FOXBORO — By halftime it was hard to tell which team had played volleyball with the Houston Texans four days ago and which had spent four quarters in a 60-minute cage match with the New York Jets last Sunday. As it turned out, it didn’t matter.
That the Patriots were clearly not themselves was obvious by their seven first-half penalties and occasional offensive miscues, which were very likely the result of that long, difficult afternoon of brutish sparring with the Jets. Yet by the midpoint of last night’s 36-7 win over the Miami Dolphins at Gillette, it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a close shave.