For a while there on Saturday, when New England was trailing visiting Miami 17-0 at the half, I was starting to wonder if anybody really wants the AFC’s top seed? The Patriots looked headed for a rare loss at home in December, Houston has suddenly has lost two in a row, while both Pittsburgh and Baltimore got beat handily on the West Coast in Week 15. Those are your top four contenders for the AFC’s No. 1 seed, and everybody looked headed in reverse to some degree.

But the Patriots (12-3) steadied themselves in impressive fashion and rallied to beat the Dolphins 27-24, clinching a first-round bye in the procees. With a win next week at home against Buffalo, New England’s eighth in a row to end the regular season, the Patriots would lock up the No. 1 seed and AFC homefield advantage.
New England proved again it’s a mentally tough team, unlike their chief AFC East rivals, the wilting Jets. Tom Brady started horribly against the Dolphins, at one point being 3 of 13 for 37 yards in the first half. But when the smoke cleared, Brady was 27 of 46 for 304 yards, with one touchdown pass and two rushing scores. Brady set a new single-season career high for passing yards (4,897), and Wes Welker re-emerged in a big way, with 12 catches for 138 yards, and a new franchise mark for receiving yards in a season (1,518).

I know the Patriots have been knocked out of the playoffs after losing at home in the postseason openers the past two years, but I still think New England, with its defensive liabilities, becomes the clear-cut AFC Super Bowl favorite if it gets to play twice at Gillette Stadium in January.