Loss to Dolphins leaves Patriots winning only two of last six games

The Miami Dolphins lost 36-7 to the New England Patriots in week 7, but they did much better today in their second outing against their divisional rival. On Sunday, they will attempt to become just the fifth team since 2000 to score at least 20 points in all 16 games, joining the 2007 Patriots, the 2009 Chargers, the 2011 Saints and the 2013 Broncos. This week the stakes are high, either win in Miami and have home field advantage for the playoffs or face the prospect of possibly having to travel to Denver for the AFC Championship Game.

Tom Brady reacts during the first half, when he made just five pass attempts.

But after their offense sputtered and New England lost its second straight game to end the regular season, a haunting and potentially postseason-derailing question looms.

The Patriots are playing for the No. 1 seed and the Dolphins are playing out the string of a humiliating season.

With a stellar running back in Lamar Miller, plus a quarterback who can do some damage with his legs in Ryan Tannehill, Miami offers up a run game that could be very potent if New England doesn’t stop it early. With no new injuries that gives any banged up players two weeks to nurse any injuries before playing their next game. There would be injuries the Patriots would have a hard time recovering from, most notably the loss of wide receiver, Julian Edelman to a broken foot in week 10. One of those players was Wes Welker, who had 111 catches with just three touchdown receptions for the Patriots in 2008.

The Patriots offensive line has been letting guys get to Brady often as of late because they are not at full strength. & prevented the Patriots from clinching the No. 1 seed within the AFC playoffs. The 300-pound lineman careened into Brady’s lower body on a pass play in the second quarter, which sent the 38-year-old Patriot limping to the sidelines after a third down incompletion.

Tom Brady is scheduled to start at quarterback against Miami for the 28th time and has compiled a 19-8 record in his previous 27 starts against the Dolphins.

Coach Bill Belichick’s charges were unsuccessful in their bid to wrap up the top seed last week after a curious decision on an overtime coin toss backfired in their 26-20 setback to the New York Jets.

So yeah, there’s a little bit riding on Denver vs. San Diego.

Miami did limit Indianapolis to 268 yards, but that’s part of a 400.4 average dating to the loss in New England. Tannehill has 22 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an 87.1 passer rating this season. The problem with that is, New England has a stout rushing defense. “We know this is a tough place to come in and for teams to beat us, so it’s important to us”.