You’ll be hard pressed to find a single Miami Dolphins fan that is sad to see Tom Brady pack up his things and leave the AFC East after two decades of tormenting the Dolphins. Brady and the Patriots have held a stranglehold on the division for nearly his entire career — with the last AFC East championship not going to New England coming over a decade ago when the Dolphins won the division in 2008.
But for as much pain and suffering as Brady and the Patriots have dished out against the Miami Dolphins, Miami will forever be “that” team for the Brady dynasty in New England. No, there weren’t playoff clashes and heavyweight fights. At least not to the degree that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Peyton Mannings’s Colts and Broncos clashed with Brady.
But no one — not Peyton Manning, not the Steelers, not the Baltimore Ravens or anyone else — has defeated a Tom Brady-led Patriots team more than the Miami Dolphins. Brady leaves New England with a 23-12 record against the Dolphins; the 12 losses is three times more than any other NFL team not named the New York Jets (who beat him 7 times) or the Denver Broncos (9 total wins against the Patriots — 3 in the postseason) has provided during Brady’s reign over the AFC East.
That number is, of course, boosted by Brady playing the Dolphins twice a year. But even still — Miami owns more wins against Brady with 12 than both the Jets (7) and the Bills (3) do combined. Furthermore, Brady’s career in New England ends with an 8-10 record against the Dolphins in Miami.
The Dolphins may not have had the long-term success to bang heads with Brady and the Patriots for postseason glory, but at the very least Miami will be known for their ability to be to Brady what his Patriots were to everyone else: a thorn in their sides.
