graham set a team record with 138 points in 2012.

The Texans had 12 players make their NFL playoff debut last Saturday against Cincinnati.  They now have 45 players on the 53-man roster with playoff experience.

Houston’s captains for 2012 are (offense) C Chris Myers, WR Andre Johnson, QB Matt Schaub, (defense) LB Brian Cushing, DE Antonio Smith, DE J.J. Watt and (special teams) S Shiloh Keo, LB Tim Dobbins.

NT Terrell McClain and K Shayne Graham are former Patriots returning to Foxboro for the game.

The Texans signed former UConn standout WR Kashif Moore to their practice squad this week.

Houston has 8 Pro Bowl selections they are LT Duane Brown, RB Arian Foster, WR Andre Johnson, C Chris Myers, QB Matt Schaub, LG Wade Smith, CB Jonathan Joseph and DE J.J. Watt.

There are 3 players on the Texans roster from Big East universities.  They are LB Connor Barwin (Cincinnati); WR Kashif Moore (UConn – practice squad) and DT Terrell McClain (South Florida).

The Texans have no retired numbers.

Next Week

If the Patriots win on Sunday they will either play Baltimore at home or face Denver at Mile High on Sunday January 20 on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Looking Back, Moving Forward

You may want to take note that in the preseason I predicted a 12-4 record for the New England Patriots and they would be 6-2 at both home and on the road, 9-3 in the AFC, 5-1 in the AFC East and 3-1 against the NFC. 

They actually finished 12-4, 6-2 at both home and on the road, 11-1 vs. the AFC, 6-0 in the division and 1-3 against the NFC.  But that’s were my good predictions ended as I had them as a Wild Card, the fifth seed, because I had Buffalo winning the division AND going to the Super Bowl.  Silly me.

But predictions aside overall it was once again a very successful regular season for the Patriots.  There were some ups (the routs of the Jets, Rams and the Colts stand out) and there were some downs (last drive losses to the Cardinals, Seahawks and Ravens). 

And that’s how the defense played all year too.  They started up with good games against Tennessee and Arizona and then they went down and had poor efforts in Seattle, in Jacksonville, late against Denver, early against San Francisco and in the first Jets game.  Then they were up again with stellar efforts against Indianapolis, Houston, Thanksgiving night in the Swamp and in the seasons final week against Miami.  They need more games like those and less games like Jacksonville and Seattle especially now when so much is on the line.

With all the coaching and GM changes coming about on “Black Monday” it is of note that now Bill Belichick is the longest tenured head coach in the NFL having taken over for the 2000 season.  Andy Reid was the last coach hired by his current team in the 1990’s and previously held that honor of longest tenure until the Eagles let him go after 14 seasons.  Reid is a good man, a friend of Bill, and will find work when he wants it.  One interesting note on Reid, in Philly sports history only 1 other coach lasted longer in the 4 major sports and that was Connie Mack who managed the Philadelphia A’s for 50 years.  It didn’t hurt that he owned the team as well.

Let’s take a look at what Belichick has done in Foxboro in these 13 years.  He has won 10 division titles, 5 conference championships and 3 Super Bowls.  He is 151-57 in the regular season, 16-6 in the post season and 167-63 overall as the head Patriot.  He has been coach of the year 3 times, is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons and to have led his team to 10+ wins in 10 consecutive seasons.

It is a remarkable run considering this has all happened in the age of free agency, with star players being able to move about freely for the biggest pile of cash.  All the while Belichick has maintained a stance of paying fairly but not overpaying regardless of position or star power.

Once again he has a team poised to make a Super Bowl run and we could see yet again another epic battle with Peyton Manning, only this time it will be with Denver.

This is the time of year that Belichick coaches for, everything he does from the final time he walks off the game field the year before until Week 17 is done for these next few weeks.  The previous 17 while nice, do not matter.  The glories of seasons past while nice, do not matter.  This is a different season, this is the playoffs and there may not be a coach in the game better prepared at getting his players prepared for this moment than Belichick.

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News and Notes

A sad note for the team longtime equipment manager Don Brocher passed away New Years Eve, he had spent the last 40-years with the Patriots.

Offensive snaps by skill players vs. Miami (ESPN Boston)

Defensive snaps played vs. Dolphins (ESPN Boston)

Five takeaways from the Patriots win over the Dolphins (Boston Globe)

Best and Worst of the Patriots-Dolphins. (Boston Herald)

Piling up wins by the sack full (Boston Herald)

The AFC Playoff teams are:

1. Denver
2. New England
3. Houston
4. Baltimore
5. Indianapolis
6. Cincinnati

The NFC Playoff teams are:

1. Atlanta
2. San Francisco
3. Green Bay
4. Washington
5. Seattle
6. Minnesota

The wild card games are:

Cincinnati at Houston, Saturday January 5 4:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Green Bay, Saturday January 5 8 p.m.

Indianapolis at Baltimore, Sunday January 6 1 p.m.

Seattle at Washington, Sunday January 6 4:30 p.m.

There is cautious early optimism that DE Rob Ninkovich could be able to play a week from Sunday.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels notified teams on Monday he would not pursue any head coaching jobs this year and that his intent is to stay in New England.

Patriots set a NFL record with 444 first downs in a season on Sunday.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 159-65.

New England is 61-21 vs. the AFC East since 2000 in the regular season. 

Since Gillette Stadium opened the Patriots are 27-5 against the AFC East.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 74-17 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 45-6 in December games.  At home in December they are 22-2.

The New England defense has forced a turnover in 27 consecutive games dating back to Week 6 in 2011.

The Dolphins lead the all-time series 50-45. This includes 3 meetings in the playoffs with the Patriots holding a 2-1 post season edge.

The Patriots have gone undefeated in division play for the 2nd time in team history (2007).  They have had 1 division loss 7 times (1987,1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011).

The Patriots swept the series from Miami for the 3rd consecutive season.

The Patriots have now swept the Dolphins 9 times in the series history including 6 times in the Belichick era (2003-‘04, ‘07, ‘10-‘12).

This was the fourth time the Patriots have shut out the Dolphins in the series.  It was the first since December 2003 when the Patriots won 12-0 at Gillette Stadium (Snow Bowl Game).

The shut out was New England’s first since the 2009 season (Week 6 vs. Tennessee, 59-0).

Bill Belichick is now 204-108 including playoffs in his career.

