2008 · Week 12 · Division

Final

Patriots

New England

QB Matt Cassel

48·28

Dolphins

Miami

QB Chad Pennington

Dolphin Stadium · outdoors · grass · 73°F · wind 14mph

Closing spread

NE -1

Total

42.5

Model margin

+0.7est.

MIA perspective

Push chance

2.1%est.

Win probability

  • Dolphins
  • Patriots

How each play moved the game.

Dolphins winsPatriots wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Patriotsedge mapDolphins
  • +0.103EPA / play+0.084
  • 46.7%Success rate46.3%
  • +0.127EPA / dropback+0.181
  • +0.071EPA / rush-0.039
  • 7.9%Explosive rate8.6%
  • +1.36CPOE+4.74
  • 44.4%Third-down rate37.1%
  • 54.1%Red-zone TD rate69.4%
  • 2.35Points / drive1.69
  • 1.8%Turnover rate1.2%

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

NE lead 29–25 since 1999

NE have won 2 straight. Meetings average 44.3 points. MIA are 28-25-1 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W18MIA @ NE1038NE
2025 · W2NE @ MIA3327NE
2024 · W12NE @ MIA1534MIA
2024 · W5MIA @ NE1510MIA
2023 · W8NE @ MIA1731MIA
2023 · W2MIA @ NE2417MIA
2022 · W17MIA @ NE2123NE
2022 · W1NE @ MIA720MIA

Box score

Individual performances

Patriots

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Matt Cassel30/4341531

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Kevin Faulk8536.61
Sammy Morris8354.40
BenJarvus Green-Ellis7202.91
Matt Cassel2147.01

Dolphins

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Chad Pennington24/4134131

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Ronnie Brown10373.70
Ricky Williams6213.50
Chad Pennington231.51
Patrick Cobbs111.00

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line -12.6%4.3%2.9%7.3%7.4%3.0%4.5%2.8%

Positive margins favour Dolphins; negative favour Patriots.

Half-point at risk

2.14%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

51.0%

Expected total

46.4est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)-1.52
  • Home-field advantage+2.49
  • Quarterback adjustment0.00
  • Rest differential-0.24
  • Expected margin+0.72