One Game Season

Coach Belichick has declared Sunday's game against Carolina to be " a one game season". He has used this term in past seasons to stress the urgency of the game at hand. The Pats face a precarious scenario in light of their 22-21 loss to the Dolphins. It's one thing to lose, but they are not playing well. They have lost three of their last four games. They have been unable to "finish the game" in the second half. The loss against Miami was no exception.

Time of possession, third down, red zone and turnovers are often the deciding factors in the outcome of a game. After increasing their lead to 21-10 early in the third quarter, the offense suddenly froze. They had another 6 possession, but had 4 punts and 2 interceptions.

The lengths of their drives contributed to their loss. They included times of 1:14, 3:18, 3:14, 1:37, 1:00, and 0:27. Their drives were throttled by the inability to convert on 3rd down. They had a chance to run the clock down with less than 5 minutes, but they went three and out.

The Dolphins got the ball back and kept their game winning drive alive with a pass completion on 4th and 6. That one play most likely saved the Dolphins season and kept them alive at 6-6.