Week 17: Dolphins At Patriots Injury Report

The Patriots (11-4) host the Dolphins (7-8) on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m., CBS) at Gillette Stadium in the 2012 regular season finale. As usual, New England is headed to the playoffs while Miami is destined for another long offseason. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow (Saturday), it would be nice to see at least one snow game this season.

Today, the injury report came out with a season-high 20 Patriots listed as questionable. Marquice Cole (finger) is doubtful for New England. Miami wide receiver Davone Bess (back) has already been ruled out while three Dolphins are questionable: cornerback Nolan Carroll (knee), guard Josh Samuda (shoulder) and defensive tackle Randy Starks (not injury related).

The Patriot on everybody's mind is Rob Gronkowski (forearm/hip), who has missed the last five games. He is questionable so it will be interesting to see if Bill Belichick wants Gronk to get in a game before the playoffs start. Other Patriots that are questionable: Patrick Chung (shoulder), Dan Connolly (back), Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring/knee), Nate Ebner (hamstring), Aaron Hernandez (ankle), Dont'a Hightower (hamstring/shoulder), Chandler Jones (ankle), Brandon Lloyd (knee), Kyle Love (knee), Logan Mankins (ankle/calf), Jerod Mayo (elbow), Nick McDonald (shoulder), Mike Rivera (ankle), Nate Solder (abdomen), Brandon Spikes (knee/ankle), Aqib Talib (hip), Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee), Wes Welker (ankle) and Tracy White (elbow).

This game means plenty to New England in terms of playoff seeding and they have to win in that regard so I would expect pretty much all these guys (assuming they are OK) to be out there on Sunday. With the game being flexed to 4:25 p.m., we will have more time to figure out who will be inactive and most importantly if Gronk is playing or not.

The other tidbit of Patriots news coming out today was that Vince Wilfork was fined $30,000 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness in last Sunday's game at Jacksonville. Apparently, he hit some scrub offensive lineman in the head with his beefy forearm during a change of possession.

UPDATE 12/29: The Patriots released Ron Brace today and promoted WR Kamar Aiken and CB Malcolm Williams from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Also, they activated Jermaine Cunningham, who missed the last four games due to his PED suspension. Now, New England has a full 53-man roster with two spots open on the practice squad. I feel no need to talk about Brace, a second round pick in 2009 out of BC (a Worcester native) who never did a thing for the Pats.

UPDATE 12/30: Gronk is playing.

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Definition Of Yawn: Pats Win 10th AFC East Title In 12 Years With 23-16 Triumph In Miami

When your division is as putrid as the AFC East has been for the better part of a decade, it's tough to get too excited over trivial things like an AFC East title. New England (9-3, 5-2 away) beat Miami (5-7, 3-3 home) 23-16 this afternoon at Sun Life Stadium for the Patriots' sixth straight win. New England became the first team in the NFL to clinch a playoff spot in 2012 so there's that insignificant fact.

With the victory, the Patriots claimed their fourth straight AFC East title, the ninth in the in the last 10 years and 10th in the last 12 seasons. It is a crazy mark of consistency that shows no sign of stopping while the rest of the division continues to go in circles and pee down their legs. Did you know the Dolphins have used 17 different guys at quarterback since Dan Marino retired? I rest my case.

Yes New England usually struggles when they go down to the humidity of South Florida but this gave them five consecutive wins against Miami. For the most part, it was a pretty boring contest as the Patriots played one of their more sloppy games of the season yet still found a way to get it done.

Tom Brady (24 of 40, 238 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) wasn't himself but Wes Welker (12 catches, 103 yards, TD) and Aaron Hernandez (8 catches, 97 yards) picked up the slack for Rob Gronkowski (still out) and Brandon Lloyd (1 catch, 10 yards) who has been completely fazed out of the passing attack. New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels kept Stevan Ridley (19 carries, 71 yards, TD) out of the majority of the action until he inserted him in the fourth quarter to effectively wear down the Dolphins defense.

This was Ryan Tannehill's (13 of 29, 186 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs) first career game against the Patriots and while it wasn't a disaster by any means, he certainly looked like a guy that is still squarely in the project stage. Brian Hartline (5 catches, 84 yards) and Reggie Bush (15 carries, 64 yards) are Miami's two best offensive weapons, which should tell you exactly where their franchise is at this moment.

Chandler Jones' absence wasn't a huge deal since Trevor Scott (3 tackles, 2 sacks, tackle for loss) stepped up and Vince Wilfork (3 tackles, 2 solo, tackle for loss, fumble recovery) continued to play at a very high level.

