Gary Guyton wants to turn the page on his former life.

No matter how enjoyable, or unpleasant his four-year run with the New England Patriots was, Guyton didn’t have much to say about his former team, which he started 32 games for, when asked.

The new Miami Dolphins linebacker, who contributed 47 tackles and an interception last season, wanted to put his former life behind him, starting fresh with Miami, the New England’s AFC East rival.

Guyton hasn’t learned his role with the Dolphins, which were paper thin at outside linebacker before his signing last week. But he’s excited about the opportunity to compete for playing time, and possibly a starting role.

“I’m just ready to focus on getting in, learning what I got to learn, get around the guys,” Guyton said. “Everything else will play out as it comes into the season and everything starts rolling.”

Here is what else the former Georgia Tech standout had to say on Tuesday.

(On what was the selling point to sign with the Dolphins) – “Really, I just wanted to come in and contribute. Come in and be a Dolphin. Come in here with the help of the coaches. That was a good selling point for me. Talking to the coaches and now I’m here.”

(On do you know why you’re role with the Patriots decreased towards the end of the season) – “No, not really too much. Whatever happened there, just happened. So I just moved on.”

(On did you feel like your time with the Patriots towards the end of the season was over) – “As the season came down things change every year so I had a possibility going into free agency and which I did now. Now, I’m a Dolphin.”

(On what did you learn from your tenure with New England) – “Really, just how to be professional and how to play the game so I learned a lot when I was there. I had a good time there. Bill (Belichick) is a great coach. He did a good job bringing me up. So just being able to learn the game and learn everything I can do from the game of football.”

(On New England not re-signing you, did it bother you) – “At the end of the day, it is going to be what it’s going to be, so things happen. I’m not a Patriot no more. Now, I’m a Dolphin.”

(On your first meeting with the Dolphins and what he liked about the defense that will be installed in Miami) – “Basically, just being here and telling the coaches what they see in me so I’m here. Talked to the coaches to see how things were and it was a good feeling to come out here and talk to Coach (Joe) Philbin, other coaches, Coach Kevin (Coyle) and Coach (George) Edwards. Come in here and talk to these guys it was a good feeling.”

(On what position do you feel the most comfortable playing) – “I’m just here to play the game of football so whatever team it is or what’s going on. Hopefully, I’ll be in it and I’ll be able to contribute.”

(On if you’re going playing the middle linebacker position this season) – “I have no idea. It’s still a long ways out from the season so I guess we’ll see how things pan out as the season goes along.”

(You were one of the fastest linebackers in the 2008 draft class. How big of an asset is you speed) – “The game of football is very fast. I’m not the slowest turtle in the bunch if you would so that’s always been a good thing for me was my speed. So I love my speed and my speed loves me (laughing).”

(On how many teams did you visit before signing with Miami) – “I can’t recall right now. I had some teams lined up. But we’re excited though.”

(On what made you choose Miami) – “Being here, it felt good. It felt good to be here because I talked to the coaches and they’re good coaches and I seen what they’ve done. And it’s where I want to be.”

(On what were your impressions playing the Dolphins) – “They’re always a good ball club, very competitive, and they play very hard ball. So it wasn’t an easy win by no shape, form, or fashion. Good ball club and just guys that want to come out and compete.”

G.G.G.

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.”

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Reggie Bush (RB – MIA), Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots

The New England Patriots (12-3) fell behind 17-0 at halftime of their Week 16 matchup with the Miami Dolphins (5-10) only to storm back and score 27 of the game’s final 34 points in a 27-24 come-from-behind win at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. It was New England’s seventh straight win.

Miami jumped on the Patriots early, with Matt Moore burning the suspect New England secondary for two first half touchdown passes. The Dolphins held Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in check, as the New England signal caller completed just 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times.

Brady and the Patriots offense erupted, however, in the second half. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards, finishing the game 27 for 46 for 304 yards.

Reggie Bush was stellar again for the Dolphins, gaining over 100 yards on the ground for a fourth straight game. He finished the day with 113 yards on 22 carries.

For more on the Dolphins, please visit The Phinsider, SB Nation’s Dolphins blog. For the perspective from the other side, please visit SB Nation Boston and Pats Pulpit, SB Nation’s Patriots blog.

