Boston Sports Then and Now

Jets receivers Braylon Edwards (left) and Santonio Holmes celebrate a playoff upset in 2010 that no one saw coming.

Could they have us all right where they want us?

Remember back to 2010. The first of three straight years of a dominant Patriots offense. An eight-game winning streak. A 14-2 regular season. Rob Gronkowski was just beginning his Hall of Fame career. Rex Ryan was a few pounds heavier.

The situation is all too familiar for Patriots fans. Think back to two short years ago when our beloved Pats took the field at Gillette Stadium on a Monday night in December. The opponent was the New York Jets. The hoodie was a full-blown parka. Remember now?

With the AFC East still potentially up for grabs, the Jets looked like the team from Little Giants. It was quite a good night for Patriots fans across New England, you see, because at the time, the Jets were actually good. They were playoff contenders. Heck, they went to the AFC Championship Game.

And the Patriots absolutely had their way with them behind 326 yards and four touchdown passes from MVP candidate Tom Brady. The final score?

45-3.

No one in the New England area thought the Patriots would be able to do any wrong for the rest of the year. Plans for a fifth Super Bowl appearance were in the works.

Fast forward a few weeks. The Jets, after winning a Wild Card game against the Colts, were back in Foxboro for another frigid showdown against their rival Patriots. This time, however, everyone knew they didn’t have a chance.

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On the surface, it is easy for any fan to see just how good or bad of a season their team has had. Whether it be wins and losses or total points put up, some stats tell the story, god or bad, of the year of their favorite team.

What most fans fail to sometimes realize, however, is all the stats that go into making an NFL team successful. Here are a bunch you would never even think to remotely consider about the 2012 season of the New England Patriots.

You name it. If it can be statistically tracked in the NFL, it’s probably in this post.

0 – The number of wins the team had when their leading rusher was under 40 yards for the game (0-2).

0 – The Patriots had no two-point conversions on the year. Just kind of odd.

0.5 – Brandon Bolden averaged half a yard more per carry than Stevan Ridley did.

1 – The number of franchises to score 500 points four different times. New England accomplished that this year after 500-point seasons in 2007, 2010 and 2011 as well.

1 – The New England offense ranked first in the NFL in total yards, yards per game, points and points per game in 2012.

1 – Of the four members of the team who finished the year as the starting secondary, only one (Devin McCourty) was on the team last year. Alfonzo Dennard, Aqib Talib, Steve Gregory were the other three.

1 – Vince Wilfork‘s four forced fumbles were tied for first in the NFL.

1 – The number of full games that tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski were both on the field for the whole contest – the season finale against the Dolphins.

1 – The number of NFL quarterbacks to throw at least one touchdown pass in all 16 regular season games for three straight seasons – Tom Brady in 2010-12.

2 – The number of teams to ever win 10-plus games in 10 consecutive seasons – the Patriots became the second to accomplish that this year.

2 – Their two-game losing streak in Weeks 2 and 3 was tied for their longest losing streak since they lost four straight in the 2002 season.

2 – This season was the second time they have gone undefeated against the AFC East, joining the 2007 team.

2 – The number of teams to ever record 400 first downs in a season – the 2012 Pats and the 2011 Saints.

2 – The number of points that Stephen Gostkowski needed to tie the all-time single-season Patriots scoring record set by Gino Cappelletti in 1964.

3 – Pass plays in the NFL this season longer than Shane Vereen‘s 83-yard reception in Week 12.

3 – It had been three years since the Patriots lost four or more games in a season (10-6 in 2009).

3 – The Pats have scored 500-plus points in three consecutive seasons.

The Patriots’ offense has been nearly unstoppable in the three years since drafting this duo.

4 – New England had four different players lead the team in receiving in their 16 games – Brandon Lloyd (3), Wes Welker (9), Gronkowski (3) and Vereen (1).

4 – It was Brady’s fourth career season of throwing 30 or more touchdown passes, good for a tie for the fourth-most all-time.

4 – Welker finished four receptions behind league-leader Calvin Johnson, who had 122 on the year.

4 – The Patriots have made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons.

