Great, great win. Down with 4 minutes remaining to the Steelers and Patriots and emerge with two victories is something special. The Patriots were energized and well prepared today and we still took them out.
I couldn't believe Nantz and Simms wanted a punt with 3 minutes remaining. Sure, let Tom Brady control your fate. That was a fantastic decision and I had no doubt Philbin would make the correct choice. Only thing I didn't appreciate was the play call. Normally that's a 20% option at best, asking a player to gain 5+ yards after the catch to manage the first down. We were incredibly fortunate, not much different than Brown running out of bounds last week. The Patriots safety Gregory took a terrible angle and allowed Clay to duck inside him.
* Obscure key play of this game was New England's first extra point. I'm serious. Watch that kick, if anyone still has it on tape. The ball trailed 2 feet to the right. Trust me, Gostkowski saw every bit of that and it impacted his missed field goal early in the third quarter, which was kicked in the same direction. As a golfer I knew he would compensate severely by aiming left on such a long kick, after a short one was apparently shoved 2 feet right by the wind. Sure enough, he aimed left and the ball never moved. You could see the dismay in his face. He did it exactly where he wanted to but instead of cutting many feet to the right the ball pierced the wind and stayed true. That missing 3 points completely altered the end of the game.
* Another key play was 3rd and short at the New England 40 with 40 seconds remaining the first half. Notice the Patriots overplayed the center of the formation, with tons of guys at the line of scrimmage. They expected Miami might run an inside trap for a first down. That's indeed a Dolphin tendency but it didn't apply in that situation, with so little time remaining and short of time outs. I was calling for a deep shot after seeing that defensive alignment and it was awesome that we took the shot downfield
* Thank goodness Brady threw 3 of the final 4 passes to the outside. I continue to believe we are more vulnerable in the interior. In fact, once Thomas backed off on the final play, Brady could have hesitated one count and burned us over the middle. Clemons was beat to the inside. Also, Clemons has to make that interception on the play earlier when Brady half rolled to the right and didn't sense Clemons
* Tannehill really picks up his game late in a drive. Seemingly he can be stopped early but once he converts the initial first down he's more and more dangerous. That's a great trait.
* I was happy that the refs stayed out of the way and treated it like a playoff game
* Spread climbed to Miami -2.5 this morning. That allowed me to take New England +1 in the first half. I already had +1 in the game from yesterday. Those +1 numbers in the first half are gold, when you win with a tie score. But key drive for me by far was Kirk Cousins sticking it into the end zone for the Redskins late against Atlanta. That game got bet to Falcons -6.5 so it fit my great system that I've mentioned for years, of betting against a .500 or lower team that is giving 6 or more at home. I probably would have lost if stiff Robert Griffin had played. But with Cousins I expected to win handily so I bet more than normal on that game. He blew a 3 point 4th quarter lead but then threw the covering touchdown pass with about 20 seconds remaining. That was huge for me. I was thrilled when the Redskins decided to go for 2. In the old days as long as you had +6.5 in overtime you had to win. Now the game can fall 7. That's another pain in the ass of the new overtime rules.
* Congratulations to anyone who had Dolphins over 7.5 wins. Now I guess we still have to wait for any stragglers who played over the final number, when it climbed to 8
