Studs and duds from the New England Patriots in their disappointing Week 17 loss to the Dolphins that dropped them to the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
The New England Patriots went into the final game of the 2019 NFL regular season as one of the teams around the league still with something left to play for in Week 17. On Sunday afternoon, the Patriots needed to grab a win at home in Foxborough to be able to grab the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff standings ahead of the start of the postseason.
While hosting the Miami Dolphins, New England fell in a surprising loss at home to the struggling Dolphins in the final seconds of the contest, dropping the game, 27-24.
The back-and-forth contest started with Miami getting out in front on the road to grab an early lead at Gillette Stadium. The Dolphins were able to snag a 3-0 advantage after the opening quarter of action, while the Patriots were able to even things up at 10-10 going into halftime.
In the second half, New England attempted to make a second-half push to come away with the victory at home ahead of the start of the playoffs but fell to Miami to drop the Patriots in the AFC playoff picture.
With the win, the Dolphins were able to finish the 2019 campaign on a positive note while grabbing an overall record of 5-11 on the season. It was a year filled with struggles for Miami, but it capped it off with a big win on the road against New England.
In the loss, the Patriots dropped to the No. 3 overall seed in the AFC postseason picture and will miss out on a first-round bye when the playoffs begin. New England, which wrapped up the year with a record of 12-4 overall, will go into the postseason while surprisingly struggling.
Now with the regular-season schedule in the books for New England, let’s dive back into the Week 17 game from Sunday afternoon and pick out three Patriots studs and duds.
Stud: Sony Michel
Sony Michel once again led the running game and rushing attack for the Patriots in the contest, leading the team in yards on the ground in the divisional showdown. The running back finished the contest with a total of 74 yards on the ground with a total of 18 carries in the game. He also managed to add one rushing touchdown throughout the matchup.
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Going into the postseason, Michel is going to need to continue and be a dominant force on the ground and in the rushing attack for New England as it prepares to make another deep run in the playoffs.
Dud: Passing defense
In the game, New England’s defense, which has been pretty solid for a majority of the regular season schedule, struggled to some extent against Miami’s passing game in Week 17.
The Dolphins were able to tally a total of 326 yards passing through the air, although the Patriots were ultimately able to hold them to just one touchdown in the passing attack in the matchup.
New England did do a nice job against the Miami running game, but the fact that it allowed a struggling Dolphins team to air things out as much as it did is something that certainly stood out as a dud for the Patriots.
Stud: Second-half comeback
After falling behind early at home against Miami, New England evened things up at 10-10 going into halftime to only fall behind once again going into the fourth and final quarter in Foxborough.
In the fourth quarter, however, the Patriots were able to put together a comeback performance at the end of the contest to pull ahead of the Dolphins with under a handful of minutes left to play.
Miami was ultimately able to get the last laugh at the end of the day behind a late touchdown to come out on top of New England on its home field on Sunday afternoon.
Dud: Julian Edelman
For a majority of the 2019 campaign, Julian Edelman has put together a solid year while providing quarterback Tom Brady with one of the few reliable targets within the passing game on that end of the field for New England. But in the last few weeks, and in the Week 17 contest once again, Edelman struggled within the passing attack and was held in check for a majority of the game at home.
The veteran wide receiver managed to finish with just 26 yards receiving on three catches and seven overall targets, also being held without a touchdown reception in the contest.
Going into the playoffs, Edelman is going to need to find his way back into the passing game for New England if it wants to make a run towards another Super Bowl title this year.
Stud: James White
James White didn’t necessarily thrive in the running game, which was due to the fact that Sony Michel was able to handle a bulk of those duties on the ground for New England throughout the contest. White finished with just two carries for a total of four net yards in the game, breaking out for a game-long run of seven yards.
But in the passing game, White was able to pick up the slack once again in a passing attack that has struggled somewhat throughout the regular season this year, even finding his way into the endzone in the loss.
White was once again a key piece for Tom Brady and the Patriots on offense, finishing with three catches for 33 yards and one receiving touchdown. He recorded a game-long reception of 13 yards on three overall targets in the contest at home.
Dud: Falling to No. 3 in the AFC
With the loss, New England not only will ride into the postseason on a loss while holding a record of 12-4 overall, but the Patriots also dropped behind the Kansas City Chiefs in the conference standings.
New England will move down to the third overall seed in the AFC playoff picture, which means the Patriots will miss out on getting a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will host a Wild Card squad next weekend in the first round of the postseason.
It’s not very common that we see New England playing in the opening round of the playoffs, but that will change here in 2019.