Patriots hope to even it up as September closes

FOXBORO — The Patriots have often used September as an extension of the preseason during coach Bill Belichick’s tenure.

It’s a time to continue tinkering with which players fit where and how. They’ve been able to take that approach because although the play has frequently been raggedy, the results have been remarkably efficient.

The Patriots have finished September .500 or better in 16 of Belichick’s first 18 seasons here, posting a winning [...]

FOXBORO — The Patriots have often used September as an extension of the preseason during coach Bill Belichick’s tenure.

It’s a time to continue tinkering with which players fit where and how. They’ve been able to take that approach because although the play has frequently been raggedy, the results have been remarkably efficient.

The Patriots have finished September .500 or better in 16 of Belichick’s first 18 seasons here, posting a winning record 15 times and a collective mark of 38-14 (.731). The exceptions were his first two seasons as they went 0-4 in 2000 and then 1-2.

The combination of strong starts and steadily improved play over the next three months has served the Patriots well, most noticeably in the form of eight Super Bowl appearances and five Lombardi Trophies.

But the reeling Patriots find themselves in a precarious pigskin position heading into Sunday’s game against the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. A loss would lower their record to 1-3 and raise the Dolphins’ mark to 4-0.

So the stakes are high, but special-teams captain Matthew Slater put a damper on the hysteria.

“You can’t get caught up in the outside hype or how people perceive this team or this organization,” Slater said. “Nothing is guaranteed, things are always in flux in this league and on this team.

“We just have to focus on the guys that are here now, the opportunities that we have now and try to make the most of them. Games lost, games won really have no bearing on the week-to-week operation.”

It’s extremely early, but facing a three-game deficit in the division with 12 to play — one of which is in South Florida, where the Patriots are 1-4 in their previous five visits — combined with the bad vibes about the lack of depth, speed and resilience of this team would seriously reduce the margin of error.

Think about it this way: the Patriots have won 10-plus games for 15 straight seasons and 12-plus for the past eight seasons. If they lose to the Dolphins they’ll have to go 9-3 or 11-1 to reach those plateaus.

So this is as big a September game as the Patriots have played in the past two decades as they seek to avoid losing three straight for the first time since 2002, when they dropped four in a row.

The Patriots are understandably focused on playing better after scoring 10 points against the Detroit Lions last week and surrendering 31 to the Jacksonville Jaguars the previous week. Those same Lions allowed 78 points and those same Jaguars scored 26 in their other two games.

“Well, these games are important,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “I mean, the division games, that’s what it’s all about. They’re 3-0 and we’re looking up at them, and obviously, we haven’t played the way that we all think we’re capable of playing.

“This is the next game, so it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to go out there and see if we can put together four quarters of good football.”

The Patriots have a few things going for them from a historical standpoint. They’ve won nine straight against the Dolphins in Foxboro by an average of 18.2 points, the closest margins being 3 and 7 points, and Brady is 127-22 (.852) all-time at home.

But these Patriots have yet to show the toughness needed to overcome adversity, which they faced against the Jags in a rematch of the AFC Championship and in a nationally televised game against the Lions.

And they are going to be severely stressed by the Dolphins, whose chief strength is the Patriots’ biggest weakness, that being speed.

“Look, that’s the National Football League,” Belichick said. “It’s a 16-game season. Every team faces adversity over the course of 16 games. So, every team will have an opportunity to deal with it and it will happen more than once to everybody.

“So, when those opportunities come up, we’ll see how, again, individually each of us and collectively as a team how we fair.”

Using September as an extension of the preseason has worked for the Patriots in the past, but as the month draws to a close it’s time to recognize these games — unlike those exhibitions in August — count.