Patriots 35, Dolphins 14

BEN VOLIN | ON FOOTBALL

Which team would give Patriots the most trouble in divisional round?

Miami Gardens, FL 1-1-17: Patriots wide receiver Michael Floyd (14) scored his first touchdown with New England on this play when he caught a short first quarter pass from Tom Brady, then dragged Dolphins defenders with him before fianlly getting the ball over the goal line as he lunged forward. The New England Patriots visited the Miami Dolphins in a regular season NFL football game at Hard Rock Stadium. (Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis) reporter: mcbride topic: Patriots

Jim Davis/Globe staff

If the Texans and Steelers win their first games, the Texans come here. That?s by far the best scenario for the Patriots.

Chad Finn

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/davis_patsfins3_spts.jpg For Patriots, it was a real statement game

Here are 35 takeaways from New England?s victory in Miami on Sunday.

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/shaughnessy-11195.png Tom Brady should be the NFL?s MVP

It won?t be announced until the night before the Super Bowl, but it should be obvious to all the hot-takers by now that Brady is The One.

Don Aucoin | Critic?s notebook

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Lifestyle/Images/Bedford_170101_AFFILIATE_004.jpg NBC preens, but don?t dismiss Channel 7

The Peacock Network emphasizes its star power as it launches its own Boston station, leaving longtime affiliate WHDH-TV behind.

President Obama spoke during the Democratic National Convention in July.

Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press/File

With new Congress set to convene, Obama?s policies are in peril

The most powerful and ambitious Republican-led Congress in 20 years will open its session Tuesday.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/12/22/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/5e230759ab0d443c87206d3df2c61fbe-5e230759ab0d443c87206d3df2c61fbe-0.jpg Democrats plan to target eight Trump Cabinet nominees

Such delays would upend GOP hopes of quickly holding hearings and confirming most of Donald Trump?s top picks on Inauguration Day.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/08/16/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/wiggs_Shooting_702584.jpg Despite Trust Act, Boston police handed over immigrants for deportation

City records show that the police handed over nine immigrants for deportation in 2015 because of a loophole in the act.

STAT

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/12/22/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/TSO_26stattexas12_nat.jpg How a mail-order opioid operation took root on the high plains of Texas

?It?s the Amazon of drug trafficking,? said one official.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/Walker_123116_01firstnight_1519x.jpg What?s open, closed for New Year?s

A look at what businesses and public services are open or closed on New Year?s Day and Monday.

Owner Marc Wallerce did paperwork in his office at Winthrop Marketplace on Dec. 29, 2016.

As minimum wage rises, some employers cut back

The state?s base wage rose to $11 an hour Sunday, but additional gains here and nationwide may be challenged.

Screen capture

CNN?s Don Lemon gets ear pierced on live TV, tells viewers he?s ?lit?

The news anchor rang in the New Year by taking shots on live TV, getting his ear pierced, and admitting to viewers he was ?lit.?

Boston?s first baby, born at 12:01 a.m., already an ?overachiever?

Kennedy Lynn Schmitt checked in at 6 pounds 15 ounces and measured 19¼ inches, the hospital said.

The famous Hollywood sign reads

Gene Blevins/AFP/Getty Images

Vandalized Hollywood sign briefly reads ?Hollyweed?

No, it wasn?t your hangover playing tricks on you: The Hollywood sign really did read ??Hollyweed?? on New Year?s Day.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Foreign/Images/43c0f1930851441daaabde92d6c0b98b-43c0f1930851441daaabde92d6c0b98b-0.jpg Gunman who killed at least 39 at Istanbul club still at large

Istanbul?s governor said the attacker ?rained bullets in a very cruel and merciless way on innocent people who were there to. . . have fun.?

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/Bedford_170101_ACCIDENT_002.jpg Man dies after car struck by commuter rail train in Holbrook

A man was killed after his car was struck by a commuter rail train in Holbrook Sunday afternoon, an official said.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/10/13/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/shutterstock_105088013.jpg The best time to retune your career? Probably right now

The prospect of another year at a job that fails to satisfy can be daunting, if not downright depressing.

Mariah Carey?s New Year?s show was a fiasco. Blame tech problems, her people say.

After a brief, flawless ?Auld Lang Syne,? it was all downhill for Mariah Carey on New Year?s Eve.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/371_last_drink.jpg Where and when OUI convicts had their last drinks before arrest

These graphics show where and when OUI convicts had their last drinks in Massachusetts before they were arrested.

Newsletters

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An afternoon recap of the day?s most important business news, delivered Monday through Friday.

Opinion & Ideas

Opinion

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/12/30/BostonGlobe.com/Ideas/Images/0101danielforweb-780.jpg Our commitment: The Globe editorial board?s resolutions for 2017

What readers can expect from the Globe?s editorial pages in 2017.

Special reports

special report

Every doctor told the Lacey family their son would die ? except one

Pat and Dina Lacey had been parents for only a few months when doctors discovered a tumor in their new baby?s chest. Told to take their son home to die, they put their faith in a young doctor who wouldn?t accept death as the answer.

Life sciences

STAT, a national publication from Boston Globe Media Partners, covers health, medicine, and life sciences.

Investigations

The Desperate and the Dead | Part 7

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/12/05/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/20160923_SAMentalHealth_312.jpg The San Antonio solution

One Texas city took on mental health as a community and became a national model. Why can?t Mass. do the same?

The story behind ?Spotlight?

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/11/18/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/spotlight-9497.jpg Boston Globe coverage and the movie ?Spotlight?

?Spotlight? is based on the stories and the reporters behind the investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.