Drake Maye’s MVP case was wrapped up with 11:01 remaining in Sunday’s game.
The Patriots quarterback turned over the reins to Joshua Dobbs with the Patriots leading the Dolphins 38-10.
He went 14-of-18 for 191 yards and a touchdown.
For the season, Maybe completed 72 percent of his passes for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He added 450 rushing yards and four scores.
He is the favorite to win the award over Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The Patriots are playing for seeding on Sunday. The Dolphins are playing for pride.
Yet, New England leads Miami only 17-10 at halftime.
The Patriots need help from the Chargers, who trail the Broncos 10-3 at halftime. Denver wins the No. 1 seed with a win. The Patriots, though, can get the No. 2 seed with a win.
The Patriots scored on their first two possessions, getting a 5-yard touchdown run from TreVeyon Henderson and a 2-yard run from Rhamondre Stevenson. That gave them a 14-0 lead.
New England, though, then punted, turned it over on downs and watched Zach Sieler block Andy Borregales’ 38-yard field goal try with 1:31 left in the half. Borregales made a career-long 59-yarder on the final play of the half.
The Patriots have outgained the Dolphins 227 to 138.
MVP candidate Drake Maye is 7-of-11 for 84 yards, while Stevenson has three carries for 67 yards and a touchdown and Henderson has nine carries for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Dolphins rookie Quinn Ewers is 9-of-11 for 84 yards and a touchdown. He is playing without star running back De’Von Achane and star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
Well, that was easy.
The Patriots needed only three plays to go 70 yards for an opening touchdown.
Rhamondre Stevenson had back-to-back carries of 9 and 56 yards to get the Patriots to the Miami 5, but after doing all the heavy lifting, he did not get a chance for the score.
Rookie TreVeyon Henderson scored on the next play. It was the eighth rushing touchdown for Henderson.
Drake Maye has yet to throw a pass . . . and might not have to at this rate.
The Dolphins will finish the season without running back De’Von Achane and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. Both are inactive for Miami for today’s season finale against the Patriots.
Achane was doubtful with a shoulder injury, and Waddle was questionable with injured ribs.
Achane rushed for 1,350 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 67 passes for 488 yards and four scores, numbers that should get him consideration for second-team All-Pro. Waddle had 64 receptions for 910 yards and six touchdowns.
The Dolphins’ other inactives are quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, quarterback Cam Miller, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (calf), linebacker Chop Robinson (concussion) and offensive lineman Austin Jackson (back/groin). Tagovailoa will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
The Patriots’ inactives are offensive tackle Marcus Bryant, offensive guard Caedan Wallace, quarterback Tommy DeVito, outside linebacker Harold Landry (knee), inside linebacker Robert Spillane (ankle), nose tackle Khyiris Tonga (foot) and offensive guard Jared Wilson (concussion). DeVito will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
Last January, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Raiders are “Tom’s show now.”
One year later, if The Tom Brady Show were playing somewhere on the strip, the curtain would fall for good.
But owners can’t be fired. And Brady is an owner of the Raiders. Primary owner Mark Davis specifically sold a slice of the team to Brady at a below-market rate to stabilize the team. After Brady’s first full season on the job, the Raiders are less stable than dry dynamite in the trunk of a three-wheeled Toyota.
Brady has managed, somehow, to avoid widespread scrutiny for the current condition of the team. That won’t last. The time is now for him to make a move.
And with an infusion of Patriot DNA dramatically altering the situation in New England, where two years of 4-13 have become 13-3 and the first division title since Brady’s last year in the building, Brady may be thinking about bringing a little Beantown to Sin City.
The obvious choice would be offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. But that act has already played, and failed, in Vegas. There’s a rumor currently making the rounds that, once Brady rolls up his sleeves (while also wearing one glove and an expensive-ass watch), he’ll make the case for bringing in Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
As the chatter goes, Flores would be the head coach, and former Giants coach Brian Daboll would be the offensive coordinator. Like Flores, Daboll has extensive experience with the Patriot Way. Daboll was there for the first three Super Bowl wins of the Brady/Belichick era, and for two of the second trio of championships.
Brady and Flores are believed to have a good relationship. Flores was among those in Miami who wanted to bring Brady to town after his time in Tampa.
That said, the Brian Flores lawsuit blew up the revised plan to pair Brady with Sean Payton, an effort that resulted in a massive tampering punishment, including the loss of a first-round pick, a $1.5 million fine, and a six-week suspension of owner Stephen Ross.
The Flores lawsuit is still pending. For some teams (including those who are named defendants to the case — Giants, Broncos, Texans, and Dolphins) that would be an issue. For a team like the Raiders, which has a history of litigation against the league, it may not matter. Especially after the manner in which someone saw fit to force out coach Jon Gruden in 2021.
From a coaching standpoint, Flores fits with the widespread trend of finding a coach who is the exact opposite of the last guy. Carroll is a rah-rah, player-friendly coach. Flores is no-nonsense and Belichickian.
Really, Flores may be the closest thing to Belichick (other than McDaniels) currently in the league. If it really is The Tom Brady Show in Las Vegas, Flores & Daboll could be the next Siegfried & Roy.
Before things went awry, that is.