Belichick’s 204 wins are good for 7th all-time.  Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers is 6th with 205 wins.

Belichick coached teams are 17-11 vs. Miami. Belichick is 17-9 as Patriots head coach and he was 0-2 as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Tom Brady is 16-6 vs. the Dolphins.  Overall including playoffs he is 152-44.

Brady has 334 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 48 consecutive games.  That is the second longest streak in NFL history.

He is the first QB in NFL history to throw a TD pass in all 16 games, 3 seasons in a row.

The Patriots are 91-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 117 consecutive games including playoffs, 100 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

He once again led the team in receiving for the year with 118 catches for 1354 yards and was 2nd on the team with 6 receiving TD’s.

RB Stevan Ridley finished the season with 290 attempts for 1263 yards and 12 TD’s.

Ridley was the 5th Patriot to have at least 1200 yards rushing in a season and he led the team in TD’s with 12.  TE Rob Gronkowski, who missed 5 weeks with an arm injury, was 2nd with 11 TD’s.

LB Jerod Mayo was the team leader in tackles again.  His unofficial total sits at 181 tackles (113 solo).  The team usually adjusts the counts based on coaches film study so in the Friday game preview we will have Mayo’s official total.

DE Rob Ninkovich finished with a team high 8 sacks in 2012.

LB Brandon Spikes and Ninkovich tied a team record this year with 5 forced fumbles each.  Mayo was second with 4 forced fumbles.

DT Vince Wilfork and Ninkovich had a team high 4 fumble recoveries in 2012.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones had a team high 12 QB hits and he was second on the squad with 6 sacks.

CB/S Devin McCourty had 5 INT’s to lead the team.  Rookie S Tavon Wilson had 4 INT’s; rookie CB Alfonzo Dennard and S Steve Gregory each had 3 INT’s.

It was the 2nd time in 3 years that McCourty has led the team in INT’s.

McCourty also led the team in passes defensed, while CB Kyle Arrington was 2nd on the year with 11 passes defensed.

WR Matthew Slater had 20 tackles on special teams and rookie S Nate Ebner was 2nd with 17 tackles on special teams.

The Patriots returned 2 INT’s and 3 fumbles for TD’s in 2012.  They also had a kickoff return and a punt return TD.

New England scored 4 TD’s on 10 possessions. They also had 5 punts and 1 taken over on downs.

Miami had 13 possessions.   1 missed FG, 5 punts, 1 INT, 1 fumble, 1 end of half time expired, 1 end of game time expired and 1 taken over on downs.

The Patriots sacked Miami QB Ryan Tannehill 7 times, while Brady was sacked 1 time.

The New England defense sacked the opponents quarterback 37 times this season while Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett were sacked 26 times.

New England ended the season PLUS 25 in turnover differential, 1st in the NFL. The offense gave up 9 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense had 20 INTs and 21 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 3 for 3 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 3 TDs.  For 2012 New England was 40 of 58 (69%) in the red zone while opponents were 20 for 36 (55.5%) in the red zone in 2012.

New England was 8 for 16 (50%) on third down conversions and 2 for 3 (66.7%) on 4th down attempts.  For the season the Patriots were 110 for 226 (48.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 8 for 12 (75%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents were 82 for 205 (40%) in 3rd down efficiency and 9 for 23 (39.1%) on 4th down attempts.

The Dolphins are 17-30 as the road team in the series and 2-9 at Gillette Stadium.

The Fish are 31-43 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

Miami head coach Joe Philbin in his 1st season as a NFL head coach; he is 7-9 since taking over.

He is 0-2 against New England in his career.

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill is in his first season in the NFL and he is 7-9.  He was Miami’s first round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.

He is 0-2 vs. New England in his career.

Tannehill threw his first INT in 141 attempts when Gregory picked him in the first quarter.

Miami was 5 for 13 (38%) on 3rd down conversions and 0 for 1 (0%) on 4th down attempts.

The Dolphins were 0 for 1 (0%) in the red zone.  They had 1 fumble.

Miami finished the season MINUS 10 in turnover differential. The offense had given up 13 INT and 13 fumbles, while the defense had 10 INTs and 6 fumble recoveries. 

Next Week

The Patriots, who are the #2 seed in the AFC, will host Houston, Baltimore or Indianapolis at Gillette Stadium on Sunday January 13th at 4:30 p.m.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Here are the highlights from the New England Patriots 28-0 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

The New England Patriots came into Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins knowing they could finish anywhere from 1st to 4th in the conference.  By the time the game started they knew they were playing for a bye week and quite possibly home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Patriots then went out and played like champions.

Forget last week, Tom Brady was so pissed off after last Sunday all of New England could feel his wrath and it was certain his team mates did.  They put aside the ugliness on both sides of the ball from Week 16 and just flat out beat the Dolphins who were trying to finish at .500 for the season.

Brady himself set the example that last week was unacceptable to him, the staff, the team, the owners and the fans.  He was 22 of 26 for 284 yards with 2 TD passes, no INTs and only got sacked 1 time. 

RB Stevan Ridley had a pair of rushing TD’s and went over 1200 rushing yards for the season.  TE Rob Gronkowski returned and only had 2 catches but 1 was a 23-yard TD catch from Brady.  The Mighty Mice, WR Wes Welker and R Danny Woodhead, showed why they are football players.  Welker had 8 catches for 94 yards and 1 TD, while Woodhead ran for 18 yards and added 79 receiving yards as well.  Time after time Brady went to the Mice for needed first downs and they rarely let him down.

On the defensive side, rookie DE Justin Francis had his coming out party and was named the Sox & Dawgs Defensive Player of the Game with 3 sacks, 3 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 3 QB hits.  Fellow rookie DE Chandler Jones looks fully recovered from his foot injury and led the team in tackles.  S Steve Gregory had an INT and rookie LB Dont’a Hightower had a huge fumble recovery that snuffed a Dolphin drive in the 3rd quarter.

The only thing the Patriots couldn’t today was help Kansas City beat Denver.

New England gets a bye week next week and then they face one of three teams they’ve already seen earlier this season.  Depending how the Wild Card games shake out New England will host the Texans, Ravens or Colts on January 13th.

Dolphins at Patriots Gamebook includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Patriots at Dolphins Game Recap.