4 – The team had four different players lead them in rushing in their 16 games – Ridley (13), Bolden (1), Julian Edelman (1) and Danny Woodhead (1).

5 – There have only been five Patriots running backs to rush for 1,200 yards in the team’s history. Ridley became the fifth this year.

5 – Wilfork was elected to the fifth Pro Bowl of his career and will start on the defensive line for the AFC.

5 – The team has held its opponents to 20 points or less in five of six games since Nov. 18 (5-1).

6 – In 16 games, the Patriots only lost six fumbles.

6 – The Pats finished six spots higher in total defense this year compared to last season when they finished 31st in the league.

6 – New England has been a top-10 offense in the NFL for six straight seasons.

7 – The amount of consecutive games that Brady needs to throw a touchdown pass in to break the all-time record of 54.

7 – New England’s longest winning streak of the year from Week 7 through Week 14.

7 – The number of points that Brady’s total QBR trailed Peyton Manning‘s for tops in the league.

7 – McCourty was one of seven NFL players to return a kickoff more than 100 yards on the year.

7 – The team sent seven members to the Pro Bowl in 2012.

New England’s seven Pro Bowlers in 2012 are the third-most in the league.

7 – Last year’s NFL leader in interceptions, Kyle Arrington, had seven fewer interceptions in 2012 than a year ago. He had seven in 2011.

8 – The number of years it had been since the team had a 1,200-yard rusher before this year. Corey Dillon rushed for 1,635 yards in 2004.

8 – Rob Ninkovich led the team with eight sacks on the year.

8 – The Pats had eight return TD’s on the season.

9 – The number of games in which the starting offensive line of Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Ryan Wendell, Dan Connolly and Logan Mankins were all on the field together.

9 – Brady now ranks ninth on the NFL’s all-time passing list with 44,806 yards. He needs 1,427 yards to pass Vinny Testaverde.

9 – Ridley finished the season as one of just nine non-kickers in the top-40 in the league in scoring.

9 – The team has a nine-game division win streak heading into next season.

10 – The number of consecutive 10-win seasons for the Patriots – the second longest such streak ever (16).

10 – The team scored 30-plus points 10 times in their 16 games in 2012 (8-2).

10 – The number of players who had a rushing attempt for the Pats in 2012 led by Ridley’s 290 carries.

10 – New England had 10 more sacks than it allowed in 2012.

11 – They also had 11 more interceptions than their opponents did.

11 – The combined number of points New England fell by in its four losses against the Cardinals (2), Ravens (1), Seahawks (1) and 49ers (7).

11 – The number of current and former Pro Bowl running backs that Ridley out-rushed in 2012.

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There was plenty of Patriots apparel out on the road on Sunday.

Ladies and gents, this is the true story of real fans versus fake fans.  At sun-soaked Sun-Life Stadium, the New England Patriots must have felt as though they were playing a home game versus their AFC East foe, the Miami Dolphins.  At the end of the game, if it weren’t for the balmy weather, the Pats might have felt as if  they were playing in Foxborro.  Home away from home anyone?  From the poor Miami fan display, the Miami touchdown song, a powerful final Patriots drive, and  4 Tom Brady sacks, I was there to witness it all.

First off this post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning -once again- that the Miami fans were absolutely pathetic.  The best fan in the entire stadium -below- appeared to be rooting for the Patriots. The Dolphins touchdown song (Click here for hilarity) lacked any type of bravado, and after the Pats took the Dolphins D on a: 7 minute, 16- play, 77 yard, game clinching drive, all the ‘Fins fans had left to root for was to make the 7.5 spread.  Side note: considering that the game was on the line, that was probably the most impressive Patriot drive of the entire season.

With the blue hair complimenting her outfit, this Patriots fans really shouldn’t be looked as as a benchmark for Dolphin fans to aspire too; however, it might be a good place to start.

Diversity was the name of the game.  Not only did Patriot fans come out, but New England fans, were in full force at Sun-Life on Sunday.

