The New England Patriots lost home field advantage for the upcoming AFC playoffs thanks to an uninspired 20-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins Sunday afternoon at Sun Life Stadium. Although he didn’t miss any snaps until being replaced with 1:56 left, Brady was limping noticeably after the loss. He was sacked twice and suffered numerous knockdowns, including three in one series. So I’ll just work hard to get the right treatment.
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Belichick has also not been afraid to let star players walk.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: For the second week in a row, the Patriots missed a chance to earn the top playoff seed by winning. The Patriots had to settle for the No. 2 seed as Denver edged San Diego, 27-20.
As for Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s reaction: “What are you talking about?”
But Belichick’s plan, unlike last week’s gamble in overtime, at least worked out because New England escaped their final regular season contest seemingly without any further injuries.
Miami (6-10), despite the surprising win, finished its seventh straight season out of the playoffs. Interim coach Dan Campbell, who went 5-7, will be among those interviewed but is not expected to return.
There are going to be a lot of changes coming to the team, and several others, before it can even think about 2016, but that didn’t stop the league from announcing all the home-and-away opponents for next season. All this being said, it makes it tough to win in a division where the best team is constantly in Super Bowl contention.
-RUSHING OFFENSE: D. The Patriots gave every opportunity for the rushing attack to carry the load, but the combination of Steven Jackson and Brandon Bolden wasn’t able to get much done against Miami’s 30th-ranked run defense. “That was across the board”. He took a big hit from Dolphins defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh early in the second quarter.
“I don’t really pay attention to those things, ” he said. “I wanted to stay in there and play yesterday and see if I could do some stuff to help our team….” Not ideal, that’s for sure, but certainly better than the alternative I imagined when I first saw Suh roll into Brady’s legs.
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ESPN reports that the MRI revealed no fractures and just a sprain. 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). During a season of highs and lows, Sunday was definitely a high for Ryan Tannehill. A 68-yard pass from Tom Brady to James White set up the TD. For the game, Tannehill went 25 for 38 with 350 total yards and had two passing touchdowns with no interceptions.
