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Unless you want to be on the next “Remember last year” blog post, it would be wise to withhold predictions. It’s too early for that. Rosters will change dramatically after the draft and free agency. Therefore, what looks like an easy matchup today may not be in September.

Tom Brady participated in practice Thursday on a limited basis because of a left shoulder injury.

The New England Patriots quarterback had missed Wednesday’s session, but the team said his absence was not injury-related.

Comcast SportsNet reported that same day that Brady had X-rays to check for a separated left shoulder and was told he was “all set.” Patriots spokesman Stacey James said Thursday: “If there was an injury then it would be on the injury report.”

Brady was listed on Thursday’s report as having participated on a limited basis with the shoulder injury. He was one of 17 Patriots listed as participating on a limited basis, meaning a player took part in fewer than 100 percent of his normal repetitions.

He loosened up and ran with his teammates at the start of the practice while reporters were allowed to watch.

Brady landed hard on his left shoulder with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter Saturday when he was tackled by Kevin Burnett on a scramble in a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins in which he also scored on two 1-yard sneaks.

Roethlisberger says he will play Sunday

Story continues below

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t want his sprained left ankle to keep him out of Pittsburgh’s regular-season finale Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.

“As long as I can deal with pain, I’ll be out there,” Roethlisberger said Thursday. “I don’t want to let the guys down, so I’ll do what I can to be out there.”

Roethlisberger, who sat out the Steelers’ win last Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, fully participated in practice again Thursday. He said the ankle, sprained on Dec. 8 in Pittsburgh’s last meeting with the Browns, was “a little sore.”

There’s plenty at stake against the Browns as the Steelers (11-4) remain in the hunt for the AFC North title.

Around the league

Cowboys • With tape still wrapped around his bruised throwing hand after practice, quarterback Tony Romo insists that he will be ready to play in what is essentially a playoff game against the New York Giants.

Vikings • Running back Adrian Peterson is scheduled for surgery Friday to repair torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee. Noted specialist James Andrews will perform the operation.

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Matt Light (OT – NEP), Logan Mankins (G – NEP), Sebastian Vollmer (OT – NEP), New England Patriots

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was not present at the media portion of the team’s Wednesday practice as his teammates prepared for their regular season finale against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Brady, who was seen wearing an ice pack on his non-throwing shoulder after getting hit during the Miami Dolphins game in Week 16, spoke to reporters during media availability and is still expected to play on Sunday.

The Patriots were also without offensive linemen Logan Mankins and Sebastian Vollmer during the media portion of the practice. Mankins sprained his MCL during the Dolphins game and is not expected to play against the Bills. Vollmer injured his right foot against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 27 and hasn’t played since.

Left tackle Matt Light miss Saturday’s win against the Dolphins, but returned to practice on Wednesday.

For more Patriots coverage, visit our team page or our blog Pats Pulpit.

AP PHOTO
New England’s Stevan Ridley finds room to run during Saturday’s 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins in Foxboro. The Patriots can lock up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win over the Bills Sunday.

FOXBORO — The New England Patriots have one major goal remaining in the regular season: clinching home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. All they need to do is beat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

That doesn’t seem so difficult for a team that has won its last seven games and will be at home against one that dropped seven straight before winning Saturday.

The Patriots (12-3) must keep avoiding turnovers and get decent play out of a makeshift offensive line should two starters remain sidelined. But the Bills (6-9) won 34-31 in the third game of the season, handing the Patriots one of their three losses. The Patriots gave the ball away four times in that game, all on Tom Brady’s interceptions leading to 24 points.

“I think everyone still has a pretty bitter taste in our mouths from the last time we lost to the Buffalo Bills,” Brady said Monday on WEEI radio. “It was an incredibly difficult loss for our team. Everyone is going to be excited to go out there and see if we can do a better job.”

They’ve done much better at hanging on to the ball throughout their winning streak. In those seven games, the Patriots have 16 takeaways and just two giveaways. They lead the AFC with a plus-14 turnover differential.

In their first eight games, that differential was zero — 14 takeaways and 14 giveaways.

“In the beginning of the season, it just wasn’t very good,” offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said Monday. “It’s kind of ironic playing

Buffalo this week and the challenges that they present. We turned the ball over four times against Buffalo in that game and we can’t do that. That’s just no way to win.”

Brady has thrown just one interception in the last seven games after having 10 in the first eight.

“Tom has done a much better job of taking care of the ball and he’s very, very conscious of it and it carries over to the rest of the offense,” O’Brien said. “If we can just continue to do that, that’s one of the major stats that equals wins, just taking care of the ball. The way our defense has been playing opportunistic football, that’s going to help us going forward.”

