Miami a good place to stay hot

FOXBOROUGH -- Given their success away from home this season, the Patriots have developed an unusual NFL calling card: road-field advantage.

With a victory in today's clash against AFC East rival Miami, the Patriots would set a franchise record for consecutive regular-season road wins with eight. But it hasn't just been the wins of late. It's the quality of the wins.

Consider that the Patriots have won each of their last four games away from Gillette Stadium by 22 points or more, becoming the first team in NFL history to do that in one season.

Then contrast that with the club's struggles at home, where Bill Belichick's bunch has posted a 4-3 record while playing some of its most uninspired football.

"For some reason this year, we've played better on the road," said fullback Heath Evans. "You go back to Buffalo [at home], Week 1, the first play of the game, we give up a strip sack for a touchdown. Things just started bad."

Evans then assessed the convincing road wins over the Jets, Bengals, Bills, Vikings, and Packers, and came to the conclusion that it's "a good problem to have, being good on the road."

Then perhaps it's also a good thing that the road-raging Patriots will travel for three of their remaining four games. The first stop, Miami, has often been a tough locale for the club and quarterback Tom Brady in particular. The Patriots are 8-30 all-time in Miami, and Brady is 2-3 there as a starter. If the Patriots win today, it will mark the first time in 18 years that they've won back-to-back games in Miami.

"It's always been tough down there; we haven't done particularly well," said Belichick. "The couple that we have won have come down to the last play or last series. We know it will be a dogfight, like it always is against the Dolphins."

Not to be overlooked, however, is that Miami enters with just a 3-3 mark at home this season, the losses coming to the Bills, Packers, and Jaguars. It's been a disappointing season overall for the Dolphins (5-7), who opened the year with hopes of playing in a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

Meanwhile, the Patriots can clinch the AFC East with a victory today, coupled with a Jets loss to the Bills in East Rutherford, N.J. Winning the division is one of the team's top goals each season, and at 9-3, they enter today with a two-game edge on the Jets (7-5).

Players acknowledge the goal is in sight but maintain that their focus is more on playing better after uneven performances against the Bears and Lions.

"With the clinch or not to clinch, it's December, and the teams that win late are going to be the teams that are going to have the best chance in the playoffs," said linebacker Mike Vrabel, who expects to play after being kneed in the back of the head at the end of last Sunday's win over the Lions.

The Patriots are 20-5 in December since Belichick was hired as coach in 2000.

"We're 9-3 with the last quarter of the season left and hopefully we're prepared to play our best football," said Brady, who is scheduled to make his 102d straight start, the third-longest streak among active quarterbacks. "I expect that we are and it will be exciting to get started with such a rival."

Christopher L. Gasper contributed to this report.