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GAME TIME: 1:00 PM EST on Sunday, Nov 8th. The game will be
broadcast regionally on CBS TV, on DirecTV channel 707, on WQAM radio
in Miami and on NFL Field Pass Internet broadcast.
PLACE: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA WEATHER FORECAST: Sunny, with a high near 60 and winds from the west at 7 mph. The weather doesn't get any better in New England this time of year. FIELD CONDITIONS: Gillette Stadium has a grass surface and while there was an early snow in October, the weather has been good. The field should be in good shape. STANDINGS & STATS: The Dolphins are 3-4 and in third place in the AFC East, while the Patriots are 5-2 and in first place in the AFC East.
Dolphins Pts/Game Rank Patriots Pts/Game Rank
Scored 25.1 11 Scored 28.3 5
Allowed 25.3 26 Allowed 14.0 3
Dolphins Yds/Game Rank Patriots Yds/Game Rank
Total Offense: 305 23 Total Defense: 286 6
Rushing: 153 3 vs Rush: 109 15
Passing: 152 29 vs Pass: 176 5
Patriots Dolphins
Total Offense: 406 3 Total Defense: 328 17
Rushing: 115 14 vs Rush: 92 6
Passing: 291 2 vs Pass: 236 21
Sacks Made (Avg/G) Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins 19 2.7 21 3.0
Patriots 13 1.9 8 1.1
Turnover differential:
Dolphins -2
Patriots +9
Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins
QB: QB Henne: 74-124-771-4-3-78.4
Rush: RB Brown: 120-518-4.3-7
Rush: RB Williams: 78-423-5.4-5
Rec: WR Bess: 30-206-6.9-0
Rec: WR Camarillo: 20-189-9.5-0
Rec: WR Ginn,Jr: 18-211-11.7-1
Patriots
QB: QB Brady: 179-273-2032-15-4-99.9
Rush: RB Maroney: 61-265-4.3-2
Rush: RB Taylor: 45-201-4.5-2
Rec: WR Welker: 46-484-10.5-4
Rec: WR Moss: 43-565-13.1-4
Rec: WR Edelman: 21-188-9.0-0
Legend
QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: New England has won four of the past six meetings, but still
trails the overall series, 49-38, including the playoffs. The last
meeting was a 48-28 victory by the Patriots in Miami, but that game
had 6 lead changes and didn't tilt in the Patriots' favor until the
end of the game. Last year in Foxboro, the Dolphins debuted the
Wildcat and stunned the Patriots and the league with a decisive
victory.
Dolphins:
PROBABLE: DT Jason Ferguson (elbow)
LB Channing Crowder (shoulder)
Patriots:
DOUBTFUL: WR Julian Edelman (forearm)
DE Jarvis Green (knee)
T Matt Light (knee)
RB Sammy Morris (knee)
RB Fred Taylor (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: CB Jonathan Wilhite (illness)
PROBABLE: DE Ty Warren (ankle)
TE Benjamin Watson (back)
DOLPHINS STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 7 Chad Henne LE - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 23 Ronnie Brown NT - 95 Jason Ferguson
FB - 39 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 83 Greg Camarillo SLB - 99 Jason Taylor
TE - 81 Joey Haynos ILB - 51 Akin Ayodele
TE - 80 Anthony Fasano ILB - 52 Channing Crowder
LT - 77 Jake Long WLB - 55 Joey Porter
LG - 65 Justin Smiley LCB - 21 Vontae Davis
C - 64 Jake Grove RCB - 24 Sean Smith
RG - 66 Donald Thomas SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell
RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 28 Gibril Wilson
K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields
PR - 15 Davone Bess KR - 19 Ted Ginn,Jr
NOTES: Last week, the Dolphins started Brian Hartline ahead of Ted
Ginn,Jr, while Nathan Jones and Chris Clemons were officially the
starting safeties. It is anyone's guess who will start for the
Dolphins at safety this week, but I'm betting they go back to Wilson
and Bell. I don't think that Ted Ginn will be the official starting
receiver, but I do think we'll see more of him.
