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Patriots refused to back down after early lead slipped away

Welcome to the Unconventional Review, an instant reaction to standouts, stats, and story lines from the Patriots’ most recent game . . .

Call it resilience if you want, or better, parrot the terminology Mike Vrabel used after the Patriots’ 33-27 victory over the Dolphins Sunday afternoon.

“We’re not frontrunners,’’ he said, sounding rather like a proud dad after his first win as Patriots coach, “and that’s a big thing in this league.”

Vrabel was talking about his team’s collective refusal in a back-and-forth game to mope or back down after the Dolphins hit them with a couple of big plays, and an early lead had slipped away.