Patriots' Monumental Loss to Dolphins Kicks Off Wide-Open AFC Race to Super Bowl

The New England Patriots have to play in a wild-card game for the first time since 2009. Read that sentence again. And again. And again.

Barack Obama was sworn in for his first term that year, the Cowboys opened their new stadium, and the Steelers beat the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. That seems like another time, and in a football galaxy far, far away.

But it's here, and reality, because the Miami Dolphins beat New England 27-24 on Sunday in the upset of the year. 

The Patriots will have to be like other suckers who must claw their way out of the wild-card round like ordinary schmucks. 

During the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era, the Patriots have never reached the Super Bowl without a first-round bye. Their nine appearances were all launched with that bye, like a rocket ship headed for Mars.

In fact, every Super Bowl team of the past six years—every team—has had an opening-round bye. The last team to appear in the Super Bowl that was lower than a No. 1 or 2 seed was the eventual champion fourth-seeded Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII of the 2012 season. 

Belichick emphasized to his players just how important that bye is, after their Week 16 win over Buffalo. In fact, he flat-out warned them.

"Look, this is very simple now," Belichick said to the team, per Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. "Miami is a playoff game. If we beat Miami, then we get a bye. If we don't, then we'll be playing next week. So, it's a playoff game. We got to be ready to go here. ... Keep building on what we've been building here, and keep this thing rolling. This is a big week. We are in the playoffs. We are in the playoffs now." 

Now, the Dolphins have ended all of that, in a monumental win for them, a catastrophic loss for the Patriots and a game-changing moment for the conference and perhaps NFL history.

The Patriots are no longer The Seven. Sometimes, it seems like they can barely score six.

They are far from dead, but their loss to Miami signals that the AFC playoff race is wide-open.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

The Ravens are the best team, but they lost to Kansas City earlier this season. The Chiefs are 12-4, beat the Patriots earlier this month but lost to the Patriots, at home, in the title game last year.

The Bills lost to the Patriots this season, but they are still immensely dangerous. So are the Texans because quarterback Deshaun Watson can catch fire anywhere, anytime.

Then, there are the Tennessee Titans. They are low-key one of the most dangerous teams in the postseason.

With the Patriots showing vulnerability, this means the AFC playoffs aren't easy to decode.

The AFC used to be 1 + 1 = Patriots. Now, it's advanced math, and solving for X is much more complicated.

The NFC was always going to be wide-open because there is no version of the Patriots in it. Well, there's no version of the Patriots anywhere in NFL history.

But their prolonged dominance, and how the team has used first-round byes to its advantage, always set them apart.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

After the game, when asked if he was stunned over the loss, safety Devin McCourty said feelings are irrelevant.

"It doesn't matter," he said, according to a team transcript. "We've got a game next week, we've got to get ready to go. Nobody feels sorry for us, we shouldn't feel sorry for ourselves. Our goal is to play in the playoffs. ... Disappointed, wanted to play better, wanted to win today, but we didn't. We've got to move forward and get ready to go or the end of our season will be next week if we don't turn the page and play good football, way better than today."

Translation: McCourty can't believe they lost, either.

No one can.             

Yes, there was a moron on this website who recently wrote everyone should fear the Patriots again, with some backup from rival assistant coaches. Yes, that turned out to be moronic. 

It seems the only thing people should fear about the Patriots is their getting torched by Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

This is a new day in the AFC.

For the first time in a long time, it's a wide-open one.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.