Some notes from the New England Patriots’ regular season-ending win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday:
— The 35-14 victory was the Patriots’ eighth win away from Gillette Stadium this season, making them just the seventh team in NFL history to finish a perfect 8-0 in road games. New England won 14 games in all, its highest total since 2010.
“Fourteen wins is a pretty good effort this year,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters after the game. “I’m proud of what these guys did. (They) worked hard every week, came ready to play, played hard and played tough. We did a good job down here.”
The Patriots will enter the postseason as the AFC’s No. 1 seed, giving them home-field advantage through the conference championship game.
— Field goal blocker extraordinaire Shea McClellin came through with another highlight-reel play for New England, returning a Dolphins fumble 69 yards midway through the fourth quarter. It was the longest fumble return in franchise history — surpassing Richard Seymour’s 68-yard runback from 2004 — and it set up LeGarrette Blount’s back-breaking 1-yard touchdown run.
“Probably in college, I’d say,” McClellin told reporters when asked to name the last time he’d made that kind of play with the ball in his hands. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
What was going through his mind as he rumbled down the sideline?
“Not to fumble and try to score,” he said. “Just hold onto the ball, make sure we keep possession of it.”
— Blount’s touchdown was the cherry on top of a tremendously productive regular season for the Patriots running back. It was his NFL-best 18th touchdown run of the season, adding to his own single-season franchise record.
No NFL running back had rushed for 18 touchdowns in a season since Adrian Peterson did so in 2009, and only Randy Moss has found the end zone more often in one season than Blount did in 2016. Moss scored 23 total touchdowns in 2007; Blount is tied for second on that list with Rob Gronkowski (18 scores in 2011).
Blount, who had some harsh words for Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh after the win, also played in all 16 games for just the second time in his seven-year career and set career highs in all three rushing categories. Not bad for a guy who’s making just $1 million this season.
Thumbnail photo via Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports Images
