- The Patriots lost to the Dolphins on Sunday.
- New England doesn’t have a bye in the playoffs for the first time since (***********************************************.
- Its dynasty seems all but officially over.
The New England Patriots entered Week with a**************************************** (percent chance) of getting their tenth consecutive postseason bye. They were – point favorites over the Miami Dolphins, who hadn’t won at Gillette Stadium in over a decade.
All victories in the NFL are earned. But if there was one result that seemed foregone before Sunday’s games kicked off, it was certainly that the Patriots would take care of business against the Dolphins with a first-round bye and home-field advantage on the line.
Wrong.
Slumping Toward The Playoffs
Miami came from behind to beat New England27 –on Sunday, courtesy of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 27 seconds remaining.
It was the culmination of a hard -fought game between two teams who know each other exceedingly well. But any notion that Miami’s win over New England was a fluke ignores its statistical context and the latter’s struggles over the final month of the regular season.
The Dolphins out-gained the Patriots in total yardage (to) ****************************************************. They had eight more first downs than New England, too. Fitzpatrick was awesome againstfootball’s top-ranked pass defense, throwing for yards, one touchdown , and no interceptions. Tom Brady, meanwhile, went – of – 29 for 320 yards, two scores, and an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
The loss marked the third in the Patriots’ past five games after they began the season – 1. Their defense was not quite as dominant over that stretch but still played well enough to prop up an offense that has underwhelmed since the season kicked off.
The problem? New England’spassing attack has clearly regressedsince September. Brady ended the regular season by completing 97 percent of his throws or less in six of the Patriots’ last seven games. He’s passed for more than yards just once since early October, and it came in a loss to the Houston Texans.
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