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Turning Point of the Game

Trailing 21-0 Miami had a 2nd and goal at the New England 3 yard line and QB Ryan Tannehill botched a handoff to RB Reggie Bush the ball rolled to the 1-yard line and was recovered by Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower.

Offensive Player of the Game

WR Wes Welker had 8 catches for 94 yards and 1 TD and added 11 yards rushing.

Defensive Player of the Game

DE Justin Francis, the rookie had 3 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for loss and 3 QB Hits.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Solder

LG Mankins

C Wendell

RG Connolly

RT Vollmer

TE Hernandez

TE Gronkowski

TE Welker

WR Branch

QB Brady

RB Woodhead

On Defense:

DE Ninkovich

DT Wilfork

DT Deaderick

DE C. Jones

LB Mayo

LB Spikes

LB Hightower

CB McCourty

CB Arrington

S Gregory

S Chung

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. CB Marquice Cole (finger)
2. CB Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring/knee)
3. OL Markus Zusevics
4. DE Jake Bequette
5. OL Nick McDonald (shoulder)
6. WR Kamar Aiken
7. S Nate Ebner (hamstring)

Dolphins

1. QB Pat Devlin
2. WR Devone Bess (back)
3. CB Nolan Carroll (knee)
4. LB Josh Kaddu
5. T Patrick Brown
6. TE Kyle Miller
7. DT Kheeston Randall

The spread (Patriots MINUS 11) WAS covered.  The over/under (46) WAS NOT COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Patriots) and took the OVER.  I am now 4-12 vs. the spread and 10 of 16 calling the under/over.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 159-65.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 74-17 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 45-6 in December games. At home in December they are 22-2.

New England is 61-21 vs. the AFC East since 2000 in the regular season. 

Since Gillette Stadium opened the Patriots are 27-5 against the AFC East.

The New England defense has forced a turnover in 27 consecutive games dating back to Week 6 in 2011.

The Dolphins lead the all-time series 50-45. This includes 3 meetings in the playoffs with the Patriots holding a 2-1 post season edge.

The Patriots have gone undefeated in division play for the 2nd time in team history (2007).  They have had 1 division loss 7 times (1987,1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011).

Patriots set a new NFL record for most first downs in a season with 444.

The Patriots have won 15 of the last 20 games between the teams.

New England is 30-17 as the home team in the series including playoffs.

The Patriots swept the series from Miami for the 3rd consecutive season.

The Patriots have now swept the Dolphins 9 times in the series history including 6 times in the Belichick era (2003-‘04, ‘07, ‘10-‘12).

This was the fourth time the Patriots have shut out the Dolphins in the series.  It was the first since December 2003 when the Patriots won 12-0 at Gillette Stadium.

The shut out was New England’s first since the 2009 season.

Bill Belichick is now 204-108 including playoffs in his career.

Belichick’s 204 wins are good for 7th all-time.  Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers is 6th with 205 wins.

Belichick coached teams are 17-11 vs. Miami. Belichick is 17-9 as Patriots head coach and he was 0-2 as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Tom Brady is 16-6 vs. the Dolphins.  Overall including playoffs he is 152-44.

Brady has 334 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 48 consecutive games.  That is the second longest streak in NFL history.

He is the first QB in NFL history to throw a TD pass in a 16 games, 3 seasons in a row.

The Patriots are 91-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 117 consecutive games including playoffs, 100 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker led the team with 8 catches for 94 yards and 1 TD.

RB Stevan Ridley finished the season with 1263 rushing yards and a team leading 12 TD’s.  He had 74 yards and 2 TD’s on 20 attempts.

Ridley is just the 5th Patriot to rush for 1200+ yards in a season.

TE Rob Gronkowski had the other TD catch it was his 11th TD of the year.

DE Chandler Jones led the team with 7 tackles (3 solo), he also had 2 passes defensed and 1 tackle for loss.

Rookie DE Justin Francis had a team high 3 sacks on Sunday.  DT Vince Wilfork, DT Brandon Deaderick, DE Trevor Scott and S Derrick Martin each had 1 sack.

Francis (3) and Wilfork, Deaderick, Scott, Martin and LB Dont’a Hightower each had QB hits.

Hightower had a fumble recovery at the New England goal line when Miami QB Ryan Tannehill botched a handoff to RB Reggie Bush.

Francis had 3 tackles for loss to lead the team.  Jones, Wilfork, Deaderick, Scott and Martin all had 1 tackle for loss.

S Steve Gregory had his 3rd INT of the season.

Jones (2), Gregory, S Patrick Chung, CB Kyle Arrington, LB Jerod Mayo all had passes defensed.

Arrington led the squad with 2 tackles on special teams.

Roster moves this week:

• DE Jermaine Cunningham was activated to the 53-man roster after serving a 4 game NFL suspension.
• WR Kamar Aiken was released.
• RB James Develin was released.
• WR Tony Logan and OL Jeremiah Warren were released from the practice squad.
• Re-signed RB James Develin, WR Kamar Aiken and S Cyhl Quarles to the practice squad.
• Released DL Ron Brace.
• Promoted DB Malcolm Williams and WR Kamar Aiken to the 53-man roster.

The Patriots sacked Miami QB Ryan Tannehill 7 times, while Brady was sacked 1 time.

New England is PLUS 25 in turnover differential, 1st in the NFL. The offense has given up 9 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense has 20 INTs and 21 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 3 for 3 (100 %) in the red zone.  They had 3 TDs.

New England was 8 for 16 (50%) on third down conversions and 2 for 3 (66.7%) on 4th down attempts.

The Dolphins are 17-30 as the road team in the series and 2-9 at Gillette Stadium.

The Fish are 31-43 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

Miami has lost the last 6 meetings between the teams.

Miami head coach Joe Philbin in his 1st season as an NFL head coach; he is 7-9 since taking over.

He is 0-2 against New England in his career.

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill is in his first season in the NFL and he is 7-9.  He was Miami’s first round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.

He is 0-2 vs. New England in his career.

Tannehill is the first rookie QB in Dolphins history to start all 16 games.

Tannehill threw his first INT in 141 attempts when Gregory picked him in the first quarter.

Miami was 5 for 13 (38%) on 3rd down conversions and 0 for 1 (0%) on 4th down attempts.

The Dolphins were 0 for 1 (0%) in the red zone.  They had 1 fumble.

