Patriots headed to a house of horrors in Miami

FOXBORO — Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are taking their talents to South Beach this Sunday to wrap up their 2016 regular season campaign. They will square off against a surging Miami Dolphins team that has won nine of their last ten games and has secured a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Miami has been a house of horrors for Tom Brady throughout his career. The future Hall of Famer has, admittedly, had some of his worst performances come at the hands of the Dolphins on their home turf.

Brady is 6-8 all-time on the road against the Dolphins and on the surface his numbers aren't terrible. Brady sports a 60.5 passing percentage, 25 touchdowns to ten interceptions, and a 242.8 yards per game average. But these are numbers that are drastically skewed by two outlier performances.

In 2007, Brady and the juggernaut Patriots offense torched the Dolphins for six touchdowns on their way to a 49-28 blowout. In 2011 Brady threw for 517 yards and four scores, including a 99-yard touchdown strike to Wes Welker on a night the Patriots won 38-24.

Remove these games from the equation and Brady's numbers become much more pedestrian. He completes 58.3% of his passes while throwing for 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions, including three multiple interception games, and averaging only 210.6 yards per game.

In 2015, the Patriots needed a win in Miami in order to claim the top spot in the AFC and fell flat on their collective faces. Seemingly content on force feeding the ball to Stephen Jackson, they mustered on 10 points and fell 20-10 in their season finale.

The message from the Patriots locker room recently has been focused on finishing the season strong and not repeating the error of their ways from a season ago. With the goal in place, it is up to the players to execute and that will be no simple task.

The Patriots have already beaten the Dolphins in 2016, Week 2, in a game that saw backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo throw for three touchdowns before exiting the game with a shoulder injury.

"This is a team that is a lot different than the team we saw earlier in the season. Not just their record, but I'd say overall the way they play, the way they do things. They've been very impressive," Bill Belichick said Wednesday as he lauded over how explosive the Dolphins are in all three phases of the game.

Behind closed doors you can be certain that the message is clear and concise. Finish strong and do your job.

Cox Media Group