With better protection, Brady has more time to stand in the backfield and allow his receivers to get open. That was a big problem early in Saturday’s 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins in which the Patriots trailed 17-0 at halftime.

Left tackle Matt Light didn’t play after hurting his ankle in pregame warmups. Left guard Logan Mankins started but suffered a knee injury in the first quarter that ended his day. There was no word on whether either would face the Bills.

“I don’t really know much more than I knew on Saturday” about Mankins, coach Bill Belichick said. “(Sunday) was Christmas, so today’s not a normal Monday. We’ll see where everybody is today and, more importantly, Wednesday when we hit the field again.”

Brady was sacked twice on New England’s first 10 offensive plays against Miami and was hurried often. But with offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia making adjustments, the protection was much better in the second half with rookie tackles Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon, and free agent guard Donald Thomas filling in.

“We have a lot of depth up there because we bring in guys that are multiple position guys,” O’Brien said. “They’re smart guys, they’re tough guys and then Dante gets them ready to play. When one guy goes down, it’s really the next-guy-up mentality.”

Scarnecchia has had plenty of experience with that. He’s in his 28th year as a Patriots assistant, the last 12 as offensive line coach and assistant head coach under Belichick. They also were New England assistants under Bill Parcells in 1996.

“Dante, as I’ve said many times before, is really just an outstanding coach at every level, whether it’s working with experienced players or developing young players or game planning against sophisticated schemes or teaching the most basic techniques to rookies, undrafted players, things like that,” Belichick said.

“He really is very thorough, well prepared, smart, communicates well with his players. … He’s done a great job all the years that I’ve been here.”

Scarnecchia has coached in 32 of the Patriots’ 36 playoff games. He, and the rest of the team, would like to play two at home this season. If they win those, they’ll reach the Super Bowl.

But Brady is focusing on beating the Bills. If the Patriots lose, they can earn the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs only if both Baltimore and Pittsburgh lose.

“It’s hard to not be aware of” possible playoff opponents, Brady said. “We definitely don’t sit there in team meeting rooms and say, ‘These are all the scenarios that can play out.’ … We really are concerned with how we’re performing.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady and the New England Patriots looked lost in a terrible first half. Then they rallied to finish as winners, clinching a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.

The Patriots trailed, 17-0, at halftime then scored on their first five possessions in the second half. The Dolphins helped when Matt Moore lost a fumble at his 38-yard line, then threw an interception that Devin McCourty picked off at the Patriots’ 2.

New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After Houston lost to Indianapolis on Thursday night, the Patriots needed a win or a tie to lock up one of the top two spots in the AFC.

Miami (5-10) lost for the third time in eight games after opening at 0-7 and is 1-1 under Todd Bowles, who took over when Tony Sparano was fired.

But the Dolphins seemed headed for a victory and got a break even before the game started when Patriots left tackle Matt Light hurt his ankle in warm-ups and didn’t play. Left guard Logan Mankins took his spot, but he left with a knee injury suffered on New England’s second series.

Their absence showed as the Dolphins kept pressuring Brady. He completed 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times in the half. But once the third quarter began, Brady and the Patriots looked completely different starting with the very first play, a 22-yard completion to Rob Gronkowski.

Brady completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards in the second half, finishing at 27-for-46 for 304 and leading one scoring drive after another — a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, a 1-yard pass to Deion Branch, a 1-yard sneak by Brady that tied the game, a go-ahead 42-yard field goal by Gostkowski after McCourty’s first interception of the year and another 1-yard sneak by Brady with 2:56 to go.

Rallying from its worst half of the season, New England (12-3) scored on its next five possessions to clinch a playoff bye.

“You don’t want to, certainly, make a habit of this,” said quarterback Tom Brady, who scored on two 1-yard sneaks and threw for a 1-yard touchdown. “We showed some resiliency.”

Miami (5-10) lost for the third time in eight games.

The Patriots trailed 17-0 at halftime but made adjustments and went to their no-huddle offense more, keeping the Dolphins from making defensive substitutions. And Brady was on target after a first half in which heavy defensive pressure against a makeshift offensive line affected his accuracy. He completed just 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times in the half. But in the second half, he completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards.

Miami          3          14          0          7–24

New England          0          0          17          10–27

FIRST QUARTER

Mia — FG Carpenter 47, 10:59.

SECOND QUARTER

Mia — Marshall 19 pass from Mat.Moore (Carpenter kick), 13:45.

