Week 17, it all comes down to this, the Patriots can clinch home field throughout the playoffs.
—- the game —-
The Patriots lost last week at Met Life, dropping their record to 12-3, a win would have clinched home field advantage in the playoffs. The Dolphins at 5-10, just cannot wait for the nightmare to be over. On this day, the Patriots will continue their slide, and lose 20-10
Tom Brady with a pedestrian performance, 12/21 134 yards, no TDs, no INTs. Belichick chose to run Steven Jackson, once again leaving young James White on the sidelines. The run game, against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, was pathetic at best for a total of 70 yards.
Defensively the Pats allowed the Dolphins to look like a solid team, only getting to Tannehill once.
Ryan Tannehill came up with a good game, one that will keep fans dreaming all off-season. 25/38 for 350 yards, 2 TDs, no INTs. The run game did well, not spectacular with 96 yards. Devante Parker was the star of the day with 5/106, 1 TD.
Defensively the Dolphins were much more impressive than they have been most of the season. Sacked Tom twice, most importantly did not allow big plays. Kept the New England run game in check.
Dolphins move on to the off-season with a win but with a lot of questions, as they will be making a decision on Dan Campbell, or another HC.
The Patriots will look back at the last two weeks and wonder what the hell happened? A 12-2 team with every tie breaker, ends the season at 12-4, worst of all, instead of hosting the Broncos, they will need to go back to Denver, where they already lost once this season.
Biggest losers:
- Bill Belichick, in the last two weeks appears to have lost his touch, making one dumb decision after another. He has been down this road more so than any one else, should have known better.
- Tom Brady (see Belichick). He needed to step up and play the kind of game you would expect a SB winning QB to play, he did not.
- Dolphins fans, because this victory will make most of them dream big next season, and dreams rarely come true.
Game highlights
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