Competing against an inferior team like the Dolphins means that the Patriots are comfortably able to survive an interception by Reshad Jones and another missed field goal by Stephen Gostkowski (from 49 yards in 1st quarter; his 3rd in 4 games at the time). The only things to worry about were some more injuries: right guard Dan Connolly left with a back injury and Julian Edelman departed with a foot injury. Neither guy returned to the field after that.

Miami was up to their usual tomfoolery after they were forced to punt on their first drive and punter Brandon Fields couldn't properly control a bad snap. He got tackled by a host of Patriots at the Dolphins' 12. Five plays later, Ridley had a 2-yard touchdown run. Dan Carpenter's 44-yard field goal with one second left in the first quarter got Miami on the board.

Welker cashed in on a 7-yard slip screen and Gostkowski atoned for his miss with a 43-yard field goal as the Patriots led 17-3 in the second quarter. Tannehill's 2-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left in the first half gave the Dolphins fans something to cheer about.

I don't know which was more boring: the third quarter which featured a grand total of zero combined points or the fourth which had two field goals apiece for both teams? Gostkowski hit a 32-yard field goal, Carpenter hit a 33-yard field goal, Gostkowski added a chip shot 20-yard kick then Carpenter wrapped it up with a 42-yard field goal.

Miami tried an onside kick but Lloyd fell on it to clinch the win for the Patriots. After weeks of playing mostly terrible teams (except for the Colts), you won't hear me complaining the next two weeks. We've had these two games circled all season: they host the Texans (11-1) next Monday (8:30 p.m., ESPN) then the Niners the following Sunday night (8:20, NBC). Houston is currently the top team in the AFC while San Francisco is the second best team (record wise) in the NFC. Now if we could just coax some snow or at least wintry conditions out of the sky.

UPDATE 12/3: Multiple sources report that the Patriots have re-signed wide receiver Donte' Stallworth. He was cut in August after what seemed like a decent preseason. He hadn't caught on with any other NFL team so this move was probably made since A) Julian Edelman's foot injury is serious and B) Deion Branch's hamstring is still in bad shape so they can't use him at this point.

Also, the Pats lost another guy from the practice squad as the Eagles signed offensive tackle Matt Kopa. The Stanford product had spent the last two seasons on New England's practice squad.

UPDATE 12/4: Pro Football Talk says that New England gets a one-week roster exemption for rookie running back Brandon Bolden. He can return to practice now and they don't have to activate him until December 11. He has missed the past four games thanks to a PED suspension. They can activate him at any time but they would have to release another guy from the 53-man roster.

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Week 13: Patriots At Dolphins Injury Report

It has been longer than usual between regular season games for the Patriots since they last played on Thanskgiving against the Jets. Even weirder, it is now December and Sunday (1 p.m., CBS) will be the first time this season that the Patriots (8-3) and Dolphins (5-6) meet. Miami comes to Gillette Stadium in Week 17.

Today, the injury report came out for Sunday's game at Sun Life Stadium. Miami's only questionable player is running back Jorvorskie Lane (knee). As always, New England spent much more time playing needless mind games with the list. Rob Gronkowski (forearm), Chandler Jones (ankle) and Logan Mankins (ankle/calf) have all been ruled out for the Pats so they probably missed out on a free trip to South Beach.

15 other guys on New England are questionable but we all know that doesn't really mean anything. Ron Brace (elbow), Patrick Chung (shoulder), Dan Connolly (back), Julian Edelman (concussion), Aaron Hernandez (ankle), Dont'a Hightower (hamstring), Brandon Lloyd (knee), Kyle Love (knee), Nick McDonald (shoulder), Matthew Slater (concussion), Brandon Spikes (knee), Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee), Wes Welker (ankle), Tracy White (foot) and Markus Zusevics (illness) are all "50/50" to suit up in the AFC East matchup.

In other Patriots news, cornerback Sterling Moore was signed off New England's practice squad by the Cowboys so that's a bummer. Stay tuned as I'll update this when I hear more information before kickoff. Keep in mind the Patriots can clinch their ninth division title in 10 years with a victory.

UPDATE 12/1: Something called Mitch Petrus, that is an offensive lineman for the Patriots, is questionable for tomorrow because he's sick. OK then.

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Thank Tom Brady, The 2012 Patriots Bye Week Is Finally Over!

I don't know about you but as a serious creature of habit, I found myself basically lost yesterday afternoon. With no Patriots game to look forward to, watch and write about, I spaced out while watching other NFL games. Don't get me wrong, the NFL is by far the best professional sports league in the U.S. but it's a big difference when your team is not playing. All I cared about yesterday was fantasy points and that's no way to live.

