NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-4) AT MIAMI DOLPHINS (5-6)
SERIES
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PATRIOTS |
DOLPHINS |
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SERIES LEADER |
48-37 |
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STREAKS |
4 of past 5 |
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COACHES VS. OPP. |
Belichick: 12-9 |
Sparano: 1-2 |
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LAST WEEK |
L 38-17 at Saints |
L 31-14 at Bills |
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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. |
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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. |
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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). |
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STATS
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PASSING |
Brady: 282-429-3,286 (2L)-20 (3C)-8-96.5 |
Henne: 144-249-1,512-7-7-73.2 |
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RUSHING |
Maroney: 131-519-4.0-8 |
R. Williams: 154-792-5.1-9 (T2C) |
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RECEIVING |
Welker: 85 (1L)-886-10.4-4 |
Bess: 49-431-8.8-0 |
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OFFENSE |
411.5 (1C) |
317.9 |
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TAKE/GIVE |
+10 (1C) |
-3 |
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DEFENSE |
313.4 |
341.0 |
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SACKS |
Banta-Cain: 5 |
Porter: 7 |
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INTs |
Bodden: 5 (T2C) |
V. Davis (R), N. Jones: 2 |
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PUNTING |
Hanson: 40.2 |
Fields: 46.0 (3C) |
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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 |
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1990 |
New Orleans Saints |
5-6 |
8-8 |
Wild Card |
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1993 |
Minnesota Vikings |
5-6 |
9-7 |
Wild Card |
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1994 |
Detroit Lions |
5-6 |
9-7 |
Wild Card |
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1994 |
New England Patriots |
5-6 |
10-6 |
Wild Card |
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1995 |
Detroit Lions |
5-6 |
10-6 |
Wild Card |
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1995 |
San Diego Chargers |
4-7 |
9-7 |
Wild Card |
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1996 |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
4-7 |
9-7 |
AFC Championship |
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1997 |
Detroit Lions |
5-6 |
9-7 |
Wild Card |
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2004 |
St. Louis Rams |
5-6 |
8-8 |
Divisional |
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2005 |
Washington Redskins |
5-6 |
10-6 |
Divisional |
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2006 |
Philadelphia Eagles |
5-6 |
10-6 |
Divisional |
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2007 |
Washington Redskins |
5-6 |
9-7 |
Wild Card |
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2008 |
San Diego Chargers |
4-7 |
8-8 |
Divisional |