Dolphins vs Patriots: Game Capsule

by Matty I on Dec 3, 2009 12:30 PM EST in 2012 Miami Dolphins News

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-4) AT MIAMI DOLPHINS (5-6)

SERIES

	PATRIOTS	DOLPHINS
SERIES LEADER		48-37
STREAKS	4 of past 5
COACHES VS. OPP.	Belichick: 12-9	Sparano: 1-2
LAST WEEK	L 38-17 at Saints	L 31-14 at Bills
LAST GAME	11/8/09: Dolphins 17 at Patriots 27. New England QB Tom Brady passes for 332 yards, including 71-yard TD to WR Randy Moss. Pats RB Laurence Maroney runs for 82 yards & TD.
LAST GAME AT SITE	11/23/08: Patriots 48, Dolphins 28. New England QB Matt Cassel passes for 415 yards with 3 TDs - his 2nd straight 400-yard game - & adds 8-yard rush TD.
BROADCAST	CBS (1:00 PM ET): Jim Nantz, Phil Simms. Westwood One Radio: Howard David, Dan Reeves. SIRIUS: 126 (NE), 108 (Mia.). XM: 103 (NE).

STATS

PASSING	Brady: 282-429-3,286 (2L)-20 (3C)-8-96.5	Henne: 144-249-1,512-7-7-73.2
RUSHING	Maroney: 131-519-4.0-8	R. Williams: 154-792-5.1-9 (T2C)
RECEIVING	Welker: 85 (1L)-886-10.4-4	Bess: 49-431-8.8-0
OFFENSE	411.5 (1C)	317.9
TAKE/GIVE	+10 (1C)	-3
DEFENSE	313.4	341.0
SACKS	Banta-Cain: 5	Porter: 7
INTs	Bodden: 5 (T2C)	V. Davis (R), N. Jones: 2
PUNTING	Hanson: 40.2	Fields: 46.0 (3C)
KICKING	Gostkowski: 95 (2C) (32/32 PAT; 21/26 FG)	Carpenter: 76 (28/29 PAT; 16/17 FG)

NOTES

PATRIOTS: Since 1900, club is NFL-best 50-28 (.641) in Dec...Club aims for 3rd consecutive win vs. Dolphins...Pats rank 1st in AFC & 2nd in NFL w/411.5 yards per game...QB TOM BRADY (29,732) surpassed DREW BLEDSOE (29,657) for most career passing yards in Patriots history. In last game at Mia. (10/21/07), Brady completed 21 of 25 passes (84.0 pct.) for 354 yards & tied career-high w/6 TDs vs. 0 INTs & 158.3 passer rating. Brady is 26-4 (.867) in Dec. w/43 TDs vs. 19 INTs & 89.1 passer rating...RB LAURENCE MARONEY aims for 7th game in row w/rush TD & has career-high 8 rush TDs in '09...WR RANDY MOSS (992) needs 8 receiving yards to join JERRY RICE (14) as only players in NFL history w/10 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Moss aims for 3rd consecutive game w/100+ receiving yards vs. Mia. (125, 147). WR WES WELKER leads NFL w/85 rec. & aims for 10th consecutive game w/6 or more rec...WR SAM AIKEN had career highs in rec. (7) & yards (90) last week...S BRANDON MERIWEATHER & DT VINCE WILFORK attended Miami (Fla.)...

DOLPHINS: Club is 4-0 in Dec. under head coach TONY SPARANO...QB CHAD HENNE is 3-1 as starter at home & has completed 69 of 115 passes (60.0 pct.) for 742 yards with 4 TDs...RB RICKY WILLIAMS posted 23rd 100-yard rush game w/Miami last week (most by any Dolphin) & aims for 4th consecutive game w/100+ rush yards. Williams (9) needs 1 rush TD to reach double-digit rush TDs for 2nd time in career (16 in '02)...WR DAVONE BESS (49) needs 6 receptions to surpass career-high of 54 in '08 rookie season. Rookie WR BRIAN HARTLINE (Round 4, Ohio St.) had 2nd career TD rec. last week...TE ANTHONY FASANO is averaging 15.7 yards per catch in past 2 (6 catches, 94 yards)...LB JASON TAYLOR (126.5) needs 0.5 sack to surpass DERRICK THOMAS for 11th-most sacks all-time. Taylor has 12 sacks against Patriots, 3rd-most vs. any opponent...LB JOEY PORTER aims for 3rd game in row with 2 or more sacks. In past 5 vs. NE, Porter has 8 sacks...S YEREMIAH BELL posted 1st INT since 11/13/05 last week.

STILL TIME FOR A TURNAROUND: Since the current 12-team playoff system was instituted in 1990, 13 teams have reached the postseason despite having a losing record after 11 games. This includes the current streak in which a sub-.500 team has reached the playoffs for five consecutive seasons. And in four of those five seasons the team has advanced to the Divisional playoffs.

Since 1990, teams with a losing record after 11 games that rebounded to make the playoffs:

YEAR	TEAM	RECORD AFTER 11 GAMES	FINAL RECORD	ADVANCED TO
1990	New Orleans Saints	5-6	8-8	Wild Card
1993	Minnesota Vikings	5-6	9-7	Wild Card
1994	Detroit Lions	5-6	9-7	Wild Card
1994	New England Patriots	5-6	10-6	Wild Card
1995	Detroit Lions	5-6	10-6	Wild Card
1995	San Diego Chargers	4-7	9-7	Wild Card
1996	Jacksonville Jaguars	4-7	9-7	AFC Championship
1997	Detroit Lions	5-6	9-7	Wild Card
2004	St. Louis Rams	5-6	8-8	Divisional
2005	Washington Redskins	5-6	10-6	Divisional
2006	Philadelphia Eagles	5-6	10-6	Divisional
2007	Washington Redskins	5-6	9-7	Wild Card
2008	San Diego Chargers	4-7	8-8	Divisional

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Comments

Go Finz

Let’s put a beatdown on these Patsies! Looks like at least 1 team has rebounded to make the playoffs for the last five years…..so, WHY NOT US?!?!?

Official Leader of the "Bring Back Zach Thomas!!" Foundation
On Matty's "Draft Sean Smith Squad" since he declared
Smacking Beck lovers for opening their mouths, since 09'

by Dragon27az on Dec 3, 2009 1:55 PM EST reply actions

It would be nice to see the Dolphins come back and make the playoffs, but the lack of depth at defense, especially at cornerback, combined with an injured Ronnie Brown, and an inexperienced, yet good, young quarterback in Chad Henne doesn’t do it this season. I think that the Dolphins have a good team for the future.This upcoming off-season will be crucial for Phins management because they need a good draft and maybe one or two free agents to challenge for dominance in the AFC East! Until then, there’s a couple of hockey teams in Florida you may want to check out for the remainder of winter!

Those of you who think you know everything just annoy those of us who do!!

by Sully F on Dec 4, 2009 11:15 AM EST up reply actions

Should I still

be looking at those hockey teams like you suggested?

Official Leader of the "Bring Back Zach Thomas!!" Foundation
On Matty's "Draft Sean Smith Squad" since he declared
Smacking Beck lovers for opening their mouths, since 09'

by Dragon27az on Dec 7, 2009 1:51 PM EST up reply actions