Patriots Ride Second-Half Adjustments to AFC East Title

Contractors in the Greater Boston area might be busy this holiday season as New England Patriots players may need to expand their closets. After six straight AFC East titles, the amount of hats and T-shirts has to be getting cumbersome. Ryan Hannable from WEEI has the grisly—for the other AFC East teams, anyway—details.

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Tom Brady has been a full-time QB in the league for 13 years. He's won the AFC East 12 times.

— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) December 14, 2014"

The Patriots were able to don their new digs after dispatching the Miami Dolphins 41-13.

A touchdown pass from Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill to Mike Wallace put some fear into the Gillette Stadium crowd late in the first half, but some solid second-half adjustments by Bill Belichick and the coaching staff allowed New England to pull away.

I had a few suggestions for Belichick during halftime. Luckily for him—sarcasm intended—he listened.

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I would try out Gray to start the second half. Also would let Butler cover the bench.

— James Christensen (@NEPatriotsDraft) December 14, 2014"

Gray Sky High

Jonas Gray did join the huddle as the Patriots took the field at the start of the second half. He did a great job hitting the hole hard and sneaking his way through what was a dominant Dolphins defensive line in the first half. Gray finished the day with 62 yards on 11 carries, while LeGarrette Blount was held to just 17 yards on eight rushes.

Gray has done enough to carve out a role for himself on this team, with or without Blount. Let the bruising Blount handle duties near the end zone and in the fourth quarter. Gray offers more of a dynamic presence in between the 20s. 

The Butler Didn't Do It

After giving up multiple long throws to Mike Wallace, Butler wasn't seen as often in the second half. Logan Ryan seemed to take over the majority of his snaps, with Darrelle Revis often matched up on Wallace.

The results were easy to see. Instead of giving up big plays, New England allowed the Dolphins offense to pick up small chunks of yardage. This gave the Patriots defense ample opportunities to make big plays. Four sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles proved to be enough.

Let Gronk Be Gronk

Through one half, the Dolphins seemed to have figured out how to stop the previously unstoppable Rob Gronkowski. The second half wasn't as kind to Miami's defense. Gronkowski torched the secondary for 96 yards and a touchdown on only three catches.

Gronkowski was able to take advantage of the solid play-action blocking afforded to Brady by his offensive line. He was able to get on top of linebackers and safeties with ease and could have had another catch or two with some better throws from Brady.

Gronkowski showed in the first half that his blocking can open up holes, but eventually you have to unleash him in the passing game as well.

On to New York

Moving forward, I'd expect Gray and Ryan to see an uptick in their playing time against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. The final two games are incredibly important for playoff-seeding purposes, so New England needs to press every advantage it can get.

While the Jets are always difficult—New England squeaked by on a field-goal block earlier this year—the Bills look like the biggest stumbling block at this point. The Buffalo defense stifled Aaron Rodgers en route to an impressive victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 15.