By Adam H. Beasley
abeasley@miamiherald.com

Down a score and in desperate need of a stop, the Dolphins picked a peculiar time to sit down both their top two defensive ends.

For much of the Patriots’ game-clinching, 16-play, 77-yard field-goal drive that sapped more than seven minutes off the fourth-quarter clock, Jared Odrick and Cameron Wake were on the bench.

Neither were injured.

Meanwhile, the Patriots, who couldn’t run the ball all afternoon, called 12 rushing plays on the possession and gained 53 yards.

“That was our best drive of the day,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We needed it.”

So what was Dolphin coach Joe Philbin’s rationale for using Olivier Vernon, Derrick Shelby and even linebacker Koa Misi at defensive end during the game’s deciding moments?

“They were running the ball,” Philbin said. “We have a play count that we want to keep guys to [in order] to keep guys fresh.”

Likewise, Odrick cited the Dolphins defensive line rotation when asked about his prolonged absence.

As for Wake’s response, it was a bit curt.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It was one of those questions for the coaches.”

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So why were end Cameron Wake, arguably their best defender, and the other No. 1 end, Jared Odrick, on the bench?

“It’s all about keeping guys fresh throughout the game,” defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said Monday. “We didn’t play particularly well in that last drive, but that had nothing to do with who was in the game, in terms of the rotation.”

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Coach Joe Philbin said Wake and Odrick were resting as part of the natural rotation, and that he “absolutely” stands by the decision not to have them in the game.

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Coyle also dismissed the notion that the Patriots had success running the ball because Wake and Odrick were out, saying that Shelby and Vernon graded out positively on every snap of that drive. According to the official game book, five of the six runs were up the middle, and one was over the right tackle.

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“They could not have done more than what those other guys were doing on the outside,” Coyle said of Wake and Odrick. “There were breakdowns throughout the drive, I’ll admit to that, but it wasn’t because of those guys being in the game.”

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