The Patriots need to regain their footing, and fast.
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Brady, who had an MRI on Monday morning, was limping noticeably and said he was “pretty sore” after the team’s season-ending 20-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
“It doesn’t really matter, ” Belichick said when asked to characterize his team’s play since Thanksgiving. The team held a 10-2 record going into a Week 14 game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but then Dalton broke the thumb on his throwing hand in that game and the Bengals went 2-2 in their last four games.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: For the second week in a row, the Patriots missed a chance to earn the top playoff seed by winning.
The Miami Dolphins faced the New England Patriots with nothing to play for.
The Patriots were at the stadium today for meetings as they started in on their bye week preparations in advance of next Saturday’s division round game at Gillette.
During the course of the game, Brady threw only 21 passes for a season-low 134 yards. He was sacked twice and endured at least half a dozen knockdowns, including three on one series. If it was not for the Patriots 10-0 start the Jets may have posed a serious threat to the patriots for AFC East crown. Brady was re-taped on the Patriots sideline during the Dolphins next possession and returned to quarterback the Patriots until their final drive, when he was replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo. They are the most experienced, the core nucleus of the Patriots had great experience in big games, the Patriots are also quarterback by 4x Superbowl champion Tom Brady, who should never be counted out. The Patriots dropped back to pass 22 times (plus two accepted penalties) and the Patriots ran the ball just six times (plus one accepted penalty).
“I’ve said this before, I think he’s more important than Rob Gronkowski to that offense”. “You look at interceptions, strip sacks and negative plays on third-and-long which if I remember we had one of those at the end of the game, we had third-and-13 and got sacked”. Sure, health is a major factor for the Patriots, but the performance of the five guys tasked with protecting Tom Terrific will be the true determining factor as to whether they go to the Super Bowl or not.
The Dolphins (6-10) wrapped up a disappointing season and are expected to embark on a search for their ninth coach since 2004.
“I’m very anxious about the Patriots”, Harrison added.
Executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum will lead the search. This would be the first time Patricia has interviewed for a head-coaching position.
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“We got a lot of work to do, ” receiver Danny Amendola said. The Patriots approached it like a preseason game, with atypical goals for establishing the run and draining the clock.