Miami is MINUS 10 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 13 INT and 13 fumbles, while the defense has 10 INTs and 6 fumble recoveries. 

Jerome Boger was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 28 (wind chill 16), windy and cold.

Attendance – 68,756 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conference via patriots.com

This Week in the AFC East

Bills whipped the Jets, 28-9

Final AFC East Standings

Patriots                 12-4/6-0

Dolphins                  7-9/2-4

Jets                      6-10/2-4

Bills                      5-11/2-4

Next Week

The Patriots, who are the #2 seed in the AFC, will host Houston, Baltimore or Indianapolis at Gillette Stadium on Sunday January 13th at 4:30 p.m.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

For many New England Patriots fans the baritone sound of Gil Santos’ voice meant that another fall was taking shape in New England.  For 36 years (1966-1979, 1991-2012), Santos has been the voice of New England Patriots football.

In 1966 Santos and the legendary Bob Starr replaced Bob Gallagher and Ned Martin in the broadcast booth and it was the start of a New England love affair between Santos and the fans.

The first five years in the booth, he was the Number 2 guy with Starr doing play-by-play. That changed in 1971 when Santos took over the play-by-play call when John Carlson joined him for one season.  In 1972 Patriots ownership put together the crew that would be together for a total of 28 years when they paired Santos with longtime Patriots player and former AFL MVP Gino Cappelletti.

In 1979 they replaced Cappelletti with another former Patriots player Jon Morris and after that season Santos himself was out when the team changed flagship stations from WBZ to WEEI and then to WHDH.

In the seasons that followed he would be replaced in the booth by Carlson (7 seasons), the legendary Curt Gowdy (1 season) and then Dale Arnold (3 seasons), who would become the only broadcaster to have called all four major Boston sports teams games.

In 1991, after an 11-year absence, Santos would return to the booth to work with his former partner Cappelletti when the broadcast rights were once again awarded to WBZ.  The pair would stay together until this year when Gino retired and he was replaced by former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak.

Santos along with the Philadelphia Eagles announcer Merrill Reese are the longest tenured broadcasters currently working in the NFL. Now as Gil prepares to call his 743rd Patriots game (preseason, regular season and playoffs) it is his time to step away from the microphone.

Before Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins the team will honor Santos and Cappelletti for their 28 years together and for Santos’ 36 seasons behind the mic.  The pair will be reunited on Sunday in the booth as well as Zolak will step aside while Gil and Gino call the Patriots first drive of the game together.

It just wont be the same without Santos in the booth, for many fans he was the connection to the team in good and in bad.

In 36 years, going into Sundays season finale, Santos has called 308 Patriots wins, 246 loses and 3 ties in the regular season as well as 19 playoff wins, 13 playoff losses and that includes 6 Super Bowls.

He’d love nothing more than to finish his career by calling his seventh.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: wbz

This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East Rival Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. It was flexed from it’s original 1 p.m. start. 

The Dolphins		—-	The Patriots
Overall	7-8		Overall	11-4
Road record	2-5		Home record	5-2
AFC East	2-3		AFC East	5-0
AFC	5-6		AFC	10-1

Jerome Boger is the referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 11.  The over/under is 46. 

My Prediction is Patriots 35, Dolphins, 17.  Give the points (PATRIOTS) and take the over.  I am 3-12 against the spread and 10 of 15 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 203rd consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Prior to the game the Patriots will honor Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti who for 28 years called Patriots games together on the radio.  Cappelletti retired after the 2011 season and Santos has announced he will retire after this season.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking information and map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good. 

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game regionally and Jim Nantz will do play by play while Phil Simms will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.

The DirecTV designation is Channel 713.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

Radio

This is Gil Santos final regular season Patriots game.  He will retire after the playoffs after 36 seasons and over 740 Patriots games called. Santos began calling games for the Boston Patriots at Fenway Park in 1966. He called the games for the Patriots for the next 14 seasons (1966-79). He returned to the booth in 1991 and has broadcast every Patriots game since then.

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do the game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Sirius Channel 94, XM Channel 227 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Dolphins Radio Network has former Dolphins WR Jimmy Cefalo calling play-by-play and former Dolphins TE Joe Rose and former Dolphins LB Kim Bokamper providing the color with Keith Sims on the sidelines via their flagship stations WINZ and WBGG-FM.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 134 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 816.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots Week 17 Preview, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots held off the Jaguars on the road, 23-16.  The Dolphins wrapped up their home slate of games with a 24-10 win over the Bills.

History

• This is the 95th meeting between the Patriots and the Dolphins since they started to face each other as AFL foes in 1966 when Miami became a franchise.
• The Dolphins lead the all-time series 50-44. This includes 3 meetings in the playoffs (1982, 1985, 1997) with the Patriots holding a 2-1 post season edge.
• The two teams met earlier this season, Week 13 in Miami, with the Patriots winning 23-16.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 425-369-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are 23-16 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2011 when they beat Denver home in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 45-10 and defeated Baltimore 23-20 in Foxboro in the AFC Championship Game.  They lost Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants 21-17. 

The Patriots are the defending two-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 8 times including this season and the conference 5 times since 2000.

With a win on Sunday the Patriots will have gone undefeated in division play for the 2nd time in team history (2007).  They have had 1 division loss 7 times (1987,1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011).

This is the 13th time the Patriots have faced the Dolphins in the season finale, the 7th time in Foxboro.

With 1 first down on Sunday the Patriots will set a new NFL record for most first downs in a season.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 158-65.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 73-17 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 44-6 in December games. At home in December they are 21-2.

New England is 60-21 vs. the AFC East since 2000 in the regular season. 

Since Gillette Stadium opened the Patriots are 26-5 against the AFC East.

The Patriots have won 14 of the last 19 games between the teams.

New England is 29-17 as the home team in the series including playoffs.

The Patriots are looking for a series sweep of Miami for the 3rd consecutive season.

The Patriots have swept the Dolphins 8 times in the series history including 5 times in the Belichick era (2003-04, 07, 10-11).

The New England defense held Miami to a season low 7 passing first downs and 13 completions in the Week 13 game.

The New England defense has forced a turnover in 26 consecutive games dating back to Week 6 in 2011.

The Patriots have seven non-offensive touchdowns in 2012. The 2010 Patriots and 1961 Patriots teams own the team record with nine non-offensive touchdowns. The NFL record for most non-offensive touchdowns is 13 by Seattle in 1998.

