The New England Patriots (11-4) will look end their regular season on a high note when they take on the Miami Dolphins (7-8) late Sunday afternoon on its home turf in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

After two extremely slow starts in the first half of its football games, the Pats are clearly looking to come out of the gate and score on the gridiron in a more rapid manner against the Dolphins in Week 17.

In last week's matchup versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England trailed via margin of 10-0 within the first ten minutes on the clock. While the AFC champions did ultimately prevail 23-16, the team's ineffective start the prior week may have prevented them from obtaining a first round bye in the postseason.

The Patriots had fallen behind early to the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31-13 on Dec. 16. Although New England did wage a comeback to tie the game, it still lost 41-34, which left them one game behind the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos going into the final week of the regular season.

"We've got to do a better job. We've got some pretty important weeks of football ahead, and that's when we really need to play our best," New England QB Tom Brady told ESPN.

Although the possibility of a bye week may now be slim to none, the Patriots could need a victory to assure themselves the No. 3 seed in the AFC if the Baltimore Ravens were to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals.

"You can't be totally oblivious to the possibilities that exist out there. There are quite a few possibilities. It's really hard to be specific on something like that when there are so many possibilities," coach Bill Belichick said.

CLICK HERE to watch the New England Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins via free live stream. Coverage of the NFL game is set to begin on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 4:25 p.m. EST.

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