The Dolphins were just 30 minutes away from pulling off a Christmas miracle in Foxborough. Tom Brady and the Patriots (12-3) came roaring back in the second half on Christmas Eve, erasing the Dolphins’ (5-10) 17-0 halftime lead as they would hold on to win the game 27-24.

The victory clinched the Patriots one of the top two seeds and a first round postseason bye following the Colts dramatic win over the Texans on Thursday night. “It’s good to clinch,” said receiver Deion Branch, “but not by the way we played. It’s not the way you want to do it.” Miami gave Pats fans quite a scare during the course of the first 30 minutes. The Dolphins defense, which had allowed only 14.7 points per game during their recent 5-2 stretch, sacked Brady three times while keeping New England’s high powered offense off the board.

Matt Moore and the Dolphins jumped at this rare opportunity and put together two impressive touchdown drives following a 47 yard field goal on the game’s opening possession. Just two plays after making a 47 yard catch downfield, Brandon Marshall caught a 19 yard touchdown to give Miami a 10-0 lead at the beginning of the second quarter. The drive went 82 yards on just 5 plays.

Interim head coach Todd Bowles remained aggressive. After forcing a quick 3 and out Miami added on another touchdown. A one yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay concluded an 11 play, 89 yard drive to put the Dolphins up 17-0 with 6:31 remaining in the half. Two long pass interference penalties aided the Dolphins along the way.

New England went into the locker room stunned after missing a 51 yard field goal attempt with only a few seconds left on the clock. A 17-0 score was the largest home halftime deficit for a Patriots team since trailing 18-0 to the Jets all the way back in 1999. The Dolphins were poised to give the Pats only their second home loss in 35 games – until Moore’s giveaways gave New England new life. “Our guys fought,” said Bowles, “but we didn’t finish.”

A fumbled snap by Moore early in the 3^rd was recovered by the Patriots’ Vince Wilfork at the Miami 38 following a 45 yard New England field goal to cut the lead to 17-3. Brady took advantage. He went a perfect 5-5 on the drive and finished off with a two yard scrambling touchdown pass to Deion Branch, making it a one possession game at 17-10.

The Pats then had a short field to work with after forcing a punt deep in Miami territory. Brady led his troops 41 yards downfield and tied the game with a one yard quarterback sneak with 2:17 remaining in the third. Although things were falling apart for the Dolphins, they were still in great position to take the lead to start the 4^th quarter.

Moore brought them down to the New England 44, but was intercepted by Devin McCourty down at the 2 on a ball that was held up in the air by the wind. Moore’s two turnovers proved costly despite going 17-33 for 294 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Pats would eventually convert the pick into a 42 yard field goal to take their first lead at 20-17 with 8:55 left to go. A 59 yard drive and another quarterback sneak touchdown for Brady on their next possession pretty much sealed the deal with 2:56 remaining.

Miami could not stop Brady in the second half after shutting him down in the first. He finished 27-46 with 304 yards and 3 total touchdowns. “We had (Brady’s) number in the first half, but in the second half he came out and made a lot of plays,” said Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby. “He is a coach on the field.”

A late touchdown by Davone Bess made it a 27-24 game, but the Patriots converted a critical 3^rd down, ran the clock out, and secured the victory. New England has now won 7 in a row with just one game remaining before beginning yet another postseason run.

And while the Dolphins let this one slip away, there were some nice milestones reached in the meantime. Reggie Bush’s fourth straight 100 yard rushing game gave him over 1,000 yards on the year. Marshall also reached the 1,000 yard receiving mark, making this the first time in team history that Miami has had both a 1,000 yard rusher and 1,000 yard receiver in one year.
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What a difference five weeks can make in the NFL. A 0-7 start for the Miami Dolphins suddenly seems like a distant memory from a different season. Miami has now won four of its last five after pounding the Oakland Raiders 34-14 on Sunday. “We’ve had our ups and downs,” said Reggie Bush, “but I couldn’t be more proud.”

If this recent run wasn’t impressive enough, the Dolphins nearly shut out their opponent for the first time since a 2006 victory over the New England Patriots. The Raiders were unable to get on board until they scored two touchdowns during the last eight minutes of the game.

“We couldn’t run. We couldn’t stop the run. We didn’t pass very well,” head coach Hue Jackson said. “Just a bad day at the office.” The Raiders offense definitely missed Darren McFadden, Denarius Moore, Taiwan Jones, and Jacoby Ford. All four were inactive due to injury.

Carson Palmer threw for 273 yards, but most of them came in the second half once the game was already out of reach. On top of that, the Raiders rushed for only 46 yards the entire afternoon. It’s even more astounding that Oakland sported the league’s fourth ranked rushing attack before kickoff.

Instead, it was ironic that the Dolphins’ ground game that put up huge numbers. The team ran for a total of 209 yards, 73 of which Daniel Thomas contributed on 13 carries. But the majority of the yardage came from Bush, who has been criticized throughout his career for not being a hard-nosed runner that goes between the tackles to pick up the tough yards. He’s been committed to changing that perception since coming to Miami.

A 100-yard performance on 22 carries certainly helped his cause. For Bush, it was his second 100-plus yard rushing game of the season, and just the third of his career. He also added a one-yard rushing touchdown to his final line. A 21-yard punt return by Davone Bess in the second quarter began what would eventually be their first touchdown drive on their own 37.

Matt Moore led a 63-yard drive that Bess would finish off with a 13-yard touchdown reception that would give them a 13-0 lead. While the Dolphins began moving the ball more efficiently, the Raiders never even brought the ball deep into Miami territory until it was too late. A 77-yard kickoff return by Clyde Gates to open the third quarter would put the Dolphins on the Oakland 25.

A pass interference call against the Raiders in the end zone would set up Bush for his touchdown. Kevin Burnett returned an interception by Palmer on Oakland’s ensuing drive to wrap up Miami’s scoring with 34 points. Palmer would finish up the overall scoring with two insignificant touchdown passes to T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Darrius Heyward-Bey in the fourth quarter.

The loss was severely deflating for the Raiders, as a late Broncos victory over the Minnesota Vikings officially knocked them out of first place in the AFC West. Both teams sit at 7-5, but Denver currently holds the tiebreaker with a week nine victory over Oakland. Meanwhile, 4-8 Miami continues to build toward next season. They have shown remarkable improvement over the last few weeks and hope to win like this in 2012.

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