Tom Brady makes a pass against the Dolphins earlier this season in Foxboro. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman and Boston Globe NFL reporter Ben Volin recap the Patriots' win over the Vikings, preview the team's trip to Miami, and cover all the other Pats headlines in this week's Red Zone Report.
Tom Brady and Co. are great year-round, but especially this time of year--they're 63-11 in December since 2001. What is it about the winter months that makes them take their game to another level?
"I do think playing some of those tough cold games in New England certainly helps," Volin said. "This team has developed a lot more mental toughness over the years than a lot of the other teams--we see that right now with people in Detroit complaining about Matt Patricia making them practice outside, when in New England we applaud Bill Belichick for practicing outside and for building mental toughness."
Volin said it's also simply a testament to the team being able to figure out what works and what doesn't by this point in the season. But the Dolphins are 5-1 at home, and the Patriots have lost four of five in Miami and failed to score more than 20 points in any of those losses.
"The problem is that the Dolphins have had a pretty good defense over the years," Volin said. "Their offense has been a mess and they've never been able to find a quarterback, but their defense has been pretty good over the years, especially their pass rush led by Cameron Wake--who is still getting it done after all these years, which is pretty impressive. These road games in the conference are never easy."
Kaufman and Volin also talked about the Pats' defense's tremendous performance against the Vikings, predictions for the Dolphins match-up, what Volin thinks will happen with Josh McDaniels in the offseason, and more.
WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports