Miami
Dolphins

They lost to the Falcons and a blossoming Matt Ryan in Week One, Peyton Manning and the Colts in week two, Philip Rivers and the Chargers in week three. After a breeze with Trent Edwards and Mark Sanchez of the Bills and Jets respectively, the Dolphins then had to deal with Drew Brees and the undefeated Saints and on Sunday, they went down 27-17 to Tom Brady and his Patriots bunch.

No easy task.

Miami was leading the undefeated Chargers by 21 points in the second quarter before imploding.

The Dolphins were leading the undefeated Colts by three points with less than four minutes remaining and held more than a 30-minute time-of-possession edge, and Sunday were up 17-16 vs. the Patriots before getting torched for a drag pattern run-and-catch touchdown by future Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss.

Counting the game against Rivers, that's 0-4 against four Pro Bowl quarterbacks with teams that are a combined 27-5.

"I think you are what your record says you are, but from my end, I know in my heart that we are pretty close to being a pretty good team. I don't know what 'pretty good' means, I really don't. We have played some teams that are supposed to be 'really good," said coach Tony Sparano. "We are a point right now this thing can go either way, it really can, but I am going to try my best to make sure it only goes one way."

Suddenly, what was projected to be rugged schedule all season, has softened up a tad with the 1-7 Bucs on tap at home Sunday followed by the 3-5 Panthers in the next 10 days.

"My message is that we have two games right now in 10 days, and I think that can change an awful lot," Sparano said.

Miami still has the 3-5 Bills, 4-4 Jaguars, 2-6 Titans and 5-4 Texans, sandwiched around the 6-2 Patriots and 5-2 Steelers (before Monday night). In all, they'll play teams with a combined record of 29-35.

"We have our pride here. We don't like losing or being mediocre," said cornerback Nate Jones. "Again, we don't have moral victories. We're 3-5 and that's what you see.

"Plain and simple if we don't stop the big play, letting teams go down the field that easy we can't expect to come out victorious. It shows its ugly face every once in a while so until we get it fixed we can't blame anybody but ourselves."

Jones was referring to the 'chunk' plays allowed by the Dolphins, who have allowed a league-high 19 pass plays of 25 yards or more, while having just five of their own. The disparity has a lot to do with a 29th-ranked passing attack led by quarterback Chad Henne, who has just five NFL starts.

In his defense, he is operating with a mediocre receiving corps that has just two touchdowns from its wide receivers and is currently starting rookie Brian Hartline and either Davone Bess or Greg Camarillo, stars only in their own households.

"We had a bad first half of the season, but it's not too late to change that," Camarillo said.

The once vaunted rushing attack that was averaging 177 yards and ranked first after the first six weeks has slipped to four as the Wildcat has lost its teeth in the last three games, headed by its igniter, a slumping Ronnie Brown, who has 123 yards on 42 carries over the last three games.

"I think teams are trying to make us pass, putting a lot of guys in the box," Brown said. "I think we're a lot better than our record shows. A few games we're just one or two plays away."

"A 2 1/2-hour flight felt like six. ... I'm always going to be a guy who wants more. I could have 12 sacks. If we don't win it means nothing," Wake said of the tough loss to the Patriots.

--WR Greg Camarillo, who had five catches for a season-high 71 yards, says whether Miami is better than its 3-5 record indicates is superfluous. "There's the team confidence factor where we believe we are better than our record and that's a positive. In the grand scheme of things ... the standings are what matters. You can believe you're a Super Bowl team but if you're not in the Super Bowl, who cares," said Camarillo of the Dolphins' losses to the Saints, Patriots and Colts.

--OLB Joey Porter talked plenty of trash during the week building up the Patriots' game. He said he hated the Patriots since the cheating scandal and that QB Tom Brady has his own special rules in which the league protects him, was a no-show in the locker room following the defeat Sunday and then again in the Dolphins locker room during media access on Monday. "I think (Porter) was very motivating for our team throughout the course of the week and into the game. When you hear that kind of stuff, I think guys take it to heart, and coaches (take it) to heart," QB Tom Brady said on a radio interview on WEEI in Boston.

--Coach Tony Sparano was angry Sunday when it appeared as if the Gillette Stadium clock operator saved a second after an incomplete pass from Tom Brady to give the Patriots time to kick a 38-yard field goal to boost their lead to 16-10 at halftime. He was forced to keep the red challenge flag in his pocket because any time there's less than two minutes in a quarter it's up to the official's review upstairs. They chose not to review the play. "No. That's their review, not mine, meaning the officials." Sparano said of not being able to challenge

--NT Paul Soliai tweaked an ankle early in the game and struggled in place of usual starter Jason Ferguson (elbow) in his first NFL start at the nose. After notching a career-best six tackles and a forced fumble last week, he had no tackles Sunday.