Date             Game                     Touchdown

9/9/12          at Tennessee           Dont’a Hightower 6-yd. Fumble Return

10/21/12       vs. N.Y. Jets            Devin McCourty 104-yd. Kickoff Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Julian Edelman 68-yd. Punt Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Aqib Talib 59-yd. Int. Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Alfonzo Dennard 87-yd. Int. return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Steve Gregory 32-yd. Fumble Return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Julian Edelman 22-yd. Fumble Return

The Patriots are 1st in the NFL in points per game with 35.3.  While they allow 22.1 points per game good for 17th in the NFL.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 30 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 26 times.

New England is PLUS 23 in turnover differential, 1st in the NFL. The offense has given up 9 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense has 19 INTs and 20 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots are 102 for 210 (48.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 6 for 9 (66.7%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 77 for 192 (40.1%) in 3rd down efficiency and 9 for 22 (40.9%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 37 of 55 (67.3%) in the red zone while opponents are 20 for 35 (57.1%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 28 for 34 (82.4%) and opponents are 15 for 20 (75%).

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 204.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 223.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 11.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 13.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

Patriots Staff Notes

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Dolphins.

Bill Belichick coached teams are 16-11 vs. Miami. Belichick is 16-9 as Patriots head coach and he was 0-2 as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 186-101 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 150-57 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 203-108.

Belichick’s 203 wins are good for 7th all-time.  Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers is 6th with 205 wins.

Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league.  The others are former Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).

Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (3) and Bill Walsh (3).  Those men are all in the Hall of Fame.

He is the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons.

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 10 consecutive seasons.

Special Teams coach Scott O’Brien was a member of Nick Saban’s staff in Miami in 2005-06.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Soldier
• LG: Mankins
• C: Wendell
• RG: Connolly
• RT: Vollmer
• TE: Hernandez
• WR: Lloyd
• WR: Welker
• WR: Branch
• QB: Brady
• RB: Ridley

Defense:

• DE: Scott
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: C. Jones
• LB: Ninkovich
• LB: Mayo
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: Cole
• RCB: Arrington
• S: McCourty
• S: Gregory

Patriots Players Notes

The Patriots placed 7 players on the AFC Pro Bowl team.  They are G Logan Mankins, TE Rob Gronkowski, LB Jerod Mayo and DT Vince Wilfork who were voted as starters.  QB Tom Brady and WR Wes Welker were named as reserves and WR Matthew Slater made it as a special teams player.

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 15-6 vs. the Dolphins.

Overall Brady is 135-39 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 151-45.  Brady is a 7 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

He was ranked in the preseason by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski as the 3rd best quarterback in the NFL.

Brady has 332 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has 135 regular season career wins he is 5th all-time.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 47 consecutive games.  He is tied with Hall of Fame member Johnny Unitas for the second longest streak in NFL history.

The Patriots are 90-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

Brady has 53 games in his career with 300 or more passing yards he is 5th all-time.

On the season Brady is 379 of 601 (63.4%) for 4543 yards with 32 TDs and 8 INTs his QB rating is 98.3.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 116 consecutive games including playoffs, 99 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker leads the team with 110 catches for 1260 yards.  He is the 1st player in NFL history to have five 100+ catch seasons.

Welker has the second most receptions (760) all-time among undrafted receivers. Rod Smith is the NFL’s all-time leader with 849.

He had 12 catches and 103 receiving yards against the Dolphins in the Week 13 game in Miami.

WR Brandon Lloyd (902) needs 98 receiving yards against Miami to become the 10th Patriots player to have a 1,000-yard receiving season.

TE Rob Gronkowski has 37 receiving touchdowns and 38 touchdowns overall (1 rushing) since 2010. The NFL record for most receiving touchdowns in a player’s first three NFL seasons is 43 by Randy Moss and the NFL record for most touchdowns overall by a player in his first three NFL seasons is 47 by Barry Sanders (4 receiving and 43 rushing).

Gronkowski is expected to return to action for the first time after suffering a broken arm against Indianapolis in Week 11.

He leads the team with RB Stevan Ridley with 10 TDs.

Ridley leads the team in rushing with 1189 yards on 270 carries.  He is the 12th Patriot to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and first since BenJarvis Green-Ellis in 2010.

With 11 rushing yards Ridley will be the 5th Patriot to have rushed for 1200 yards in a season.

K Stephen Gostkowski has two field goals of 50 or more yards in 2012.  With one more he will be the first Patriots kicker with three field goals of 50 or more yards in one season.

Gostkowski (7 for 10) needs one more field goal of 50 or more yards to tie Adam Vinatieri (8 for 17) for most in team history.

LB Jerod Mayo continues to lead the team with 176 tackles (110 solo).  The team usually adjusts the counts based on coaches film study so in the Friday game preview we will have Mayo’s official total.

DE Rob Ninkovich leads the team with 8 sacks.  It is a new career high for sacks.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones also leads the team with 12 QB hits.

Ninkovich and LB Brandon Spikes lead the team in forced fumbles with 5 each which ties Mike Vrabel’s franchise record.   

DT Vince Wilfork and Ninkovich lead the team with 4 recovered fumbles.

DE Trevor Scott had a two sack game against the Dolphins in Week 13 at Miami.

DB Devin McCourty leads the team with 5 INTs. Rookie S Tavon Wilson is second with 4 INTs, he now has more INTs in his rookie NFL season than he did in his college career at Illinois.

McCourty also has team high 13 passes defensed in 2012. CB Kyle Arrington is 2nd with 10 passes defensed.

WR Matthew Slater has a team leading 20 special teams tackles.  Rookie S Nate Ebner is 2nd with 17 special teams tackles.

Former Dolphins now with the Patriots are WR Wes Welker, T Donald Thomas, DE Rob Ninkovich, LB Mike Rivera and CB Will Allen (IR).

DT Vince Wilfork is a native of Boynton Beach FL.

DE Justin Francis is a native of Opa-Locka FL.

There are only three players on the team who played on at least one of the Super Bowl championship teams, Brady (3), Deion Branch (2) and Wilfork (1).

