The New England Patriots (14-2) put a wonderful sweet cherry on top of yet another great season for the franchise on Sunday by beating down their AFC East rival the Miami Dolphins (7-9), 38-7 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The 14th win of the year marks the fourth time in 11 seasons under Bill Belichick that the team has had at least 14 wins. Two of the three previous times they went to and won the Super Bowl. The other time, we don’t speak of.
While the Patriots should be allowed to bask in the memory of their fine season, it was by far a different direction that the Dolphins went in. In his third season, and after winning the Brady-less AFC East in 2008, CT native and Miami head coach Tony Sparano may actually be taking his talents somewhere other than South Beach in 2011. After three seasons, the Fish are 25-23 under Sparano with one division title; a playoff loss and not a whole lot more to show. After a promising 11-5 start he has led the team to back-to-back 7-9 seasons. But alas, it’s not all his fault as former VP in charge of Football Operations Bill Parcells and General Manager Tim Ireland failed to find in some manner or form to find the franchise’s next quarterback. For a team who knew how to select Hall of Famer Dan Marino, it’s shocking that they haven’t been able to find someone who could carry his towel since he retired after the 1999 season.
With that said lets take a look at how the Patriots wrapped up their season and headed into a playoff bye week as the top seed in the AFC.
In a game that meant nothing, QB Tom Brady took another step toward locking in his second MFL MVP award by throwing for 2 more TDs while not being intercepted for the 9th consecutive game. When he left the game, his new NFL record for attempts without an INT were increased to 335. While he was in the game Brady was 10 of 16 for 199 yards with the 2 TDs and no INTs. He also was not sacked. Both of Brady’s TD passes went to TE’s one to rookie Rob Gronkowski who got his 10th TD catch of the year a new Patriots rookie record and one to the veteran Alge Crumpler, who afterward gave away the ball to a kid in the stands.
Also mixed in there before Brady was relieved for good in the third quarter was a 1 yard TD run by BenJarvis Green-Ellis giving him a team leading 13 TDs on the season, a 28 yard FG by Shane Graham and a Patriots team record 94 yard punt return by Julian Edelman just mere seconds before halftime. With the aid of the Edelman return, the 9th non-offensive TD scored this season by the Patriots, the went into the locker room with a comfortable lead of 24-0.
After Brady left with a 31-0 lead in the third, second string QB Brian Hoyer came in and played well for a guy who never sees the field. He was 7 of 13 for 122 yards and threw his first NFL TD pass to rookie WR Brandon Tate who made a sensational diving catch in the end zone for the score. Hoyer never saw it though as he got planted by a late hit and was spitting Field Turf pellets out of his mouth.
The Dolphins finally managed to get on the board with a late fourth quarter score when QB Tyler Thigpen, who replaced starter Chad Henne, threw a 21 yard TD pass to WR Devon Bess with 2:11 left to play and the game well in hand.
The Patriots did see their games with no turnovers stopped at 8 when RB Danny Woodhead fumbled the ball in the first quarter. It was Woodhead’s first fumble of the season, the Patriots first turnover since a Hoyer pick in the Cleveland loss and just their 10th giveaway of the year. The Patriots though did get two takeaways. Rookie CB Devin McCourty grabbed his 7th INT of the year when he stepped in front of a Henne pass on the games opening drive. And Miami RB Ricky Williams coughed the ball up when DL Eric Moore stripped it and and LB Rob Ninkovich fell on it in the 2nd quarter.
So now the players will get Tuesday off, then return on Wednesday to get ready for their first playoff game. The NFL announced the game will be on Sunday January 16th at 4:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium against the lowest remaining AFC seed. Depending on the outcomes of this weeks up coming Wild Card weekend battles the Patriots could play the (4) Chiefs, (5) Ravens or (6) Jets. They wouldn’t play Indianapolis or Pittsburgh until the AFC title game on Sunday January 23rd.
Dolphins at Patriots Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.
Game Recap via team website.
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Turning Points of the Game
After New England forces Miami into a 3 out in a 17-0 game before half, Julian Edelman breaks a 94 yard punt return for a TD. If they weren’t then as of that the Fish were fried.
Offensive Players of the Game
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis had 20 carries for 80 yards and a TD. He also eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season.
Defensive Player of the Game
NT Vince Wilfork who had 3 tackles and 2 sacks and was the ultimate run stopper up the middle.