FOXBORO — 

The AFC Championship will be played 28 days from today. The Patriots nearly lost it yesterday before rallying for a 27-24 win over the Dolphins.

The Patriots had worked so hard over the last six weeks to go from a three-way tie with the likeable Bills and hated Jets in the AFC East to first place in the whole AFC, one game up on the Ravens, Steelers and Texans with two to play.

All they needed to do was to win out — on home turf, no less — and they’d be seeded first in the conference playoffs. That would mean a first-round bye and home-field advantage, the latter a particularly valuable chip since it eliminates the possibility of playing in Baltimore or Pittsburgh in January.

The Ravens went 8-0 at home this season. The Steelers were 7-1, including a win over the Patriots in Week 8.

So the mission was clear as the Patriots took the field yesterday on a frigid Christmas Eve afternoon. But despite there hardly being a cloud in the sky, they spent the first 30 minutes in a fog, falling behind, 17-0.

To make matters worse, the Ravens and Steelers were both rolling and appeared poised to join the Patriots atop the wins chart.

Despite having an offense that couldn’t get started and a defense that couldn’t make a stop, the Patriots retained their poise as they retreated to the locker room.

“There was no one who was going crazy,” said guard Donald Thomas, who was pressed into making his first start in two years — when he played for Miami, ironically enough — as part of a patched-up offensive line that made due without Pro Bowlers Matt Light and Logan Mankins for all or most of the day.

“We all knew what we had to do; we all knew what we were capable of doing. We all know what kind of offense we have and what kind of team we are. So it was basically everybody had to look in the mirror and at each other and pick it up. And that’s what we did.”

The Patriots were as out of synch as a group of 6-year-old dancers. But they remained resilient, a key component of any championship-chasing club.

The comeback started innocently enough, the Patriots taking the opening kickoff of the second half and putting together a modest drive that netted them three points. Then came the play of the game, Vince Wilfork throwing his 335-pound (ha, ha) frame on a Matt Moore fumble at the Miami 38.

The Dolphins, like the Broncos the week before, had jumped out to a big lead on the Patriots. And the Dolphins, like the Broncos, gifted away what appeared to be a surefire win.

The Patriots gladly accepted the pre-holiday present, turning it into a 1-yard touchdown reception by Deion Branch that reduced the deficit to 17-10. The game wasn’t over, but the Dolphins were finished.

“The defense comes up with a huge turnover and for us to execute and put some points on the board was huge,” Thomas said. “It really kills the momentum of the other team and the psyche of them. I think that’s what happened today.”

The Patriots would score 27 straight points before the Dolphins finally answered with a token touchdown that was only meaningful to the wags in Vegas.

So the good news is the Patriots, winners of seven straight, are 12-3 and remain on track to nab the top seed, although as Wilfork noted, “We’ve had byes before and it wasn’t pretty.”

And while hardly unstoppable — not with that defense — they have proven to be unflappable.

The bad news is falling behind by two scores to the Broncos and three scores to the Dolphins is no way to run a company that’s in business to win games. That budding trend wasn’t lost on the Patriots.

“The key is that we keep getting in bad spots,” guard Brian Waters said. “That’s something we have to continue to work on so we’re not getting in those situations. But the fact we have a very calm and focused demeanor says a lot about the individuals we have around here.

“And the fact we have a great coaching staff that is going to put us in the position we need to be in to be successful. If we trust that and trust in one another to do our jobs we have a pretty good chance of doing well.”Whether the Patriots win the AFC Championship remains to be seen, but they certainly enhanced their chances by not losing yesterday.

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.

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.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—The New England Patriots emphasize playing well for
60 minutes every game. On Saturday, 30 was enough—barely.

Rallying from their worst half of the season, the Patriots scored on their
next five possessions and clinched a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami
Dolphins on Saturday.

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

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.

“It’s good to clinch,” said Deion Branch, who caught the touchdown pass
from Brady, “but not by the way we played. It’s not the way you want to do
it.”

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.

“First half we came out and played our tempo and our ballgame,” Bowles
said. “The second half they made us play theirs.”

The AFC East champions trailed 17-0 at halftime but made the necessary
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,
finishing at 27 for 46 for 304 yards and leading one scoring drive after another
— a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, the scoring pass to Branch, his
own sneak that tied the game, Gostkowski’s 42-yard go-ahead kick after Devin
McCourty’s first interception of the year, and the other sneak with 2:56 to go,
making it 27-17.

The Dolphins made it closer on Matt Moore’s 15-yard scoring pass to Davone
Bess with 1:48 to play. They had three timeouts left, but their hopes faded when
Brady hit Wes Welker for a 6-yard gain and a first down.

“We had (Brady’s) number in the first half, but in the second half he came
out and made a lot of plays,” Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “He is a
coach on the field.”

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 warmups 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.

“There’s always things that are going to go wrong in a football game and
things aren’t going to work out the way you want them to all the time,” said
Welker, who finished with 12 catches for 138 yards after managing just two for
20 in the first half. “The main thing is just playing a full 60 minutes and
never giving in and understanding that one drive and one score (can) get things
going.”

The Patriots punted on their first six series of the first half then missed
a field goal on the other. The Dolphins struggled in the second half when Moore
fumbled the snap at his 38-yard line and Vince Wilfork recovered, starting the
drive capped by Branch’s touchdown.

“They committed penalties in the first half,” Dolphins guard Richie
Incognito said. “We turned the ball over and committed penalties in the second
half. That is never a good recipe.”

Reggie 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.

His latest performance gave him 1,086 yards rushing for the season, the
first time in his six years, the first five with the New Orleans Saints, that he
passed 1,000.

“It really doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said. “This one’s pretty
tough.”

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.

But the Patriots remained calm in the locker room at intermission.

“There wasn’t a bunch of yelling,” Wilfork said. “We just came in and
said we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to make more plays.”

They did. The Dolphins didn’t.

“Our guys fought,” Bowles said, “but we didn’t finish.”

Notes: Welker set a franchise record for one season with 1,518 yards
receiving. He broke the mark of 1,493 set by Randy Moss in 2007. … Bush was
checked my medical personnel on the sideline late in the game “Something in my
leg just didn’t feel right,” he said. “I’m walking. If it was serious, I
wouldn’t be walking.” … Moore completed 17 of 33 passes for 294 yards, his
highest total as a Dolphin. He threw for more than that with the Carolina
Panthers once in 2009 and once in 2010. … The victory was the largest comeback
by the Patriots from a second-half deficit since Nov. 10, 2002 when they beat
the Chicago Bears 33-30 after trailing 27-6 in the third quarter.

-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. (AP)

WEEK 16 SCOREBOARD

• Colts 19, Texans 16
• Steelers 27, Rams 0
• Bengals 23, Cardinals 16
• Giants 29, Jets 14
• Titans 23, Jaguars 17
• Patriots 27, Dolphins 24
• Bills 40, Broncos 14
• Panthers 48, Buccaneers 16
• Vikings 33, Redskins 26
• Raiders 16, Chiefs 13 (OT)
• Ravens 20, Browns 14
• Lions 38, Chargers 10
• Eagles 20, Cowboys 7
• 49ers 19, Seahawks 17
• Bears-Packers
• Falcons-Saints

The New England Patriots emphasize playing well for 60 minutes every game. On Saturday, 30 was enough – barely.

Rallying from their worst half of the season, the Patriots scored on their next five possessions and clinched a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.

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

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.

”It’s good to clinch,” said Deion Branch, who caught the touchdown pass from Brady, ”but not by the way we played. It’s not the way you want to do it.”

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.

”First half we came out and played our tempo and our ballgame,” Bowles said. ”The second half they made us play theirs.”

The AFC East champions trailed 17-0 at halftime but made the necessary 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, finishing at 27 for 46 for 304 yards and leading one scoring drive after another – a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, the scoring pass to Branch, his own sneak that tied the game, Gostkowski’s 42-yard go-ahead kick after Devin McCourty’s first interception of the year, and the other sneak with 2:56 to go, making it 27-17.

The Dolphins made it closer on Matt Moore’s 15-yard scoring pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 to play. They had three timeouts left, but their hopes faded when Brady hit Wes Welker for a 6-yard gain and a first down.

”We had (Brady’s) number in the first half, but in the second half he came out and made a lot of plays,” Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby said. ”He is a coach on the field.”

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 warmups 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.

”There’s always things that are going to go wrong in a football game and things aren’t going to work out the way you want them to all the time,” said Welker, who finished with 12 catches for 138 yards after managing just two for 20 in the first half. ”The main thing is just playing a full 60 minutes and never giving in and understanding that one drive and one score (can) get things going.”