Thankfully, we can quickly put that all behind us. On Sunday (1 p.m., CBS), the Bills (3-5)-who lost 21-9 in Houston yesterday afternoon-visit Gillette Stadium to take on the Patriots (5-3). When we last saw them in Week 4, New England went to Buffalo and embarrassed the Bills 52-28. The Pats opened up as an 11-point favorite and despite playing down to competition for most of this season, they pretty much always beat the Bills (usually in blowout fashion) and leave them in the cellar of the AFC East.

My two nuggets of Patriots related information for today: 1) former legendary running back Kevin Faulk will be honored at halftime of Sunday's game. Hopefully the bozos at CBS give us a taste of it. Look for a similar ceremony for former offensive tackle Matt Light later in this season. 2) The Patriots-Colts (5-3) game in Week 11 (the following week) on Sunday, November 18 was flexed by the NFL from a 1 p.m. kickoff to 4:25 p.m. That move was made since rookie quarterback Andrew Luck and Indianapolis are already way better than anyone could have expected. Who knew Colts-Patriots games could be relevant again so soon?

UPDATE 11/6: Former Alabama linebacker Jerrell Harris was added to New England's practice squad.

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a Juggernaut in Foxboro

After the mess of last week-"Cameragate"as the wags have dubbed it-the Patriots needed a night like last night against the Chargers. Everyone and their mother has weighed in on the Patriots since the taping scandal and it seemed nearly unanimous that the Pats must have cheated in pretty much every game under Belichick. Throw out the three Super Bowls, the great seasons, it's all a sham.

Give me a break. Last night proved more than any words I could come up with that the Patriots are a great team-cheating or no cheating. They completely dominated what is supposed to be one of the best teams in the league. 38-14 Patriots was the final score and it could have been worse. It was 24-0 at halftime. The Chargers were motivated from last season's early exit in the playoffs and supposedly were going to take care of unfinished business with the Pats. Uh ok. They showed that they're light years away from being at New England's level. Philip Rivers looked Rex Grossman-like with a terrible INT on his first attempt. LT was completly contained. Merriman got his obligatory two sacks but other than that and a little dancing, he was non-existent. The only real threat seemed to be Antonio Gates. The best tight end in football is San Diego's only real receiving threat and he made a great stretch for a TD.

The hypocrisy of a team like the Chargers and particularly a Grade A scumbag like Merriman was on display as he danced (which he said he won't do anymore) after getting a sack. The score at the time? 17-0 Patriots. He just doesn't get it. The Bolts made it 24-7 and recovered the ensuing kickoff from the Pats, they looked poised to make a game of it. After causing the fumble, San Diego's Kasim Osgood posed on the bench like he'd just won the Super Bowl. What a loser. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Mr. Old School NFL who hates celebrations of any kind. I just feel like you have to pick your spots. Pats linebacker Rossevelt Colvin for example seemed to do this perfectly last night. He was all over the place with a fumble caused, INT, 2 sacks and 5 tackles. His dancing heated up as the game went on. Makes sense, no?

Bigger picture, the Pats look unstoppable. They started the game and ran seven straight passing plays. It culminated with a beautiful Brady-to-Moss hookup. Before the Chargers knew it, the scoreboard read 17-0. Then another new Pats player-linebacker Adalius Thomas turned in the play of the game as he intercepted Rivers and sprinted 60+ yards for the touchdown, making it 24-0 going into the half. It was one of the best halves of football I've ever seen and against a very good team no less.

Last year, Brady didn't have enough weapons in the passing game and they still came so close to the Super Bowl (which they would have won). Now they have an overabundance of talent. Kelly Washington plays special teams and Donte' Stallworth catches two passes in a game, welcome to the 2007 New England Patriots. Moss is obviously Brady's first option and Wes Welker (a younger, white Troy Brown) is 1B. These guys have looked like video game players in the first two weeks. Keep in mind that the Jets and especially Chargers secondaries are pretty bad but you still have to be impressed with the Pats receivers.

With back-to-back incredible performances, it's hard not to be drinking the Pats Kool-Aid. They don't even have Harrison or Seymour and they look unbeatable. The AFC East is still dog shit: Buffalo, Miami and the Jets are all 0-2. Still, this is the NFL in 2007. Nobody will go undefeated. The Pats still have some tough games: at the Cowboys, at the Colts, at the Ravens and vs. the Steelers. Lets not forget that Miami has really played them tough in recent years. The Bills seem to excel in Foxboro and the Jets will certainly be tougher the second time around. Even with the success the Pats have had in recent years, these two wins have been a completely different animal. Usually, New England would outlast/outsmart/out execute teams. Now, it appears like they can hang 30+ on anybody. It should be a long and memorable season.