This has not been an easy season for the New England Patriots, and it got a little bit harder this past Sunday. After having a chance to win and clinch the top seed in the AFC, the Patriots ended up falling to the lowly Miami Dolphins and securing the No. 2 seed in the conference. The most shocking decision made in this game was in regards to the team’s star quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady had virtually no time to throw all day because of the poor shape of his offensive line. Without current left tackle Sebastian Vollmer, Brady was under duress and took a beating. On one play in particular, Brady took an awful hit. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh came screaming in from behind Brady and hit him low. Brady had his legs rolled up on and he bent backwards over Suh’s body. It looked as though he could have sustained a serious injury.

However, that was not the case. Brady did have to leave the game briefly, but he had just suffered an ankle sprain. Regardless, the team was wrong to continue playing Brady because of that injury. The fact of the matter was that Brady was going to keep taking a pounding, and due to the offensive line and lack of receiving weapons, the team didn’t really have a good chance of winning the game.

Also, they were guaranteed a first-round bye no matter what, so the team should have just cut their losses and accepted defeat. In fact, getting the No. 2 seed may be beneficial for the Patriots, as they will avoid playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional round. The Steelers are the No. 6 seed and will play the top seeded Denver Broncos if they advance.

It was just a terrible idea for Bill Belichick to continue to play Brady as long as he did on Sunday. Brady should have come out after getting banged up. It’s that simple. Switching to Jimmy Garoppolo wouldn’t have absolutely destroyed the team’s chances of winning, and it wasn’t worth it to risk Brady’s health. The Patriots have already lost enough personnel this season, but Brady is the player they cannot afford to lose heading into the playoffs.

Jacob Camenker is an NFL Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can like him on Facebook here, follow him on Twitter @jacobyhorse, or add him to your network on Google.