The Patriots punted on their first six series of the first half then missed a field goal on the other. The Dolphins struggled in the second half when Moore fumbled the snap at his 38-yard line and Vince Wilfork recovered, starting the drive capped by Branch’s touchdown.

”They committed penalties in the first half,” Dolphins guard Richie Incognito said. ”We turned the ball over and committed penalties in the second half. That is never a good recipe.”

Reggie 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.

His latest performance gave him 1,086 yards rushing for the season, the first time in his six years, the first five with the New Orleans Saints, that he passed 1,000.

”It really doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said. ”This one’s pretty tough.”

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.

But the Patriots remained calm in the locker room at intermission.

”There wasn’t a bunch of yelling,” Wilfork said. ”We just came in and said we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to make more plays.”

They did. The Dolphins didn’t.

”Our guys fought,” Bowles said, ”but we didn’t finish.”

Notes: Welker set a franchise record for one season with 1,518 yards receiving. He broke the mark of 1,493 set by Randy Moss in 2007. … Bush was checked my medical personnel on the sideline late in the game ”Something in my leg just didn’t feel right,” he said. ”I’m walking. If it was serious, I wouldn’t be walking.” … Moore completed 17 of 33 passes for 294 yards, his highest total as a Dolphin. He threw for more than that with the Carolina Panthers once in 2009 and once in 2010. … The victory was the largest comeback by the Patriots from a second-half deficit since Nov. 10, 2002 when they beat the Chicago Bears 33-30 after trailing 27-6 in the third quarter.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 24, 2011

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots emphasize playing well for 60 minutes every game. On Saturday, 30 was enough — barely.

Rallying from their worst half of the season, the Patriots scored on their next five possessions and clinched a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.

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

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.

“It’s good to clinch,” said Deion Branch, who caught the touchdown pass from Brady, “but not by the way we played. It’s not the way you want to do it.”

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.

“First half we came out and played our tempo and our ballgame,” Bowles said. “The second half they made us play theirs.”

The AFC East champions trailed 17-0 at halftime but made the necessary 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, finishing at 27 for 46 for 304 yards and leading one scoring drive after another — a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, the scoring pass to Branch, his own sneak that tied the game, Gostkowski’s 42-yard go-ahead kick after Devin McCourty’s first interception of the year, and the other sneak with 2:56 to go, making it 27-17.

The Dolphins made it closer on Matt Moore’s 15-yard scoring pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 to play. They had three timeouts left, but their hopes faded when Brady hit Wes Welker for a 6-yard gain and a first down.

“We had [Brady's] number in the first half, but in the second half he came out and made a lot of plays,” Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “He is a coach on the field.”

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 warmups 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.

“There’s always things that are going to go wrong in a football game and things aren’t going to work out the way you want them to all the time,” said Welker, who finished with 12 catches for 138 yards after managing just two for 20 in the first half. “The main thing is just playing a full 60 minutes and never giving in and understanding that one drive and one score [can] get things going.”

The Patriots punted on their first six series of the first half then missed a field goal on the other. The Dolphins struggled in the second half when Moore fumbled the snap at his 38-yard line and Vince Wilfork recovered, starting the drive capped by Branch’s touchdown.

“They committed penalties in the first half,” Dolphins guard Richie Incognito said. “We turned the ball over and committed penalties in the second half. That is never a good recipe.”

Reggie 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.

His latest performance gave him 1,086 yards rushing for the season, the first time in his six years, the first five with the New Orleans Saints, that he passed 1,000.

“It really doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said. “This one’s pretty tough.”

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.

But the Patriots remained calm in the locker room at intermission.

“There wasn’t a bunch of yelling,” Wilfork said. “We just came in and said we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to make more plays.”

They did. The Dolphins didn’t.

“Our guys fought,” Bowles said, “but we didn’t finish.”

Notes

• Welker set a franchise record for one season with 1,518 yards receiving. He broke the mark of 1,493 set by Randy Moss in 2007.
• Bush was checked my medical personnel on the sideline late in the game “Something in my leg just didn’t feel right,” he said. “I’m walking. If it was serious, I wouldn’t be walking.”
• Moore completed 17 of 33 passes for 294 yards, his highest total as a Dolphin. He threw for more than that with the Carolina Panthers once in 2009 and once in 2010.
• The victory was the largest comeback by the Patriots from a second-half deficit since Nov. 10, 2002 when they beat the Chicago Bears 33-30 after trailing 27-6 in the third quarter.

