The Patriots were down 17-0 at the half before they woke up and surged to a tough victory last Saturday.  Tom Brady completed 27 of 46 passes for 304 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 9 times for 17 yards (1.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs in this game.  Stevan Ridley led the way for the Patriots in this game with 64 yards rushing on 13 carries (4.9 ypc).  Danny Woodhead pitched in with 4 carries for 20 yards (5.0 ypc) in this game.  WR Wes Welker (12 catches for 138 yards) and TE Rob Gronkowski (7 rec, 78 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Fins.  WR Deion Branch (3 rec, 37 yards, TD) and TE Aaron Hernandez (4 rec, 36 yards) also pitched in for the Patriots in this game.  The Patriots finished up with 119 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 46 passes (58.7%) for 281 yards as they had possession of the ball for 30:56.

The defense played really well in the second half for the Patriots in this game.  LB Jared Mayo (13 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and 2 QB hits) and CB Devin McCourty (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception) led the way for the Patriots on D in this game.  Safety James Ihedigbo (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and LB Rob Ninkovich (6 tackles and 1 sack) also had solid games for the Patriots.  The Dolphins finished up with 115 yards rushing on 27 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 33 passes (51.5%) for 266 yards.  The Patriots are now 12-3 on the season.

The Patriots have won six games in a row and they are currently the top seed in the AFC as far as the playoffs are concerned.  The Patriots whacked the Dolphins 38-24 in Miami in the season opener, but that was a long time ago.  The Dolphins beat the Bills on the road last weekend and they have now won 5 of their last 7 games.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are going to be bombs away tomorrow as they are going to be throwing the ball all over the field.  TE Rob Gronkowski, WR Wes Welker and TE Aaron Hernandez are going to be attacking the Dolphins down the field in this game.  The only real hope of the Dolphins slowing down the Patriots’ passing game is if they can mount a good pass rush.  The Patriots will run the ball a little bit tomorrow to make the Dolphins pay for overplaying the passing game.

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Patriots are going to have to go all out to stop RB Reggie Bush, as he rushed for 203 yards last weekend against the Bills.  The Dolphins are a very physical team in the running game, so the Patriots’ front seven is going to have tighten up the chinstraps.  The Dolphins have the weapons at WR and TE to give the Patriots problems if QB Matt Moore has time to throw the ball.  Moore is a game manager type for the most part, but he could air the ball out down the field to Brandon Marshall a few times this Saturday.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 34, DOLPHINS 26

The Patriots have signed 29-year old safety Vincent Fuller.  Fuller played in 1 game for the Lions earlier this year but he didn’t have any tackles.  Fuller has now played in 74 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 163 tackles, 16 passes defensed, 6 interceptions (4 returned for a TD), 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 7 tackles for a loss.  The Patriots need help at the back end of the D and Fuller has been a playmaker in the past, so he could be just what the doctor ordered.

UPDATE:  (12/23/2011) – The Patriots have waived Vincent Fuller.

The Patriots have lost 32-year old starting DE Andre Carter for the rest of the 2011 season due to a quad injury.  Carter played in 14 games for the Patriots this year and he had 52 tackles, 10 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 pass defensed and 5 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 163 games in his first 11 years in the NFL and he has 494 tackles, 76 sacks, 17 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 23 passes defensed and 47 tackles for a loss.  This is a HUGE loss for the Patriots going forward as Carter was their best pass rusher.

The Patriots were going to give Tim Tebow a chance to beat them in the 4th quarter today.  The Patriots led 34-16 heading into the 4th quarter and they never really were threatened by the Broncos the rest of the way.  Tom Brady completed 23 of 34 passes for 320 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 2 yards (0.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Stevan Ridley led the way on the ground for the Patriots in this game with 65 yards rushing on 11 carries (5.9 ypc).  Danny Woodhead was also effective with 40 yards rushing on 7 carries (5.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a rough time today with 10 carries for 17 yards (1.7 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 32 yards.  TE Aaron Hernandez led the way through the air for the Patriots in this game with 129 yards receiving on 9 catches (14.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 16 yards yesterday.  TE Rob Gronkowski (4 rec, 53 yards), WR Wes Welker (4 rec, 41 yards) and Chad Ocho Cinco (1 rec, 33 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Patriots in the passing game.  The Patriots finished up with 141 yards rushing on 36 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 34 passes (67.6%) for 310 yards as they had possession of the ball for 33:41.

