Tom Brady's Miami jinx

Few would doubt Tom Brady is indeed the GOAT (greatest of all time) at the quarterback position. Five Super Bowl rings, a couple others he got to but came up short, four MVPs, and he long ago blew past all Joe Montana's career passing statistics -- by a mile.

If he plays a couple more years, entirely probable, Brady will likely be #1 in ALL the pro quarterback stats.

But he's always seemed to have this little problem playing at Miami. As in, a career losing record there.

Going into Monday night's game, he was only 6-7 in the current home of the Dolphins. And let's face it, the Dolphins haven't been particularly good in recent times.

Yet sure enough, the Dolphins slew the Patriots again, 27-20. Even in the absence of Rob Gronkowski, beast tight-end supreme out serving a one game suspension for a cheap shot on a Buffalo defender a week ago, the Pats were heavy favorites to win. I mean, c'mon, they were 10-2 going in, cruising along, and what did Miami have to offer? Jay Cutler? Please.

But down they went again. This is what happens when your team is out-rushed by a wide margin, out-passed by an even wider one, and the opponents more than double your total yards gained over the course of the game. Throw in a couple turnovers, while the other guys had none -- and there you go. You EARNED that big L.

It also might very well have larger implications for the Patriots. Instead of improving to 11-2, as most thought they would, this loss puts them a game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, who seem to be on auto-pilot for the playoffs as well.

True, both teams have three regular season games yet to play, and anything can happen and sometimes does, but if the current situation holds until the playoffs start, the Steelers would have home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. That means if both teams advance that far, the Pats would have to travel to Pittsburgh, a formidable place to play indeed.

Had the Patriots won the game against Miami, the Steelers might have had to go to Foxborough down the road, also a very tough venue to win at. No doubt, Big Ben, Mike Tomlin, and that crew would much prefer to get the Pats at home rather than on the road with a whole bunch of marbles on the line.

So it just might be that this seemingly inexplicable loss to an obviously inferior team could wind up costing the New England Patriots big time before all is said and done this season.

Jinx indeed.

We'll see.......