FOXBOROUGH – 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 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 (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 warmups 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.

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.

The Dolphins made it closer on Moore’s 15-yard scoring pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 to play. They had three timeouts left, but their hopes faded when Brady hit Wes Welker for a 6-yard gain and a first down. Welker had 12 catches for 138 yards.

Reggie 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 Gostkowski’s 51-yard field goal attempt on the next to last play of the half went wide to the left.

Patriots, Dolphins still have plenty to play for

By HOWARD ULMAN

AP Sports Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) The New England Patriots are in the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years. The Miami Dolphins missed them for the ninth time in 10.

Both, though, have a lot at stake on Saturday with the Patriots going for a first-round bye and many Dolphins playing for jobs next season.

And both have the same approach to moving toward those goals. Forget about them.

“Right now, all we’re worried about is Miami,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters. “All the rest of it is just something for you guys to write about.”

Todd Bowles, a head coach for just one NFL game compared with Belichick’s 291, isn’t focused on what a victory would mean for his future in that position.

“I don’t have any expectations, really,” he said. “I’m just trying to get the guys to play hard and play better and play fast and try to come out with wins. I don’t control those decisions.”

The Patriots (11-3) clinched their third straight AFC East title last Sunday with a 41-23 win at the Denver Broncos. There are several ways for them to secure a bye this week, the easiest being a victory combined with a loss or tie by the Houston Texans. They even can clinch the top seed in the AFC and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs if they win and Houston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore all lose or tie.

“I don’t think we think about any of those things other than Miami,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “We prepare hard, focus on what we can focus on, control what we can control, go out there and play with great effort, good execution and we’ll be in good position.”

The Dolphins (5-9) will focus on stopping Brady. They couldn’t do it in their season-opening 38-24 loss in Miami in which Brady threw for a franchise record 517 yards. Bowles, who led the Dolphins to a 30-23 win over the Buffalo Bills last Sunday after replacing the fired Tony Sparano, was the secondary coach then.

“It was the toughest game for me as a coach,” Bowles said. “You don’t see those kind of numbers every day. Nothing worked. .man (to man), zone, pressure, prevent. He completed everything. You write it off as a bad loss.”

But he remained confident and the secondary has improved considerably since then.

“I just think it was a bad game,” he said. “You just write it off and move on next week.”

The Patriots also have a dangerous offensive threat to handle. Reggie Bush rushed for a career-high 203 yards against Buffalo last Sunday, the same day New England allowed 167 yards rushing in the first quarter alone.

In their last two games, the Patriots have been burned for a total of 422 yards on the ground.

“He’s a special guy,” New England linebacker Rob Ninkovich said of Bush. “A guy like Reggie can do a lot of different things. … So you’ve just got to make sure you don’t let him do those things.”

Bush already has shown he can thrive as an every-down back, something he didn’t do in his other five NFL seasons, all with the New Orleans Saints.

So what motivates him with his team out of the playoff race?

“It’s the New England Patriots,” he said. “Anytime you’re playing a divisional opponent it’s always big and we want to finish the season strong. At the same time, we know that we’re still being evaluated. No matter what the record says, we’re all still being evaluated on a daily basis, on a weekly basis.”

Bush’s job for next season is secure.

Matt Moore is still trying to enhance his resume as the starting quarterback after Chad Henne suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the fourth game.

The Dolphins rebounded after losing their first seven games with a 5-2 record, but Moore has completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in each of the last four games.

Still, Bush said, “he’s been the backbone of this team. I honestly believe that. Without him, we wouldn’t (have) been able to put together the stream of wins that we have. …I think you see when we give him time to throw the ball he can be dangerous, he can be effective.”

He very well could be against the Patriots. Starting with the third week of the season, their defense has been ranked worst in the league in both total yards and yards passing allowed. And now they must go on without defensive end Andre Carter, the team leader with 10 sacks who suffered a season-ending injury to his left quadriceps against the Broncos.

“He works incredibly hard and he’s been having a great season,” cornerback Devin McCourty said. “To lose a guy like that, we just have to come together as a group.”

