The Patriots needed a win over the Dolphins to secure a bye through the first round of the AFC playoffs, but they started slow and finished poorly during a 27-24 loss.
After the game, head coach Bill Belichick said that the Patriots “didn’t do anything well enough today to deserve to win” and quarterback Tom Brady was sending a similar message at his press conference.
“Yeah, it was just we didn’t play the way we’re capable of playing and it ended up costing us. Just too many bad mistakes,” Brady said.
One of those bad mistakes came on a throw that Dolphins cornerback Eric Rowe picked off and returned for a touchdown in the first half. Brady was 16-of-29 for 221 yards overall and said that he has “no problems” physically as the team gets set to play next weekend.
There were other issues for New England, however, and some included the defense’s struggles against the Miami passing game. They’ll have to clean those up quickly or the team’s playoff stay could be a short one.