While Patriots fans exited Sun-Life with a feeling of satisfaction, there were several tenuous moments over the course of the game with their division rival.  One glaring mishap has to be the interception that Tom Brady threw, his first in over 200 attempts and 4^th on the season. Additionally, a usually stout Patriot O-line gave up an alarming 4 sacks to the Dolphins. There is no question there needs to be improvement.  This is one issue that Mr. Kraft might have a word or two with coach Belichick in light of our upcoming opponents.

Kraft signs autographs after the game.

Overall, the silver lining on this day pointed towards a sign of consistency.  This was the Patriots 4^th straight AFC East title. They are back in the playoffs. They are assured of another winning season, their 12^th in a row.  With a win against the Texans next weekend, they could very well be on track to secure a first round bye.  Bill Belichick always preaches that there is always “a lot of football left to be played,” and while everything appears to be trending upwards for this Patriots team, it will be business as usual next Sunday against the Texans.

One more thing: After witnessing a Jets game at Metlife, and this game in front of the Dolphins home-crowd…D#$*! It’s nice to be a Patriots fan.  Onto week 14.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but in the end the Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins, 23-16, to clinch their 9^th AFC East title in 10 years and Tom Brady has become the 1^st quarterback to ever win 10 division titles. Of course in New England clinching the division is nothing to celebrate. The team still has its eyes set on a first round bye for the playoffs, and possibly home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Here are three things that led to a Patriots win:

1.)    The Patriots shut down Reggie Bush.

The big concern going into Sunday’s game was whether the Patriots could stop Reggie Bush who is having a great year with the Dolphins. The Patriots front line was able to contain Bush by holding him to just 64 yards, the longest of which was a 16 yard run. Without Bush being effective, the entire Miami run game was non-existent. Besides Bush with 64 yards, the next best rusher for the Dolphins was Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who ran for 19 yards including a touchdown late in the 1^st half. For the Patriots, running back Stevan Ridley was just able to do enough by rushing 71 yards on 19 carries which included one touchdown. All but 4 of Ridley’s yards were in the 2^nd half.

2.)    4^th Quarter Clock Management.

After the Dolphins scored a field goal to cut the deficit to 7 with just over 8 minutes left in the 4^th, the Patriots offense showed everyone the proper way to kill the clock. The Patriots shaved off over 7 minutes of the clock, and scored a field goal, to retake a 10 point lead. The 16 play drive was a masterpiece. Tom Brady was 3 for 3 passing on the drive, and Stevan Ridley rushed for 46 out of his 71 yard game all in this one drive. The Dolphins were forced to use all three timeouts by the 4 minute mark to stop the clock, and after the two minute warning, Brady took a snap at the two yard line and fell on it to keep the clock ticking. By the time the Dolphins got the ball back there was only 1:15 left on the clock.

3.)    Aaron Hernandez

With Rob Gronkowski still out with a broken forearm, the Patriots expected someone to step up and fill the void left by Gronk. On Sunday the player who stepped up to take over was tight end Aaron Hernandez. For the first time all season Hernandez looked to be playing 100% healthy. It was clear that this was Hernandez’s best game of the season with 97 yards on 8 receptions. Of course if Hernandez can put up the same production when Gronkowski comes back, the Patriots offense will become almost impossible to stop.

After the win Miami the Patriots now face the challenges of the season. The first of which is next Monday night against the best team in the AFC, the Houston Texans. By beating the Texans next week, they can put themselves in position to potentially get home field advantage. After the Texans, the Patriots play again in primetime on Sunday Night Football, against the San Francisco 49ers.

2008: The last time the Patriots didn’t win the AFC East was due in large part to their franchise quarterback tearing his ACL on Opening Day.

It’s not how many games you win. It’s when you win them.

While championships are the ultimate goal, they can, and usually are, achieved without perfection. The NFL is the only American sports league in which teams actually have a somewhat legitimate chance to go through an entire season without losing. Losses may be good though.

With that being said, the Patriots can clinch their fourth straight AFC East Title with a win over the 5-6 Dolphins in Miami on Sunday. An undefeated division record has the Pats on top like usual with five games left in the season, three games ahead of the second-place Dolphins with the Jets and Bills pretty much out of contention.