If they succeed, they could lock up a playoff bye with one regular-season game left. But if the Dolphins play spoilers?

“We’re not trying to spoil anything,” Bowles said. “We’re just trying to get better as a team and try to close out the season on a winning note. So we’re just going to worry about us now.”

Updated December 22, 2011

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—The New England Patriots are in the playoffs for
the ninth time in 11 years. The Miami Dolphins missed them for the ninth time in
10.

Both, though, have a lot at stake on Saturday with the Patriots going for a
first-round bye and many Dolphins playing for jobs next season.

And both have the same approach to moving toward those goals. Forget about
them.

“Right now, all we’re worried about is Miami,” Patriots coach Bill
Belichick told reporters. “All the rest of it is just something for you guys to
write about.”

Todd Bowles, a head coach for just one NFL game compared with Belichick’s
291, isn’t focused on what a victory would mean for his future in that position.

“I don’t have any expectations, really,” he said. “I’m just trying to get
the guys to play hard and play better and play fast and try to come out with
wins. I don’t control those decisions.”

The Patriots (11-3) clinched their third straight AFC East title last Sunday
with a 41-23 win at the Denver Broncos. There are several ways for them to
secure a bye this week, the easiest being a victory combined with a loss or tie
by the Houston Texans. They even can clinch the top seed in the AFC and
home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs if they win and Houston,
Pittsburgh and Baltimore all lose or tie.

“I don’t think we think about any of those things other than Miami,”
quarterback Tom Brady said. “We prepare hard, focus on what we can focus on,
control what we can control, go out there and play with great effort, good
execution and we’ll be in good position.”

The Dolphins (5-9) will focus on stopping Brady. They couldn’t do it in
their season-opening 38-24 loss in Miami in which Brady threw for a franchise
record 517 yards. Bowles, who led the Dolphins to a 30-23 win over the Buffalo
Bills last Sunday after replacing the fired Tony Sparano, was the secondary
coach then.

“It was the toughest game for me as a coach,” Bowles said. “You don’t see
those kind of numbers every day. Nothing worked. .man (to man), zone, pressure,
prevent. He completed everything. You write it off as a bad loss.”

But he remained confident and the secondary has improved considerably since
then.

“I just think it was a bad game,” he said. “You just write it off and
move on next week.”

The Patriots also have a dangerous offensive threat to handle. Reggie Bush
rushed for a career-high 203 yards against Buffalo last Sunday, the same day New
England allowed 167 yards rushing in the first quarter alone.

In their last two games, the Patriots have been burned for a total of 422
yards on the ground.

“He’s a special guy,” New England linebacker Rob Ninkovich said of Bush.
“A guy like Reggie can do a lot of different things. … So you’ve just got to
make sure you don’t let him do those things.”

Bush already has shown he can thrive as an every-down back, something he
didn’t do in his other five NFL seasons, all with the New Orleans Saints.

So what motivates him with his team out of the playoff race?

“It’s the New England Patriots,” he said. “Anytime you’re playing a
divisional opponent it’s always big and we want to finish the season strong. At
the same time, we know that we’re still being evaluated. No matter what the
record says, we’re all still being evaluated on a daily basis, on a weekly
basis.”

Bush’s job for next season is secure.

Matt Moore is still trying to enhance his resume as the starting quarterback
after Chad Henne suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the fourth game.

The Dolphins rebounded after losing their first seven games with a 5-2
record, but Moore has completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in each of
the last four games.

Still, Bush said, “he’s been the backbone of this team. I honestly believe
that. Without him, we wouldn’t (have) been able to put together the stream of
wins that we have. …I think you see when we give him time to throw the ball he
can be dangerous, he can be effective.”

He very well could be against the Patriots. Starting with the third week of
the season, their defense has been ranked worst in the league in both total
yards and yards passing allowed. And now they must go on without defensive end
Andre Carter, the team leader with 10 sacks who suffered a season-ending injury
to his left quadriceps against the Broncos.

“He works incredibly hard and he’s been having a great season,” cornerback
Devin McCourty said. “To lose a guy like that, we just have to come together as
a group.”

If they succeed, they could lock up a playoff bye with one regular-season
game left. But if the Dolphins play spoilers?

“We’re not trying to spoil anything,” Bowles said. “We’re just trying to
get better as a team and try to close out the season on a winning note. So we’re
just going to worry about us now.”