Patriots 38, Dolphins 7

Now that's finishing the things the right way.  The Patriots won their eighth straight game (38-7 over division rival Miami), and in the process scored 30+ points every week and turned the ball over just once during that span.  They ended the season at 14-2, Belichick's fourth regular season with at least 14 wins (an NFL record), outscored their opponents by 202 points for the year, and they have not only the first playoff seed in the AFC but serious momentum and an offense and defense playing at their highest levels of the year.

Miami looked decidedly disinterested, getting whacked in all three phases of the game.  The Patriots defense completely shut down the Dolphins, allowing just a garbage-time touchdown.  They tallied 5 sacks and 8 quarterback hits (excluding a Vince Wilfork sack that was disallowed on a bogus roughing-the-passer penalty), and overall Miami had a 62.9 cumulative QB rating and just 250 total yards.

The defensive line and linebackers worked extremely well in tandem.  Wilfork and his no-name linemates stuffed everything that came their way and mixed in one-gap techniques to pressure the QB all game long.  And the coaches brought linebacker blitzes right up the gut, with Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton getting free runs at the QB and blowing up running plays.  Mayo was a thorn in Miami's side all day, notching 6 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, and 2 QB hits.

Newcomer Eric Moore started in place of Tully Banta-Cain, and he played a very good game, not bad for a guy who arrived just five weeks ago.  He forced a fumble and held up well against the run, making two terrific tackles.  And Rob Ninkovich snapped out of his slump at the right time, collapsing the pocket for two sacks and stopping runs around the edge (and even throwing in two special teams tackles).  In the playoffs you might expect to see a four-man rotation at OLB, and with two players peaking (Ninkovich and Moore) and the other two getting healthy (Jermaine Cunningham and Banta-Cain) it could work out well.

The story of the secondary (and maybe of the year) is Devin McCourty.  He had another interception on a route undercut, and he completely solidified left cornerback all season, both against the pass and in run support.  He won't be NFL defensive rookie of the year, but will probably finish second to Ndamukong Suh, and without him the Patriots wouldn't be 14-2 -- especially since their best DB from last year missed 2010 with an injury (remember Leigh Bodden?).  The other difference-maker in the secondary is Patrick Chung, who intimidated receivers and always executes his assignments flawlessly.  He appears to be healthy, and that important heading into the playoffs, because his backup, Brandon Meriweather, could cost the team dearly against complex and diversified offenses, although Meriweather can contribute on a limited basis.

Beyond McCourty, Kyle Arrington and Darius Butler got most of the snaps at corner.  Arrington competes on every snap, and though his skills are limited he won't let receivers get free releases and just about always makes the sure tackle.  Butler did not have a great game, and he's probably better covering the other team's third best receiver, but sometimes schemes have him covering better players and his limitations show through.  Neither inspires confidence; but they probably won't get you beaten and do the best with what they have.

On offense just about everything worked for the Pats.  With Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, and Deion Branch out of the game, the passing game focused on Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and the combination of Brandon Tate and rookie Taylor Price.  They targeted Gronk 10 times, and he caught 6 of them for 102 yards and a touchdown.  Edelman seemingly returned from the dead; he had 3 catches for 72 yards after previously catching only 4 for 14 yards all *season*.  Not sure what to make of Tate, who caught fire with 2 catches for 82 yards, or Price, who'd never gotten a single grab before and came up with 3 for 41 yards.  Can you say "peaking at the right time!"

Dr. Brady was in fine form, putting up a 145.6 rating with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions before being lifted for backup Brian Hoyer.  Oh, and Hoyer wasn't too shabby either: 7 of 13 for 122 yards and 1 touchdown an a 111.7 rating.  Both QBs stayed clean all day (zero sacks and just 4 QB hits), and there weren't really any scary moments when you wondered why Belichick kept Brady out there.  Tom Terrific finished the year with 36 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, a record 335 passes without an interception, and a QB rating of 111.0.  He should make arrangements to pick up his second NFL MVP award; it'll be coming soon.

The running game topped 100 yards for the eighth consecutive game, going for 181 and 4 yards a carry.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis was the main main again, getting 80 yards on 20 carries and reaching 1,008 for the year (first Patriots running back to break 1,000 yards since 2004).  Danny Woodhead fumbled on a hard hit early in the game, and they held him out with a head injury the rest of the afternoon.  It didn't look like a major injury.  And his speed and elusiveness in the short passing game are assets the team will need in the playoffs, so here's hoping the injury isn't severe.

Oh... and any O-line that gives up zero sacks and generates 4 yards a rush deserves priase.  But it's especially impressive when they played mostly backups the second half -- and that was against the Dolphins starting defense.  Kudos to line coach Dante Scarnecchia and the linemen for their ability to adjust to different schemes and injury-related lineup changes all year.  This might well be Dante's finest coaching job since he arrived in New England -- and that was over 20 years ago!

Special teams lived up to the name this week.  Julian Edelman set a Patriots record with a 94-yard punt return touchdown (trivia question: who's record did Edleman break?), though he needs to show some discipline and not try to return every punt from inside the 10 yard line.  Shane Graham's kickoffs were deeper and the coverage was good so they must have had decent hang time.  And Zoltan Mesko finished up his rookie campaign ranked 11th in net punting average, did a nice job holding for placekicks this year, and basically didn't screw up -- which was a vast improvement over last year, when the Pats had the worst punting unit in the NFL.

So where does that leave us?  The Patriots don't play again until 4:30 on Sunday, January 16, and their possible opponents are the Jets, Ravens, or Chiefs.  I'll post a breakdown of the playoff participants this week.  So relax and enjoy the two weeks of hype and next weekend's action on the field.

Remember folks... these are indeed "the good old days."

Statistical Oddity of the Week:  Aggregate score in the 2010 Patriots first three division games: 93-72.  Aggregate score in the 2010 Patriots last three division games: 107-13.

Bonus Statistical Oddity:  Since playing to a tie in the first half of the first Dolphins game, the Patriots outscored Miami 73-14 73-7.

Wacky Note of the Week: The 2010 Patriots scored seven different ways against Miami: rushing touchdown, passing touchdown, field goal, interception return touchdown, kickoff return touchdown, punt return touchdown, blocked field goal return touchdown.

Weekly Water-cooler Wisdom:  "Remember when the Dolphins fired their special teams coach after the first Pats game?  I wonder who will get the axe after yesterday's debacle!"

Keep the faith,

- Scott

PS.  14-2!

PPS.  Trivia Answer:

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Mike Haynes returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown in November of 1976.