AFC East Division titles have become commonplace during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era, and the New England Patriots are on the verge of locking up another.
The Patriots can clinch the division and a playoff spot with a win over the Miami Dolphins at 1 p.m. Sunday (CBS-TV) in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The Dolphins are in a big scrum of teams fighting over wild-card spots in the AFC and already knocked off New England once this season.
QB Brady and head coach Belichick are on the verge of their 12th division title together but have loftier goals in mind with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs on the horizon.
“You’re playing for a division championship, so it’s a very important game,” Brady said. “We’ve worked really hard to get to this point. The guys have put a lot of work in over the whole offseason and to put ourselves in this position has been a lot of fun, but we’ve got to go out there and capitalize.”
Miami had little trouble in a 33-20 home win in Week 1 but has dropped three of the last five to fall onto the playoff bubble.
ABOUT THE DOLPHINS (7-6): Miami is tied with Houston, Kansas City, Buffalo and Cleveland a game behind Pittsburgh, San Diego and Baltimore in the AFC wild-card picture. The Dolphins trailed the Patriots 20-10 in Week 1 but put up 23 straight points in the second half while holding Brady and the New England offense to 67 yards after the break. Miami boasts the third-best pass defense in the NFL, limiting opponents to an average of 203.2 yards, and expects to get better on Sunday with the return of cornerbacks Cortland Finnegan (ankle) and Jamar Taylor (shoulder). “To be able to be back, it’s tremendous, especially in this kind of game,” Finnegan said.
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS (10-3): New England has a pretty stout pass defense of its own and held Philip Rivers to 189 passing yards in a 23-14 victory at San Diego last week. That marked the eighth win in nine games for the Patriots, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Denver Broncos for the top spot in the AFC and play two of their final three at home, where they have not dropped a regular-season game since 2012. “Well, it’s a long season, and we’ve still got three games left,” Brady told reporters. “There is a lot of football to be played. There are a lot of things to be decided. The only thing that matters is this week. That’s the only thing we can control.”
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Dolphins FS Jimmy Wilson vs. Brady: With Louis Delmas going on IR, Wilson is the likely candidate to move into his starting spot. The domino effect would then mean a new face at nickel corner. Another option is stating rookie Walt Aikens in Delmas’ spot. With CBs Cortland Finnegan (ankle) and Jamar Taylor (shoulder) also racing to return from injury, Brady could be licking his chops against a severely undermanned secondary.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Dolphins RT Jason Fox: Fox could get the start after Dallas Thomas was credited for being beaten for 3.5 sacks last week.
NOTES: Brady has 30 TDs and seven INTs on the season and has thrown for multiple scores in nine straight games. … Miami QB Ryan Tannehill has completed 70 percent of his passes or better in five of the last six games. … New England TE Rob Gronkowski needs three yards to reach 1,000 for the second time in his career.