No other team has won the AFC East since Miami in 2008, the year Tom Brady was out of commission, as the Patriots have dominated the division since the turn of the century. New England has won the division nine of the last 11 years including their championship seasons of 2001, 2003 and 2004.

The Jets snuck in with a title following the Patriots’ first Super Bowl title in 2002, but have come up empty every year since. Even the Colts have been AFC East champs more recently than the disappointing Bills, who last won the division in 1995. The Colts captured the title in ’99 before moving to the AFC South.

Recently, however, the AFC East division crown has not spelled out a championship season for the Pats. It’s hard for us Patriots fans to believe, because we are so used to it, but the Patriots haven’t won a Super Bowl in eight years.

They have won three straight division titles though, but have no championships and only one Super Bowl appearance to show for them. Even when they went a perfect 16-0 and won the division in 2007, they lost in the Super Bowl.

They also set an NFL record for the most points scored in a season that year with 589. Through 11 contests this year, they have put up 407 points and are on pace to break the record from five seasons ago. Buffalo is the closest division rival to them in that department, coming into Week 13 with 243 points scored.

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Logan Mankins will be out once again this Sunday for the Patriots.

This Sunday the Patriots have a chance to clinch the division they have seemingly dominated since Bill Belichick took over as head coach, the AFC East.  With a with in Miami the Patriots will clinch the division and try to move closer to pushing for a first round bye.  The Patriots must beat the Texans to even have a chance for the bye and have some help from teams playing the Ravens but, lets not get ahead of ourselves.

After the smack down on Thanksgiving night the Patriots got nine days off to prepare for the Dolphins. With extra time to prepare the Patriots always seem to have an advantage.  Now the Dolphins always seem to get up for games against the Patriots and they are not in the state of flux that the Jets are.  This game might not be as easy as some think.  Miami does have some explosiveness on offense and defense than can hold their own.  They have beaten Cincinnati and last week had a nice victory over the Seattle Seahawks, who beat the Patriots in Seattle.

First year coach Joe Philbin will have this team ready to play and rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill will be ready to face a Patriots defense that has improved the last two weeks but now they need to kick it into gear.  Take a look at my three keys to victory this Sunday in South Beach:

1) Protect Brady: This may seem like an obvious statement as they need to do this on a weekly basis, but the offensive line has suffered through their share of injuries this season.  Logan Mankins has been ruled out again this Sunday and that has the Dolphins defensive line licking their chops.  Cameron Wake can get after it and hits hard.  Dan Connolly and Sebastian Vollmer also did not practice which could spell a problem for the Patriots.  Look for the Patriots to use a lot of quick passes and draw plays to try and open up the field.

2) Keep Blitzing: The Patriots have been blitzing a lot more since the game against the Rams.  If they get after the quarterback good things will happen.  The game against the Colts they had two interceptions for touchdowns.  Pressure on the quarterback will help disguise defensive weakness.  The team did not blitz as often early in the season when they were susceptible to deep passing plays which many teams took advantage of including the Jets when the Patriots made Sanchez look like he was still as USC.  Brandon Spikes hitting somebody seems to pump up the defense and the move of Devin McCourty to safety seems like the right one.  Blitz, and good things will happen.

3) Score Early and Often: In a perfect world the Patriots will score on their opening drive and continue to get great defensive stops.  Every team in football is good for a good run.  Leaving a team in the game is not what the Patriots need as seen in the loses this season especially to Seattle and Arizona.  The Patriots cannot leave points on the board.  Kick the field goal if the game is close.  Risky play calling is not what this team needs. Let the players make plays and take the points.

The game against the Jets was the perfect example of keeping your foot on the other teams neck.  This Sunday if the Patriots score early look for them to continue to try and put the pressure on the Dolphins to make mistakes.  Teams down early and down big early will make poor decisions to try and come back and are even more likely to, with a rookie quarterback.

I believe the Patriots will wrap up the division this week with a win against Miami but it will be close for most of the game.  Reggie Bush will pull off an explosive play against the Patriots defense and they will buckle down and make a big stop.

Prediction: Patriots 38 Dolphins 27