The New England Patriots didn’t take their game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday lightly. Knowing that now was not the time for reckless mistakes, the Pats played it safe. It was a smart move, as they defeated the Dolphins 23 — 16, and gave them their twelfth winning season in a row.

It was the sixth consecutive win for the New England Patriots, but it definitely wasn’t their best game of the bunch. They finished the game with only 321 yards; and Brady going 24 for 40 for 238 yards. He was also sacked four times by the Dolphins‘ tough defense, and intercepted once.

But while it wasn’t a great showing on the part of New England, it was the Dolphins’ mistakes that really gave the Patriots the AFC East.

Two of those mistakes were incredibly costly, and both made by Ryan Tannehill as he couldn’t connect with Brian Hartline when the wide receiver went deep and was wide open. And while his running game proved solid, Tannehill also finished the day with just 13 for 29 for 186 yards.

An illegal blocking penalty on Reggie Bush also proved to be fatal for the Dolphins, as this negated a touchdown scored after Reshad Jones made an interception and then returned the ball for 30 yards. Had that counted, the Dolphins would have been much closer to taking the win. Instead they have seriously hurt their playoff chances as they gear up to face the 49ers this coming weekend.