Game Notes
The starters for the Patriots were:
On offense:
LT: Matt Light
LG: Logan Mankins
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Ryan Wendell
RT: Sebastian Vollmer
TE: Alge Crumpler
TE: Rob Gronkowski
QB: Tom Brady
WR: Brandon Tate
WR: Julian Edelman
RB: BenJarvus Green-Ellis
On defense:
DE: Kyle Love
NT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Gerard Warren
OLB: Rob Ninkovich
ILB: Jerod Mayo
ILB: Gary Guyton
OLB: Eric Moore
CB: Devin McCourty
CB: Kyle Arrington
S: Patrick Chung
S: Brandon Meriweather
Inactives for the game:
Patriots
WR Wes Welker
WR Deion Branch
OLB Tully Banta-Cain
DL Brandon Deaderick
OL Dan Connolly
DL Ron Brace
DL Mike Wright
TE Aaron Hernandez
Dolphins
TE Anthony Fasano
OT Lydon Murtha
CB Nolan Carroll
DL Chris Baker
DL Ryan Baker
OL Allen Barbre
LB Mike Rivera
WR Julius Pruitt
The spread (Patriots minus 4) was covered as was the over/under (43 1/2). I am now 9-5-2 vs the spread and 12 of 16 calling the under/over.
The Patriots saw their NFL record seven consecutive games with 30 plus points scored and no turnovers end when Danny Woodhead fumbled in the first quarter.
New England is just the third team in NFL history to score 30 or more points for at least 8 consecutive weeks.
The Patriots are now 41-50 vs Miami in the overall series.
New England swept the season series from Miami for first time since 2007.
Patriots set a NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season with 10.
Patriots QBs had the fewest INTs in the NFL (5).
New England was 8-0 at home. The fifth time in team history they’ve gone undefeated at home. All have come since 2003.
Since 2002, the Patriots are 34-5 in December games.
Bill Belichick teams are now 13-11 overall vs Miami. He was 0-2 vs the Dolphins as head coach in Cleveland.
Belichick now has 177 wins10th all-time.
Tom Brady is now 12-6 vs Dolphins in his career and overall he is 44-11 vs the AFC East.
Brady won his 28th consecutive home game.
He extended his NFL record to 9 consecutive games with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.
Brady’s 2 TD passes give him 261 in his career he is now 10th all-time tied with former Seattle QB Dave Kreig.
Brady now has a league leading 36 TD passes and only 4 INTs.
Brady had at least 1 TD pass in all 16 games. He is just the 6th QB in a 16 game season to have at least 1 TD pass every game.
Brady has gone 11 starts without an INT (335 attempts). His last one was a end of regulation Hail Mary against the Ravens.
New England is now plus 28 in turnover differential after picking off Henne once and recovering a fumble.. The Patriots also had one giveaway a fumble by Woodhead.
Rookie TE Rob Gronkowski had caught his 10th TD pass of the season setting a Patriots rookie record.
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis finished the season with 1,008 yards. He is the 11th Patriot to get 1,000 yards and first since Corey Dillon in 2004.
TE Alge Crumpler caught a TD pass for the second consecutive game.
LB Rob Ninkovich and NT Vince Wilfork each had their first career 2 sack game.
Rookie CB Devin McCourty tied for the league lead in INTs with 7 with Baltimore S Ed Reed and Philadelphia CB Asante Samuel.
Rookie WR Taylor Price made his NFL debut.
K Shayne Graham finished the year 12 for 12 on FGA’s since replacing injured K Stephen Gostkowski.
WR Wes Welker did not play and appeared to be a healthy scratch. He has catches in 78 consecutive games played, 64 as a Patriot. The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.
RB Danny Woodhead left the game in the first quarter with a head injury he did not return.
DL Myron Pryor left the game with an eye injury he did not return.
Terry McAulay was the game referee. The temp at kickoff was 47, cloudy with occasional rain.
In the 2011 NFL Draft New England has a ton of high picks. Which include the #17 overall pick from Oakland and the 33rd from Carolina.
Post Game Interviews
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick; Patriots QB Tom Brady and Patriots NT Vince “Sponge Bob” Wilfork post game press conferences.
This Week in the AFC East
Jets beat the Bills, 38-7
FINAL AFC East Standings
- Patriots – 14-2/5-1
- Jets – 11-5/4-2
- Dolphins – 7-9/2-4
- Bills – 4-12/1-5
Next Game
The Patriots have the week off.
On January 16th they will host the lowest remaining AFC seed amongst (4) Kansas City, (5) Baltimore or (6) New York at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA at 4:30 p.m.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem
Photo credit: Elsa – Getty Images
