In another season in which New
England (14-2) captured the AFC’s No. 1 seed and dominated its conference—posting an 11-1 mark versus AFC opponents—the most impressive part of the Patriots’ 2016 campaign
was their road perfection.
Finishing the season with an impeccable
8-0 mark away from Gillette Stadium, the New England Patriots are just the seventh team in
NFL history to win all eight road contests. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick
accomplished this feat in 2007 in the Patriots’ flawless 16-0 regular season.
The San Francisco 49ers went undefeated on the road in 1984, 1989 and 1990,
dido for the St. Louis Rams in 1999 and the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.
Of the aforementioned teams (not
including New England's current team) to go 8-0 in away contests in the regular season,
only the 2014 Cowboys failed to reach the Super Bowl. The Rams won it all in
1999, while the 49ers captured Lombardi trophies in 1984 and 1989—but came up
short in the Super Bowl following the 1990 season, just as the 2007 Patriots
did.
Much of the talk surrounding the
Patriots in recent weeks has been about capturing home-field advantage
throughout the AFC playoffs. Last season, the Patriots lost in Week 16 (at New
York Jets) and 17 (at Miami Dolphins) and, as a result, surrendered the conference’s top seed
to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos.
In the eyes of many Patriots fans, Brady and Co. would have defeated the Broncos had the AFC title game been
played in Foxborough. The notion of New England beating Denver if the AFC
Championship was played in a different venue is, of course, nothing more than
(pointless) speculation. But there is no denying the Patriots made their path to the Super Bowl a lot harder by botching the
chance to grab the conference's top seed a year ago—in part due to their decision to rest
some of their starters in the season-finale.
The Patriots' quest for their fifth championship should (theoretically) be less challenging this postseason, given that the AFC's path to Super Bowl LI runs through New England. The Patriots secured home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with their 35-14 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday, spearheaded by a three-touchdown performance from Brady.
New England jumped out to a 20-0
lead, and at that point had advantages of 238-to-30 in yards, and 17-to-zero in
first downs. Miami scored consecutive touchdowns to cut the deficit to 20-14,
before Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman caught a short pass and broke free
for a 77-yard TD. Wideout Michael Floyd, playing in his second game for the Patriots,
had a crumpling block on the play that paved a clear road for Edelman to the
end zone.
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| Julian Edelman's 77-yard TD catch-and-run helped New England defeat Miami for the second time this season, completing its first season-sweep of its division rivals since 2012. (AP Image) |
Floyd had added a 14-yard score of his own earlier in the contest, which then gave the Patriots a 14-0 lead. Floyd finished with three receptions on four targets for 36 yards and a TD, second in the team in receiving to Edelman, who caught eight passes for 151 yards and a score.
Brady lauded Floyd’s effort in his postgame interview, noting
the challenge it takes to join a team this late in the season.
“To come in at this point is very tough,” Brady said. “There’s not really the time to make the mistakes any more. But he’s a veteran, he has played for a long time.”
On a day in which Brady completed 25
of his 33 passes for 276 yards without a single turnover, he savored winning
the regular-season finale against a Dolphins team that he is just 7-8 against in
contests played in Miami.
“This has always been a challenging place for us, for one reason or another,” Brady said. “But we just found a way to beat a good football team.”
Brady—who went 11-1 as a starter this
season following his four-game suspension resulting from the DeflateGate saga
and set a new record for touchdown-to-interception ratio by throwing 28 TDs
with just two picks—said he is “most proud” of his team’s road supremacy.
Visiting teams went just 107-147
(.405) this season, adding credence to Brady’s gratification of his team’s
unblemished road mark.
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