Roster moves this week:

• DE Jermaine Cunningham was activated to the 53-man roster on Saturday will be able to play on Sunday after serving a 4 game NFL suspension.
• WR Kamar Aiken was released.
• RB James Develin was released.
• WR Tony Logan and OL Jeremiah Warren were released from the practice squad.
• Signed RB James Develin, WR Kamar Aiken and S Cyhl Quarles to the practice squad.
• Released DL Ron Brace.
• Signed WR Kamar Aiken and DB Malcolm Williams to 53-man roster.

The Patriots captains for 2012 are QB Tom Brady, DT Vince Wilfork, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty and WR Matthew Slater (special teams).

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR). 

They have 10 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); RB James Develin (Brown – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Dolphins Team Notes

Here is the Dolphins roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Dolphins Schedule/Results

Miami's all-time record is 407-308-4 they are 20-20 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 2008 when they lost to Baltimore in the AFC Wild Card game, 27-9.

They last played for a conference championship in 1992 when they lost to San Diego in the AFC Title game, 29-10.

They have won two Super Bowl titles (VII, VIII) in five appearances.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 1984 losing to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX, 38-16.  The Dolphins franchise started in 1966 in the AFL.

This is the 40th anniversary year of the 1972 Dolphins undefeated season in which they finished 17-0 and won Super Bowl VII beating Washington 14-7.

The Dolphins are 17-29 as the road team in the series and 2-8 at Gillette Stadium.

Dolphins largest margin of victory in the series is 52 points.  Their largest margin of loss is 34 points.

Miami has lost the last 5 meetings between the teams.

Dolphins longest series win streak is 9 games from 1989-93.

Miami has two shut outs in the series, while they have been shut out three times.

The Fish are 31-42 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Dolphins are 25th in the NFL in points per game with 19.2.  While they allow 19.3 points per game good for 6th in the NFL.

The Miami defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 30 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 41 times.

Miami is MINUS 8 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 12 fumbles, while the defense has 10 INTs and 6 fumble recoveries. 

The Dolphins are 73 for 194 (37.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 5 for 14 (35.7%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 79 for 222 (35.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 10 for 14 (71.4%) on 4th down attempts.

Dolphins Staff Notes

Hear what Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Miami head coach Joe Philbin in his 1st season as an NFL head coach; he is 7-8 since taking over.

He is 0-1 against New England in his career.

Philbin, a Springfield MA native, is a former high school player and coach at Longmeadow (MA) High School.  He also coached at Northeastern and Harvard as the offensive coordinator. 

Prior to coming to Miami he was the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers since 2007.

He is the 10th head coach in Miami franchise history.

Philbin lost his 21-year old son Michael this past January in a tragic water accident in Wisconsin.  He and his wife also have five other children.

Defensive Coordinator Kevin Coyle played DB at UMass from 1975-77.  He coached at College of the Holy Cross from 1982-1990.

Assistant special teams coach Dave Fipp coached at the College of the Holy Cross from 1998-99. 

Offensive assistant Ben Johnson was a coach at Boston College in 2010 and 2011.

Assistant wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan was born in Springfield MA and was a WR at the University of Maine from 1998-2000.

Assistant offensive line coach Chris Mosley coached at Boston College in 2007 and St. Anselm College in 2011.

Wide Receivers coach Ken O’Keefe was born in Milford CT.  He coached at the University of New Haven in 1976-77.

Assistant strength and conditioning coach Dave Puloka was born in Arlington MA and was a linebacker at the College of the Holy Cross from 1997-2000.

Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi was a tight end at the URI from 1988-91 and was a coach for the Rams in 1992. He returned as head coach of URI in 2008. He has also coached at the University of New Haven (1993-97 and was head coach 1999-2001) and Northeastern in 1998.

Offensive Coordinator Mike Sherman was born in Norwood MA and was a college lineman at Central Connecticut State College in 1974-77.  He coached at College of the Holy Cross from 1985-88.

Offensive line coach Jim Turner was born in Boston MA and coached at Northeastern 1994-98 and Harvard 2000-02.

Director of College Scouting Chris Grier is a UMass graduate and former Patriots intern.

Director of Player Personnel Brian Gaine attended the University of Maine (1991-95) and played tight end for the Black Bears.

Dolphins Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: J. Martin
• LG: Incognito
• C: Pouncey
• RG: Jerry
• RT: Garner
• TE: Fasano
• WR: Mar. Moore
• WR: Hartline
• QB: Tannehill
• RB: Bush
• RB: Lane

Defense:

• DE: Odrick
• DT: Soliai
• DT: Starks
• DE: Wake
• LB: Burnett
• LB: Dansby
• LB: Trusnik
• LCB: McCann
• RCB: Stanford
• S: R. Jones
• S: Clemons

Dolphins Players Notes

The Dolphins placed 1 player on the AFC Pro Bowl team.  DE Cameron Wake was named as a starter.

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill is in his first season in the NFL and he is 7-8.  He was Miami’s first round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.

He is 0-1 vs. New England in his career.

He set the Miami rookie record for passing yards (3,059) when he passed Dan Marino (2,210).  He is the 5th Miami QB to pass for 3,000 yards in a season.

Tannehill was the first rookie QB to start a season opener in Dolphins history.

With a start on Sunday he will be the first rookie QB in Dolphins history to start all 16 games.

Tannehill has not thrown an INT in 4+ games for a total of 137 attempts.

Tannehill is 262 of 449 (58.4%) for 3059 yards, 12 TDs and 12 INTs for a QB rating of 76.9.

WR/PR Davone Bess (1,196) needs just 36 yards to tie former Dolphin WR Wes Welker (1,232) for 2nd all-time on the Dolphins career punt return yards list. 

Former S Jake Scott is the all-time franchise leader with 1,330 yards.

TE Anthony Fasano has 23 career TD’s and needs 1 more to tie Jim Mandich for 2nd place in team history.

RB Reggie Bush needs just 40 rushing yards for 1,000 on the season.  He had a career high 1086 yards in 2011 his 1st season in Miami.

Bush also leads the Dolphins with 8 TD’s, 6 rushing, 2 receiving.

WR Brian Hartline needs 1 more reception to become the 11th player with 70 or more catches in a season.  He leads the team in catches and receiving yards (1014).

Hartline has 24 catches in his career for 25 yards or more, 6th most in Dolphins history.

K Dan Carpenter has been placed on the season ending IR and has been replaced by former Chargers K Nate Kaeding.

RB/KR Marcus Thigpen has 2 return TD’s this season 1 on a punt, 1 on a kickoff.