--CB Jason Allen had a rare cameo in the base defense when rookie CB Vontae Davis went out with a hip pointer, and he made a nice breakup of a potential TD pass to WR Randy Moss in the end zone. Allen, usually one of the team's best special teams players, had three tackles, but none on special teams.

--K Dan Carpenter is enjoying an excellent season and on Sunday drilled a career-long 52-yard field goal in the first quarter, topping his previous long of 50 against the Bills last December. Carpenter is 17-of-17 field goals that are 40 yards or shorter.

--RB Ronnie Brown threw the second touchdown pass of his career when he connected with TE Joey Haynos on a 1-yard reception. It was the third career touchdown catch for Haynos and the second of this season, establishing a career high for the University of Maryland product. The score culminated Miami's longest drive of the season in time of possession that ended in a score, besting a 9:29 drive at the Chargers on Sept. 27. On that drive Brown scored on a 3-yard run.

--DE Randy Starks recorded a sack against QB Tom Brady in the second quarter. Starks now has 4.5 sacks which tied his career high of 4.5 during his 2004 rookie season with the Tennessee Titans. Starks has had at least .5 sacks in the last five games.

--CB Vontae Davis recorded his second interception and is tied with CB Will Allen for the team lead. Davis sustained a hip-pointer but returned after getting an injection. His status is unknown for practice Wednesday.

REPORT CARD VS. PATRIOTS

PASSING OFFENSE: D -- QB Chad Henne improved by not taking too many unnecessary sacks and he did throw for 219 yards while hitting eight different receivers. However, no pass went for more than 23 yards, and several receivers dropped passes, including key drops by backup Ted Ginn Jr. and rookie Brian Hartline during a fourth-quarter drive. He was fortunate on a call reversal that was changed from a Henne fumble to an incomplete pass. Miami's only TD pass came from RB Ronnie Brown, a 1-yard lob to TE Joey Haynos off the Wildcat.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus -- The 133 rushing yards were inflated by rookie QB Pat White's 33-yard jaunt but it did set up a 15-yard TD run by RB Ricky Williams, both coming off a newly installed college-like option wrinkle to Miami's Wildcat package. The Wildcat was basically declawed again for just 10 yards on 7 plays and now has gained just 46 yards on 28 attempts for a paltry 1.7 yards-per-carry over the past three games. RB Ronnie Brown's slump continued with just 48 yards on 15 carries.

PASS DEFENSE: D -- Although rookie CB Vontae Davis gets an 'A' for effort after an acrobatic interception, he basically gave up two TD passes to WR Randy Moss, although one was a 36-yarder to the 1-yard line, while the other was a 71-yard drag route that Moss stiff-armed the smaller Davis as if he was a gnat en route to the end zone. The pass rush, particularly Pro Bowl OLBs Joey Porter and Jason Taylor, was invisible which enabled Brady all the time he wanted to throw for 332 yards and find Moss and Wes Welker, who combined for 15 catches for 231 yards.

RUSH DEFENSE: C-minus -- The absence of NT Jason Ferguson and MLB Channing Crowder began to show Sunday as Miami made Lawrence Maroney look like Adrian Peterson. He had 82 yards on 20 carries but the Patriots 4.5 yards-per-carry prevented the Dolphins from blitzing too much which gave Brady more time to pick the young secondary apart. LB Reggie Torbor played well in Crowder's absence with six tackles, a hurry and pass defended, but Paul Soliai struggled in Ferguson's place.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A -- The combination of P Brandon Fields and K Dan Carpenter continue to blossom with Carpenter nailing a career-long 52-yarder and Fields landing four punts inside the 20. The only hiccup on the return teams was a 34-yard return by Brandon Tate. Dolphins KR Ted Ginn Jr. was solid, with a 37-yard return and a 24.3 average, but was unable to duplicate last week's spectacular two-touchdown return game.

COACHING: C -- Kudos to the Dolphins for sprinkling in the old college option play for rookie QB Pat White, but the Wildcat's well seems to be drying up after three weeks of tepid results. The Patriots were ready for Miami's Wildcat flicker and just swallowed up Henne for a big loss. As usual defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni had no answers for an elite receiver like Randy Moss and his pass rush was toothless as New England made Joey Porter and Jason Taylor virtually invisible.