Mia — Clay 1 pass from Mat.Moore (Carpenter kick), 6:31.

THIRD QUARTER

NE — FG Gostkowski 45,

11:39.

NE — Branch 1 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick), 7:10.

NE — Brady 1 run (Gostkowski kick), 2:17.

FOURTH QUARTER

NE — FG Gostkowski 42, 8:55.

NE — Brady 1 run (Gostkowski kick), 2:56.

Mia — Bess 15 pass from Mat.Moore (Carpenter kick), 1:48.

         Mia          NE

First downs          20          26

Total Net Yards          381          400

Rushes-yards          27-115          31-119

Passing          266          281

Punt Returns          2-25          4-19

Kickoff Returns          3-73          3-83

Interceptions Ret.          0-0          1-0

Comp-Att-Int          17-33-1          27-46-0

Sacked-Yards Lost          5-28          4-23

Punts          6-44.8          6-52.3

Fumbles-Lost          4-1          1-0

Penalties-Yards          6-39          5-50

Time of Possession          29:04          30:56

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Miami rushing — Bush 22-113, Thomas 2-3, Mat.Moore 3-(minus 1).

New England rushing — Ridley 13-64, Woodhead 4-20, Brady 9-17, Green-Ellis 3-10, Welker 1-7, Hernandez 1-1.

Miami passing — Mat.Moore 17-33-1-294.

New England passing — Brady 27-46-0-304.

Miami receiving — Marshall 7-156, Hartline 4-72, Bess 3-39, Bush 2-26, Clay 1-1.

New England receiving — Welker 12-138, Gronkowski 7-78, Hernandez 4-36, Branch 3-37, Ochocinco 1-15.

Missed field goals — New England, Gostkowski 51 (WL).

A — 68,756.

-FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—The Miami Dolphins were halfway to an upset that
could have jumbled the AFC playoff picture.

Then came the second half.

The Dolphins gained just 21 yards in the third quarter and blew a 17-0 lead
in less than 15 minutes as the New England Patriots rallied for a 27-24 win on
Sunday.

“This one’s pretty tough,” said Reggie Bush, who ran for 113 yards on 22
carries.

Bush also surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in a season for the first time in
his career, yet was in no mood to celebrate.

After gaining 255 yards in the first half, Miami (5-10) had just 126 in the
second half and 80 of those came during a late touchdown drive as the Dolphins
desperately tried to recover after bumbling their way through the third and most
of the fourth quarters.

“We felt like we had the right game plan. We knew what we had to do, we
just didn’t execute it for four quarters,” Bush said. “We made some mistakes
on offense. That gets you beat playing against good teams like this.”

Both of Miami’s turnovers came in the second half and the pressure it had
gotten on New England’s Tom Brady early was gone.

Brady shook off a poor start and passed for 304 yards and a touchdown. He
also had a pair of 1-yard TDs rushing as the Patriots once again looked like
contenders for the top seed in the AFC with one scoring drive after another.

“We stalled there a little bit in the second half. You can’t do that
against a team like this,” said Matt Moore, who completed 17 of 33 passes for
294 yards and three touchdowns for Miami.

New England opened the second half with a drive for a field goal to cut
Miami’s lead to 17-3, then got the ball right back when Moore fumbled a snap and
Vince Wilfork pounced on it for the Patriots.

That led to a touchdown pass from Brady to Deion Branch to get New England
within 17-10 with 7:10 left in the third quarter and New England’s defense kept
up the pressure.

Moore was sacked for a loss of 10 on the first play after the kickoff, then
sacked again at the 10-yard line on third down. The Dolphins’ punt from their
end zone gave New England the ball at Miami’s 41 and the Patriots continued
their surge, scoring on Brady’s 1-yard run to tie it at 17l with 2:17 still left
in the third quarter.

“We put our defense on the short field too many times, which made it easy
for them,” Bush said.

The Dolphins didn’t score at all in the second half until Moore threw a
15-yard touchdown pass to Davone Bess, pulling Miami within a field goal with
1:48 left to play. The Dolphins still had all three timeouts, but that no longer
mattered when Brady converted on third-and-5 with a pass to Wes Welker, who had
12 catches for 138 yards.

New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After the Houston Texans
lost to the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night, the Patriots needed a win or a
tie to lock up one of the top two spots in the AFC.

Miami lost for the third time in eight games after opening 0-7 and is 1-1
under Todd Bowles, who took over when Tony Sparano was fired.

“The guys fought, but we didn’t finish,” Bowles said. “We didn’t stop
them and we didn’t get points.”

