DOLPHINS 38 PATRIOTS 13
Maybe Jets coach Eric Mangini should take some pointers from Dolphins coach Tony Sparano; when you play the Patriots, who do not have Tom Brady, you play to win the game, and you do it aggressively.
The Dolphins rolled into Foxboro Mass. and demolished the New England Patriots 38-13 in one of the most dominating performances I have seen in years. Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown was the star of the show as he rushed for 113 yards and four touchdowns, and he threw for a touchdown himself, a 19 yard completion to Anthony Fasano in the third quarter.
Several times in this game, the Fish lined up with ex-Jet Chad Pennington at receiver, and Brown behind center in the shot-gun, and each time the Dolphins scored. On the opening Dolphin drive that started with a interception by New England QB Matt Cassell, Brown scored from two yards out to give the Fish a 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Brown, once again lined up behind center and took the direct snap up the middle for a 15 yard touchdown, 14-3 Dolphins.
Brown added one more before halftime, this one from five yards out to give Miami a dominating 21-6 advantage.
It wasn't only Brown who was having success against the Patriots, Chad Pennington was having fun as well; unlike his ex-teammates in Jersey a week ago, Chad picked the Patriots apart. In fact, he looked fantastic. Pennington went 17 for 20 for 226 yards. Most of his passes were slants up the middle to wide open receivers like Fassano, Ted Ginn Jr. and Greg Camarillo.
Pennington's accuracy between the 20's helped Miami move the ball into positon for Brown to do his work in the red zone.
In the third, the Dolphins, again lined up with Brown at quarterback. The Patriots were expecting a run, but this time, Brown pulled off the half-back option pass and hit a wide open Fassano for the touchdown.
Brown added one more for good measure, taking off for 62 yards in the fourth quarter, as the Fish took a 35-13 lead.
The Patriots looked pathetic on this afternoon. Matt Cassel was awful, completing only 19 of 31 passes for 131 yards; he was also sacked three times. Randy Moss had another quiet afternoon with only four catches for 25 yards. It's only a matter of time before Moss blows up and starts throwing Cassel, Belichick and teamates under the bus like he did in Minnesota and Oakland.
The loss snapped a 21 regular season game winning streak for the Pats. It also was New England's first loss at home since the Jets beat the Patriots 17-14 in November of 2006. The Dolphins win, snapped a string of 17 losses in their last 18 games going back to last season. Also the Fish were the last team to beat the Patriots in the regular season, beating New England 21-0 at the end of the 2006 regular season.
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