Belichick, Brady and Buzzsaw Patriots Find New Ways to Continue Reign of Terror

I'm pretty sure Darth Hoodie does this on purpose.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick must enter his office on Monday morning, sit at his desk, stroke his chin like a cartoon villain and wonder aloud, "How haven't I humiliated a team in the AFC East yet?"

He does, however, find a new way to make the rest of the division look like a collection of junior varsity teams, as the Pats did with a 36-7 throttling of the previously surging Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football.

Last Sunday, it was by completely abandoning the run game against the New York Jets. Thursday night, it was by turning a running back loose as a receiver.

A running back who didn't even play against New York.

Dion Lewis, who has already gone from Week 1 afterthought to key contributor (because New England grows diminutive pass-catching backs in a lab in Dorcester), sat out last week's win. There were questions as to whether Lewis would be active against Miami.

As Jeremy Lundblad of ESPN pointed out, Lewis was definitely active:

By weight of comparison, the Dolphins had 90 yards of total offense in the first half. As a team.

Mind you, Lewis didn't do it alone. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady continued the Deflategate Revenge Tour, piling up 356 passing yards and tossing four more touchdowns.

That's 20 touchdowns against one interception on the season, if you're keeping track at home.

Of course, as ESPN tweeted, success on Thursday isn't exactly uncharted territory for the Golden Boy:

Wide receiver Julian Edelman had a big night of his own, making seven catches for 81 yards and a pair of scores.

And tight Rob Gronkowski did what Rob Gronkowski does, hauling in six passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.

But it was Lewis who set the tone early. His catch-and-run on 3rd-and-16 that led to New England's first touchdown. His second-quarter scoring grab that blew the game open.

The Dolphins didn't do themselves any favors. Outside of a lone drive to open the second half, the offense looked nothing like the juggernaut that set records last week against the Houston Texans. Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw two interceptions and took a safety on a botched snap.

Because, you know, the Patriots need extra chances.

In the days leading up to this game, Belichick told Jim McBride of the Boston Globe that he was impressed by what he had seen from these Dolphins under interim head coach Dan Campbell:

"

I’d say they’ve simplified it. The number of things they’re running, like the number of calls that they have, it appears to be definitely a lot less than what it was before, and so they’re trying to, I’d say it looks like they’re doing fewer things than they’ve done, they’re doing them better, they’re playing faster, they’re more aggressive, and so it looks like they’ve cut back the scheme a little bit defensively for higher execution.

"

In retrospect, hidden in those comments were the keys to Miami's execution.

Belichick had already seen it. The mismatch he could exploit. The edge that would put Miami back on its heels.

And from there the Patriots did what the Patriots do.

They swept the leg.

It was vintage New England. An opponent-specific game plan that finds the gap in a team's armor and then eviscerates them. Said evisceration carried out with brutal precision on both sides of the ball (did I forget to mention the defense had five sacks and held the Dolphins to 15 yards rushing in addition to those takeaways and that safety?).

You see, the thing is, the Patriots don't care what you think. Or what I write. They won't just wear the black hat; they will smile while they do it. Because all that matters at the end of the day is winning.

That's what they do. This year it's all they've done.

Back in 2007, with the pall of Spygate hanging over the team (about which Belichick, Brady and the boys cared not even a little bit), the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to post a 16-0 regular season.

I'm not going to sit here and say that the 2015 Patriots are going to equal that feat.

But after watching them step on Miami's neck on national television, I'm not about to say they won't, either.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.