The Dolphins seemed headed for a victory and got a break even before the
game started when Patriots left tackle Matt Light hurt his ankle in warm-ups and
didn’t play. Left guard Logan Mankins took his spot, but he left with a knee
injury suffered on New England’s second series.

Their absence showed as the Dolphins kept pressuring Brady. He completed
just 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times in the half. But
once the third quarter began, Brady and the Patriots—both their offense and
defense—looked completely different starting with the very first play, a
22-yard completion to Rob Gronkowski.

Bush had another outstanding game for Miami with his fourth straight rushing
day of at least 100 yards. He finished with 113 on 22 carries one week after
gaining a career-high 203 yards.

The Dolphins had taken a 3-0 lead on Dan Carpenter’s 47-yard field goal 4:01
into the game and made it 10-0 with 1:15 gone in the second quarter on Moore’s
19-yard pass to Brandon Marshall.

They stretched that to 17-0, the Patriots’ biggest deficit of the season, on
a 1-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Charles Clay. The 89-yard drive was helped
by two defensive pass interference penalties on third down.

The Patriots punted on their first six possessions, then wasted a chance to
score when Stephen Gostkowski’s 51-yard field goal attempt on the next to last
play of the half went wide to the left.

FOXBOROUGH, MASS.—

A common word thrown around the Miami Dolphins’ locker room this season has been “winnable.” That’s what happens when a team piles up defeats in games they probably should have won. The latest example was Saturday’s 27-24 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

The Dolphins blew a 17-point, halftime lead, creating an all too familiar post-game mood. The Patriots, meanwhile, clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.

“We didn’t finish,” linebacker Jason Taylor said. “They made a lot of plays in the second half. We made a lot of mistakes, missed some tackles … I think it was a very winnable game for us. When you play against a quality opponent, you can’t make some of the mistakes that we made.”

The Dolphins (5-10) have now lost five games by three points or less. This one was probably the toughest to stomach because at one point they were dominating perhaps the AFC’s best team. Miami was so in control it had the New England crowd of 68,756 booing beloved quarterback Tom Brady in the first half.

Then Brady began playing like Brady.

After enduring his worst half of the season, he completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown in the second half. Brady then connected with Wes Welker for a six-yard pass on 3rd-and-5 on the final drive to close out the Dolphins.

“That’s what everybody across the world knows,” cornerback Vontae Davis said. “Tom Brady, that’s what he’s capable of … That’s Tom Brady. He’s an elite quarterback in this league. You can stop him three quarters. You give him the fourth quarter to comeback, he’s gonna come back.”

Brady, who finished 27 of 46 for 304 yards, did most of the damage after New England switched to a no-huddle offense in the third quarter. It eliminated the pressure the Dolphins were able to get on Brady in the first half.

That helped the Dolphins force the Patriots (12-3) into three-and-outs on three consecutive possessions. The halftime adjustments were evident, with New England gaining 293 yards in the second half. Welker had 12 receptions for 138 yards.

“We knew halftime would be 0-0,” interim coach Todd Bowles said. “We knew these guys would come back out and fight. We got back out and we fought. We just didn’t play smart. They made the plays, we didn’t.”

After kicker Stephen Gostkowski got New England on the scoreboard with a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter, the unraveling of the Dolphins began.

Quarterback Matt Moore fumbled on the next possession, giving the Patriots the ball at the 38. Brady then hit Deion Branch on a one-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-10 with 7 minutes, 10 seconds left in the quarter.

On the next series, Brady once again took advantage of a short field. The 41-yard drive ended with Brady scoring on a one-yard touchdown run that tied the score.

The Dolphins were on the verge of answering when Moore made perhaps the most costly of his mistakes. Receiver Brian Hartline had beaten Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty on a fly pattern, but Moore’s pass was badly underthrown.

The play resulted in an interception by McCourty at the 2.The Patriots used the opportunity to grab their first lead on a 42-yard field goal by Gostkowski.

“It’s frustrating,” receiver Brandon Marshall said. “But the whole season is frustrating. We got a lot of heart in this locker room but unfortunately sometimes we’ve just got to make plays. We’ve got one more game left and we’re going to go out there and try to win it.”

Scoring plays

Patriots 27, Dolphins 24

Scoring play: Davone Bess catches a 15-yard pass from Matt Moore as the Dolphins claw back to within three; Dan Carpenter kicks the PAT

By: SportsDirect

By Jay King

– Newsdesk Contributor

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Dec 20, 2011 – After defeating the Denver Broncos on Sunday for their sixth straight victory, the New England Patriots improved one spot to No. 4 in SB Nation’s Week 16 NFL Power Rankings. 

