New England looking for key road victory against Miami

Not so long ago, the New England Patriots were the type of team that could win anytime, anywhere.

But times have changed for a franchise that has won only two of its last nine road games, a trend the Patriots will try to buck tonight in a key AFC East game at Miami.

“Nobody is going to clinch anything after this weekend,” said New England Coach Bill Belichick, whose 2-1 team is trying to keep pace with the 3-1 New York Jets. “But it would definitely be good to gain an advantage over our division opponent this week. Any division game on the road counts a little more than one game in the standings when you come down to the wire on tiebreakers.”

The Dolphins (2-1) have the offensive creativity and firepower to create big problems for a New England defense ranked 23rd against the rush and 27th against the pass.

On defense, Miami is young and unpredictable — and not always in a good way. For instance, a week after intercepting three Brett Favre passes, and recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in a victory over Minnesota, Miami gave up three touchdown passes to Mark Sanchez in a loss to the New York Jets.

“Some of it is just the fact they have so much go-get-’em — the mentality of going to the ball and getting there,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Mike Nolan told the Associated Press.

“It has them making more plays, as opposed to knowing why they went there. If you ask a veteran player what happened, he can tell you why and how he got there. Some young guys come off and go ‘I don’t know, coach. Is that what you want me do to?’

“Yes, it is.”

Those young defenders will have their hands full with the Patriots’ Tom Brady, who directs an offense that averaged an NFL-high 30.0 points per game in the first three weeks, and has averaged 313 yards passing and three touchdowns in his last four starts against the Dolphins.

sam.farmer@latimes.com