DE Cameron Wake is 10th in team history in sacks with 43. He leads the Dolphins this year with 15 sacks.

LB Karlos Dansby leads Miami with 121 tackles (95 solo).

S Reshad Jones leads the team with 4 INTs and 2 recovered fumbles.

S Sean Smith is the team leader with 12 passes defensed.

Wake and Smith lead the Dolphins with 3 forced fumbles each.

LB Jason Trusnik leads Miami with 12 special teams tackles (10 solo).

TE Jeron Mastrud was a member of the Patriots practice squad in 2010.  T Will Yeatman was in camp with the Patriots as a TE in 2011 but was waived.  

Miami’s captains for 2012 are appointed weekly.

There are 4 players on the Dolphins roster from Big East universities and New England based colleges.  They are WR Armon Binns (Cincinnati); LB Jonathan Freeney (Rutgers); G Josh Samuda (UMass) and DT Chas Alecxih (Pittsburgh – Practice Squad).

The Dolphins have three retired numbers: 12 – Bob Griese, 13 – Dan Marino and 39 – Larry Csonka.

Next Week

The Patriots will have a home playoff game and depending on the results of several games on Sunday they will either play in the AFC Wild Card Round January 5-6, 2013 or the AFC Divisional Round January 12-13, 2013.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

The New England Patriots had seven players named to the 2013 Pro Bowl.

Here's the release:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Seven members of the New England Patriots have been selected to the AFC Pro Bowl squad.

Quarterback Tom Brady, TE Rob Gronkowski, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, WR Matthew Slater (special teams), WR Wes Welker and DT Vince Wilfork have been selected to represent the New England Patriots and the AFC in the 2013 Pro Bowl on Jan. 27, 2013 at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii.

It is the eighth Pro Bowl selection for Brady (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and fifth for Mankins (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012), Welker (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and Wilfork (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012).

Gronkowski and Slater earned their second straight Pro Bowl invitations, while Mayo (2010 and 2012) also earned a Pro Bowl berth for the second time.

Gronkowski, Mankins, Mayo and Wilfork were selected as starters.

Brady was named to the Pro Bowl for the eighth time, including four straight seasons. John Hannah (9) is the only Patriots player with more Pro Bowls than Brady. Brady enters the final week of the season with 4,543 yards passing and 32 touchdowns. Brady became just the fifth player in NFL history to reach 4,000 yards in five or more seasons and the fifth player with at least 30 or more touchdown passes in four seasons. Brady needs one touchdown pass in the season finale vs. Miami to extend his streak to 48 straight games with at least one touchdown pass and move past Johnny Unitas (47) for the second longest streak behind Drew Brees (54). He will also become the first NFL player to throw at least one touchdown pass in all 16 games for three consecutive seasons.

Gronkowski is going to his second Pro Bowl. Despite missing the last five games, Gronkowski leads all NFL tight ends with 10 touchdowns on 53 receptions for 748 yards. He is the first tight end in NFL history to have three straight 10-plus touchdown seasons after his 10 in 2010, 18 in 2011 and 10 in 2012. Gronkowski had three 100-yard games in 2012 to increase his career total to nine, tying Ben Coates for the most 100-yard games by a New England tight end.

Mankins is going to his fifth Pro Bowl, including his fourth consecutive. He went to his first Pro Bowl in 2007 when he became the first Patriots guard to earn a Pro Bowl selection since 1985 when Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah went to his ninth career Pro Bowl. The Fresno State product is in his eighth season with the Patriots since being selected in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. Since entering the starting lineup in 2005, Mankins has helped the New England offense finish in the Top 10 on offense six times. The 2012 New England offense is currently ranked first in the NFL. Mayo earned his second Pro Bowl honor after being selected for the first time in 2010. Mayo enters the final week of the season with a team-leading 179 total tackles. He is the first Patriots player to start his career with five straight 100-tackle seasons and his five straight 100-tackle seasons are tied with Lawyer Milloy and Vincent Brown for second, behind the six straight 100-tackle seasons by Fred Marion. Mayo has registered 10 or more tackles in 10 of the first 15 games to tie a career-high. He also had ten 10-tackle games in 2010.

Slater is going to his second Pro Bowl. He enters the final week of the season with a team-leading 20 special teams tackles, one behind his career-high of 21 special teams tackles set in 2010. Slater, a Special Teams Captain for the last two seasons, has been a productive member of the Patriots special teams units since joining the team as a fifth round draft pick out of UCLA in 2008. He has led the Patriots in special teams tackles for the past two seasons with 21 in 2010 and 17 in 2011.

Welker has been selected to the Pro Bowl five straight seasons. He enters the final week of the season with 110 receptions for 1,260 yards and five touchdowns. Welker became the first player in NFL history with five 100-catch seasons. Welker also added four 10-catch games in 2012 to set an NFL record with 18-career 10-catch games. He extended his team record with his fifth 1,000-yard season. He also became the Patriots’ all-time leader in receptions, surpassing Troy Brown in Week 2 vs. Arizona.

Wilfork earned his fifth Pro Bowl selection overall and fourth straight Pro Bowl honor. Since being selected in the first round (21st overall) of the 2004 draft out of Miami, Wilfork has helped the Patriots defense finish in the top 10 in points allowed on six occasions (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010). The Patriots own a 106-31 (.774) record in Wilfork’s 137 career regular-season games.

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Patriots Look to Improve Playoff Standing

This Sunday is the final week of the NFL regular season and the Patriots (11-4/5-0) host their long-time rival the Miami Dolphins (7-8/2-3) at Gillette Stadium.  It is an important game for New England so don’t expect head coach Bill Belichick to be resting or protecting any players by sitting them unless the game is out of control either way.

With a Patriots win on Sunday they could possibly improve the playoff seeding.  A win clinches the 3rd seed but more importantly when you couple that with losses by Houston and/or Denver it will improve the teams playoff seed and give them a bye.

If the Patriots win and either Houston loses at Indianapolis or Denver loses at home to Kansas City, New England is the 2nd seed in the AFC.  That’s because the Patriots own head-to-head wins over both the Texans and the Broncos.

If the Patriots win and BOTH Houston and Denver lose then New England is the 1st seed in the AFC and home field advantage through the AFC Playoffs.

Either scenario gives the Patriots a bye week and at least one home game against a winner of one of the wild card games in the divisional round of games.

