Conclusion: This team impressive

From the middle of the third quarter in Detroit on Thanksgiving, this team outscored its opponents, 212-47.

Belichick said, “Individual stats aren’t really our focus. Our primary focus is about winning games.’’

This is no doubt true, but that didn’t stop the Patriots from delighting a crowd of newbies (many veteran fans stayed home for this de facto exhibition game) with more pinball production.

The finale could have been called “The Wade Boggs Bowl.’’ We hadn’t seen this kind of stat-padding since Elvin Hayes and Dominique Wilkins retired from the NBA.

Certainly the sad Dolphins would have been better off sending cardboard cutouts. If coach Tony Sparano wasn’t already worried about Bill Cowher, he should be now. Quarterback Chad Henne looked like every Baltimore Orioles middle reliever we’ve seen in the last decade, clearly frustrating talented wideout Brandon Marshall (five catches).

Marshall walked off the field after one mangled play in the first quarter. Still, his effort seemed more acceptable than that of most of the guys who suited up for Miami. Hootie and the Blowfish sang about this in the 1990s: If you had any regard for the great Shula teams of the golden era, this was the day the Dolphins made you cry.

Here’s something positive for those of you who believe that some things are too good to be true: The Patriots finally lost a fumble. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, after not turning the ball over for an NFL-record seven consecutive games, Danny Woodhead put it on the ground in the second series of the first quarter and the Dolphins recovered. Before that, the Patriots had 23 consecutive takeaways since Nov. 7. I don’t want to get into jinxes and the law of averages and all that stuff, but it simply did not seem like a good idea to go into the playoffs with such a lopsided streak. We all remember that 18-0 didn’t do New England any good in the desert in Glendale in February 2008, right?