The defense was terrible against the run, but pretty good against the pass in Denver yesterday.  LB Jared Mayo (8 tackles), safety James Ihedigbo (6 tackles) and safety Sergio Brown (6 tackles) led the way for the Patriots on D in this game.  LB Rob Ninkovich (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 QB hit and 1 fumble recovery), DE Mark Anderson (3 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 QB hits and 1 fumble recovery) and LB Dane Fletcher (fumble recovery) also made big plays for the Patriots in this game.  The Broncos finished up with 252 yards rushing on 31 carries (8.1 ypc) and they also completed 11 of 23 passes (47.8%) for 141 yards.  The Patriots are now 11-3 on the year.

These are two red hot teams and they both need this game.  The Patriots have won five games in a row now and they are trying to get the top seed in the AFC.  The Broncos have won 7 of their last 8 games, putting them atop of the AFC West.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are going to come out throwing the ball in this game.  The Broncos are going to have to get a good pass rush on Tom Brady or they are going to be in big trouble.  Brady will look to exploit the safeties of the Broncos by throwing the ball a lot to TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.  By attacking the Broncos’ D with the TEs, the corners will have to single cover WRs Wes Welker and Deion Branch, which could also trouble the Broncos on D.  The Patriots will give the ball to BenJarvus Green-Ellis once in a while, just to keep the Broncos’ D honest.

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos might loosen up the play calling a little bit in this game.  They are still going to be a run first team with Willis McGahee and Tim Tebow carrying the load.  The Patriots are giving up 107.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry so far this year.  The Patriots are going to have to find a way to contain Tim Tebow in the pocket, where he is much less effective.  His favorite two WRs are Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, so the Patriots will have to pay them special attention tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 34, BRONCOS 20

34-year old QB Tom Brady has been pretty amazing once again this year for the Patriots.  He has played in 13 games for the Patriots so far this year and he has completed 328 of 496 passes (66.1%) for 4,273 yards with 33 TD passes and 11 INTs (106.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 28 times for 90 yards (3.2 ypc) so far this year.  Brady has certainly come a long way since his days in Michigan, which led him to get picked in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Patriots.  The Patriots hit a homer with that pick.  Brady has now played in 158 games (156 starts) in his career with the Patriots so far and he has completed 3,324 of 5,206 (63.8%) passes for 39,017 yards with 294 TD passes and 114 INTs (96.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 364 times for 697 yards (1.9 ypc) with 7 TD runs so far this year.  The Patriots are 121-35 (77.6%) during the regular season when Tom Brady starts the game at QB.

The New England Patriots won because of Tom Brady and his offense yesterday, once again!  Tom Brady was very solid in this game as he completed 22 of 37 passes for 357 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  Danny Woodhead led the way on the Patriots in this running game with 41 yards on 8 carries (5.1 ypc).  BenJarvus Green-Ellis pitched in with 19 yards rushing on 5 carries (3.8 ypc) in this game.  TE Rob Gronkowski was awesome yesterday as he caught 6 passes for 160 yards (26.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  WR Wes Welker (7 rec, 86 yards, TD) and TE Aaron Hernandez (5 rec, 84 yards) also had solid games for the Patriots yesterday.  The Patriots finished up with 79 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 37 passes (59.5%) for 352 yards as they had possession of the ball for only 23:51.

The defense was awful, once again for the Patriots yesterday.  LB Jared Mayo led the way for the Patriots yesterday with 9 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and 1 interception.  CB Devin McCourty (8 tackles, 3 passes defensed), LB Dane Fletcher (8 tackles and 1 QB hit) and DE Andre Carter (5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 3 QB hits) also had solid games for the Patriots.  DT Vince Wilfork recovered a Rex Grossman fumble (caused by Andre Carter) for a TD.  The Redskins finished up with 170 yards rushing on 34 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 33 passes (60.6%) for 293 yards.  The Patriots are now 10-3 on the year.

The New England Patriots have waived 21-year old rookie CB Sterling Moore.  Moore played in 5 games for the Patriots this year and he had 6 tackles.  He was an undrafted rookie out of SMU, so the Patriots didn’t have much invested in him.  He’s likely going to have a hard time finding a new job as the Patriots’ are giving up 310.0 yards passing per game this year, and he still isn’t good enough to play for them.

The Patriots have signed 30-year old DE/OLB Eric Moore.  Moore played in 4 games for the Patriots last year and he had 14 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  Moore has now played in 33 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 45 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  This was a good move for the Patriots as Moore already knows the defense.

UPDATE:  (12/20/2011) – The Patriots have waived Eric Moore.  He played in 2 games for the Patriots this year but he didn’t have any tackles.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Patriots.