If all three teams win on Sunday then the seeds stay as they are and the Patriots finish third and will open at home against a wild card team, either Indianapolis or Cincinnati, who ever is seeded 6th in the AFC.

Should the unthinkable happen and the Patriots lose to Miami on Sunday and the Baltimore Ravens win at Cincinnati then they are the 4th seed in the AFC.  This is because the Ravens own the tiebreaker with the Patriots by virtue of the Week 3 win in Baltimore.  If the Patriots finish 4th they would also play on wild card weekend against the 5th seed at Gillette Stadium.

If the Patriots finish 3rd or 4th and advance past the wild card team they would then go on the road to face either Houston or Denver in the divisional round and possibly have to play one or the other on the road in the AFC Championship game as well.

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News and Notes

This Sunday’s game has been flexed from 1 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. in order to avoid all the AFC Seeds from being set after the early games.

Offensive snaps by skill players vs. Jacksonville (ESPN Boston)

Defensive snaps played vs. Jaguars (ESPN Boston)

Vince Wilfork gladly took the 4th quarter personal foul, he was protecting a teammate (ESPN Boston)

Five takeaways from the Patriots win over the Jaguars (Boston Globe)

Tom Brady ripped the team in the locker room. (Boston Globe)

DE Jermaine Cunningham is eligible to return to the team.  He was activated to the 53-man roster on Monday will be able to play on Sunday.

WR Kamar Aiken and RB James Develin were released and WR Tony Logan and OL Jeremiah Warren were released from the practice squad.

The AFC Playoff teams are set.  Right now they are seeded:

1. Houston
2. Denver
3. New England
4. Baltimore
5. Indianapolis
6. Cincinnati

But that could change, depending on results next week the Patriots can finish in any of the top four spots.

Currently the NFC Playoff seeds are:

1. Atlanta
2. San Francisco
3. Green Bay
4. Washington
5. Seattle
6. Minnesota

Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels is rumored to be in consideration for some of the potential head coach openings for 2013 but he will be very careful about his next step and it will take a lot for him to leave the Patriots right now.  I’ve heard his name attached to Cleveland and San Diego.

Patriots tied a NFL record with 416 first downs in a season on Sunday.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 158-65.

New England is 81-47-1 against teams in the AFC South.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 73-17 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 44-6 in December games.

The New England defense has forced a turnover in 26 consecutive games dating back to Week 6 in 2011.

The Patriots lead the all-time series 9-1 including playoffs.

Bill Belichick is now 203-108 including playoffs in his career.

Bill Belichick is 6-2 vs. the Jags in his career including playoffs.  He is 6-0 with New England.

Tom Brady is 6-0 vs. the Jags including 2-0 in the playoffs.  Overall including playoffs he is 151-44.

Brady has 332 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 115 consecutive games including playoffs, 98 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

He leads the team in receiving with 110 catches for 1260 yards and is 2nd on the team with 5 receiving TD’s.

RB Stevan Ridley was back into the game with 84 yards on 18 carries.  He leads the team in rushing with 270 attempts for 1189 yards and 10 TD’s.

RB Danny Woodhead had another TD on Sunday on a pass from Brady.  It was his 7th TD of the year, second on the team behind Ridley and TE Rob Gronkowski (10 each).  It was his 3rd receiving TD of the season.

LB Jerod Mayo continues to lead the team with 176 tackles (110 solo).  The team usually adjusts the counts based on coaches film study so in the Friday game preview we will have Mayo’s official total.

S Patrick Chung had his first 2 INT’s of the season.

CB Marquis Cole had his 1st INT of the season as well.  He had a solid all-around game and we named him the Sox and Dawgs Defensive Player of the Game.  Cole had 5 tackles, 1 tackle on special teams, 1 pass defensed and 2 tackles for loss in addition to the INT.

CB Kyle Arrington had a team high 7 tackles (7 solo) against Jacksonville.

LB Dont’a Hightower had the lone sack for the Patriots it was his 4th of the year.

Cole (2), Arrington and Hightower all had tackles for loss on Sunday.

DE Trevor Scott (3rd), DE Chandler Jones (12th) and Hightower (8th) all got QB Hits vs. the Jags. 

Chung (3rd and 4th), Hightower (3rd), Cole (3rd), LB Tracy White (1st) and DT Brandon Deaderick (1st) each had a pass defensed.

S Nate Ebner (16th, 17th) led the team with 2 tackles on special teams.  Cole (7th), White (4th), Scott (4th), LS Danny Aiken (1st), LB Niko Koutouvides (9th), RB Brandon Bolden (3rd) and LB Mike Rivera (8th) all had one as well.

New England scored 2 TD’s on 12 possessions. They also had 3 FG’s, 5 punts and 2 INT’s.

Jacksonville had 13 possessions.  1 TD, 3 FG’s, 1 missed FG, 4 punts, 3 INT’s and end of half clock expired.

Jacksonville scored on their first possession for the first time in 25 games.

The Patriots sacked Jacksonville QB Chad Henne 1 time, while Brady was sacked 3 times.

New England is PLUS 23 in turnover differential, 1st in the NFL. The offense has given up 9 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense has 19 INTs and 20 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 2 for 3 (66.6%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TDs and 1 FG.

New England was 4 for 12 (33.3%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

Jacksonville has never beaten New England in the regular season, they are 0-6.

The Jaguars finished with only 1 win at home the fewest in the 17 seasons on the franchise.

Mike Mularkey is 2-13 in his first season with Jacksonville.  He was 14-18 in two seasons with Buffalo for an overall record of 16-31.

He is 0-5 vs. New England in his career.

Jags QB Chad Henne is 1-5 vs. New England in his career, 1-4 with Miami.  Overall he is 14-22 (1-4 with Jacksonville).

Jacksonville was 4 for 15 (27%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 2 (50%) on 4th down attempts.

The Jags were 1 for 4 (%) in the red zone.  They had 1 TD, 1 FG and 2 INT’s.

Jacksonville is EVEN in turnover differential. The offense has given up 14 INT and 9 fumbles, while the defense has 12 INTs and 11 fumble recoveries. 

Next Week

The Patriots host the Miami Dolphins next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 4:25 p.m. on CBS it was flexed from it’s original 1 p.m. start.

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Here are the highlights from the New England Patriots uninspiring 23-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, FL on Sunday afternoon.

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