After having the opportunity to win against the Miami Dolphins and clinch home-field advantage in the AFC, the Patriots chose to lose and secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
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Tom Brady suffered a sprained ankle during the second quarter of the Patriots’ 20-10 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday. The big play on the drive was a 20-yard catch and run hookup between Tom Brady and newly acquired running back Steven Jackson that carried the Patriots into Miami territory for the first time in the game.
Still, Brady insisted: “Nothing over the last six weeks is going to matter”.
“Feel good for these guys”, Texans coach Bill O’Brien said.
The Patriots went back to the ground gamebut had little luck in that area as the Dolphins’ defense came up with multiple impact plays as they routinely stopped the Patriots’ running backs behind the line of scrimmage. In fact, getting the No. 2 seed may be beneficial for the Patriots, as they will avoid playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional round. So, with that, New England satisfied the primary objective of its trip to Sun Life Stadium.
“We’ve just got to play well two weeks from now”.
Tom Brady and his New England Patriots dropped the final two games of the regular season.
Sunday night, former Patriot Rodney Harrison had some strong words of concern for his former team. He did get a rushing touchdown in the third quarter, but that turned out to be New England’s only touchdown of the game. “That’s all that really matters”, Brady said.
The team bounced back and throttled the Bengals to kick off a seven-game winning streak.
“I’m pretty sore”, Brady said, “but I’ll be all right”.
The Patriots have a great chance to get back to the Super Bowl – as long as their best players are healthy enough to play at a high level.
Headed into the playoffs, it is absolutely certain that if the New England Patriots are going anywhere this season, they will need to play better football than they have as of late.
The Dolphins led 10-3 at the half after Tannehill fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to Parker with 36 seconds left in the second quarter.
During the course of the game, Brady threw only 21 passes for a season-low 134 yards. After establishing the run in the first half, the Patriots attempted to utilize play-action passes to generate more explosive plays down the field but coverage by Neville Hewitt Tony Lippett and others prevented them from doing so. The Patriots statistically are one of the worst rushing teams in the league.
Given the circumstances surrounding today’s contest, New England’s offensive game plan was the correct one.
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And past bye weeks don’t necessarily apply to the here and now in New England for a team that lost four of six games heading into the playoffs.
