Tom Brady suffered ankle sprain, should be playoff ready

The New England Patriots might not want to rely too heavily on the deep ball once the playoffs begin. Brady should have come out after getting banged up.

“We obviously didn’t do enough things well enough today to win”, Belichick said. “What we did or didn’t do in the past, I don’t know if that has very much relevance”, Belichick said. The Patriots employed a safe, run-first approach in the loss, and yet Brady was still sacked twice and hit six times.

But he turned a corner in late November with a breakout game of four catches for 80 yards and a score against the New York Jets and had 23 catches for 445 yards and three touchdowns in his final six games. A season-ending knee injury in Week 1 of the 2008 season represents the only games he’s missed since the start of the 2002 campaign. That’s troubling, because this is the time of year when really good teams – the ones that win the Super Bowl rings – are cresting. Push the envelope and go all-out to ensure each game for New England will be played at Gillette Stadium over the next month, or be conservative and try and take a shot at beating the woeful Dolphins with the bare minimum in terms of personnel and keep the rest out of harms way. “Making that catch is just him trusting me to make a play”.

Brady was 9-for-12 when taking less than two seconds from snap-to-throw, but 0-for-3 when taking more than three seconds. In a season filled with bummer injuries we just narrowly avoided saving the worst for last.

Many asked, perplexed, as the Patriots appeared to be prioritizing sitting players against the Miami Dolphins to get healthy for the playoffs. “We just have to prepare for that one team and go out there and beat them”.

Miami’s defense stepped up several times in the second half, including this fantastic pass breakup play by Tony Lippet. Brandon LaFell, Scott Chandler, Keyshawn Martin and Chris Harper have all had forgettable stretches. Without Sebastian Vollmer, Brady was under pressure and took a beating.

– I liked the hard running of Steven Jackson and though his stats (14 carries, 35 yards, touchdown) don’t jump out, he fills a huge hole as the hammer.

Miami scored the game’s first touchdown on Ryan Tannehill’s 15-yard pass to Parker with 36 seconds left in the first half.

Below are some of the highlights from the Patriots’ game against the Dolphins, including the one in which Brady was hurt.

-SPECIAL TEAMS: C-plus. Pro Bowl kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a 46-yard field goal attempt wide right. They rush the passer well.

It was a reasonable question since the Patriots threw the ball 128 times on the 144 occasions they faced third-and-5 or longer in 2015 (88 percent).

According to ESPN, Brady should be a go for the Patriots when their first playoff game comes around, whether it be against the Houston Texans or the Kansas City Chiefs.