The Pats have now won six straight and they finish off the season against the Dolphins and Bills, which means they should enter the postseason on an eight-game winning streak. As usual, they’re getting hot at the right time. 

New England’s 41-23 win against Denver clinched the AFC East division title, the ninth time New England has earned the divisional crown in the 11 seasons since Tom Brady became the team’s starting quarterback. The Patriots have not lost since Week 9, a 24-20 defeat against the New York Giants on Nov. 6.

New England returns to the field on Saturday afternoon at home against the Miami Dolphins.

For more New England Patriots coverage, visit our team page or our blog, Pats Pulpit. 

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The NFL power rankings after Week 11 didn’t change too much on top. The Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens all won while the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints benefited from not playing. But there was more room below the top of the NFL power rankings for movement, as my Philadelphia Eagles took a few steps up after a season saving win.

The Eagles have gone back and forth from being in and out of the top 20 for weeks now, and they got back in after upsetting the New York Giants on Nov. 20. Of course, since the Eagles face the Patriots on Nov. 27, they can easily fall right back down.

At the least, the Eagles can be the best 4-6 team in the power rankings now, especially since the reeling San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers share that record. They are also still ahead of the 4-6 Seattle Seahawks and 3-7 Miami Dolphins – their next two opponents after the Patriots.

As such, a victory over New England will likely lift Philadelphia further up the NFL pecking order, with the expectation that it will go to 7-6 before long. That seems to be the case with every Eagles win, as it fuels hope that this is finally the time they will live up to expectations and make a late run. Of course, that wouldn’t be the case anymore this season if Vince Young(notes) didn’t have an 18 play drive to bail him and the Birds out.

While the Eagles go back and forth in the bottom tier of the NFL power rankings, teams with a real chance at the Super Bowl have been more stable. The Packers and 49ers are still way ahead of the pack and can pull away even further with statement wins on Thanksgiving. Since they face the Detroit Lions and Ravens respectively, the Thanksgiving lineup will have top 10 matchups before and after dinner.

However, the Eagles can still take Thanksgiving off – although they may have less reason to give thanks for facing the Patriots three days later. Just two weeks ago New England was feared to be finished, and now it is just feared all over again – to the point where it will take more than one 18 play drive to beat the Patriots.

Until that can be proven, here are the full NFL power rankings following Week 11.

1. Green Bay Packers: 10-0

2. San Francisco 49ers: 9-1

3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-3

4. New England Patriots: 7-3

5. Baltimore Ravens: 7-3

6. New Orleans Saints: 7-3

7. Houston Texans: 7-3

8. Chicago Bears: 7-3

9. Detroit Lions: 7-3

10. New York Giants: 6-4

11. Dallas Cowboys: 6-4

12. Atlanta Falcons: 6-4

13. Cincinnati Bengals: 6-4

14. Oakland Raiders: 6-4

15. Denver Broncos: 5-5

16. New York Jets: 5-5

17. Buffalo Bills: 5-5

18. Tennessee Titans: 5-5

19. Philadelphia Eagles: 4-6

20. San Diego Chargers: 4-6

21. Kansas City Chiefs: 4-6

22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-6

23. Cleveland Browns: 4-6

24. Seattle Seahawks: 4-6

25. Miami Dolphins: 3-7

26. Washington Redskins: 3-7

27. Arizona Cardinals: 3-7

28. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-7

29. Minnesota Vikings: 2-8

30. St. Louis Rams: 2-8

31. Carolina Panthers: 2-8

32. Indianapolis Colts: 0-10

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

Other stories by this contributor

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Young does his best Tebow impression in Eagles win

Eagles can learn from Redskins scaring Cowboys

Eagles need Jackson to actually show up against Giants

Young to start redeeming himself for Eagles against Giants?

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The New England Patriots have signed offensive lineman Thomas Welch to the team’s practice squad after releasing Welch from the 53-man roster on Monday.

Welch, a 2010 Patriots seventh-round pick out of Vanderbilt, has spent this season doing the hokey pokey into and off of New England’s 53-man roster. He saw his first NFL action this year against the Miami Dolphins, but was released from the 53-man roster two days after the game and signed to the practice squad the following day. Before the Raiders game, on Oct. 1, Welch was again signed to the 53-man roster. 

The 6-7, 310-pound Welch spent most of last season on Minnesota’s practice squad, but was released by Minnesota and signed by the Patriots shortly before the start of the 2011 regular season.