PATRIOTS STARTERS: Offense: Defense: QB - 12 Tom Brady RDE - 99 Mike Wright RB - 39 Laurence Maroney NT - 75 Vince Wolfork WR - 88 Sam Aiken LDE - 94 Ty Warren WR - 81 Randy Moss OLB - 96 Adalius Thomas WR - 83 Wes Welker ILB - 59 Guy Guyton TE - 84 Ben Watson ILB - 51 Jerod Mayo LT - 76 Sebastian Vollmer OLB - 53 Derrick Burgess LG - 70 Logan Mankins LCB - 24 Jonathan Wilhite C - 67 Dan Koppen RCB - 23 Leigh Bodden RG - 61 Stephen Neal SS - 31 Brandon Meriweather RT - 77 Nick Kaczur FS - 30 Brandon McGowan K - 3 Stephen Gostkowski P - 6 Chris Hanson PR - 83 Wes Welker KR - 19 Brandon TateNOTES: It looks like DE Jarvis Green will not play this weekend, so Mike Wright will take his place and rookie Sebastian Vollmer will start at left tackle, in place of Matt Light. Of course, Bill Belichick loves to play games with his injury roster, so you can never be sure exactly what is going on up there.
Ted Ginn,Jr ignited the team and the fans as he almost single-handedly won the game last week with his two touchdown returns, but he didn't catch any passes. It will be worth watching him this week to see what Dan Henning can do with him. Unfortunately, Ronnie and Ricky did not have great games and will need to be more productive this week. In the meantime, Chad Henne continues to play with very few mistakes, although his production (except for the Jets game) has not been exceptional. On defense, the designated pass rushers - Joey Porter, Cameron Wake and Jason Taylor - need to have a big game against the Patriots. Fortunately for the Dolphins, Jason Taylor often has a big game against New England and has been improving as the season progresses. DE Randy Starks had a game-changing sack last week against the Jets and if he can continue to play at the same level, he could be a force for victory. And, of course, Sean Smith and Vontae Davis will get the dubious privilege of trying to cover Randy Moss and Wes Welker. The Patriots rely on Tom Brady to lead their offense and if he doesn't play well or gets a lot pressure, the Patriots frequently have problems. Of course, Randy Moss and Wes Welker are probably the premier wide receiver tandem in the NFL. But it will be Nick Kaczur at right tackle and rookie Sebastian Vollmer at left tackle who are will be most crucial to the Patriot's' success. Laurance Maroney is a decent back, but not normally a game-changing player. The Patriots' defense has undergone a lot of changes this year and is without starter Jarvis Green this weekend. They have two new safeties and their new free safety Brandon McGowan leads the team in tackles with 43, while their new strong safety Brandon Meriweather is second with 39 tackles and 2 interceptions. Gary Guyton, inside linebacker, is their leading linebacker while defensive end Mike Wright leads the team in sacks with 4. On special teams, the Dolphins have been progressing and of course, Ted Ginn, Jr set an NFL record last week with two kickoff returns for touchdowns of over 100 yards in a single quarter. Wes Welker is the Patriots' punt returner and while he's not very fast, he is very elusive and is averaging over 10 yards per return. WR Brandon Tate has been returning kickoffs for the Patriots and has been average. The key to beating the Patriots in recent years has almost always been the pass rush. The Patriots are 10-8 against Miami since Belichick took over, which is the worst record he's got against any AFC East team. And usually when the Patriots lose, it's because of the Dolphins' pass rush - usually Jason Taylor getting past offensive tackle Matt Light - are getting to Tom Brady. Which is why Brady and Light had a toast and breathed a sigh of relief last year when JT went to Washington. But now that JT is back, Tom Brady is concerned. Especially since Taylor will be lining up against Patriots rookie left tackle Sebastian Vollmer on some of the plays. Ultimately, I believe that the key to the Dolphins winning this game will be how well Jason Taylor and the Miami defense can pressure Tom Brady. If JT, Cameron Wake, Joey Porter and Randy Starks can get consistent pressure on Tom Brady, the Dolphins can slow them down and will have a chance to win. Unfortunately, the Patriots' offense is exactly the kind of offense that has given the Dolphins fits this year. Like San Diego, New Orleans and Indianapolis, the Patriots are mainly a passing team with a lot of big-play capability. And why not? If you had Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker on your team, wouldn't you throw the ball a lot? Miami's secondary has a lot of talent, but with two rookie cornerbacks, they are not going to be able to cover the Patriots' receivers for very long, no matter how physically gifted they are. So pressure on Tom Brady is going to be the key to success. Last week, the Dolphins' defense managed finally figure out a way to use Gibril Wilson's talents effectively, which is to have him play more like a linebacker than a safety. He responded by leading the team in tackles and getting a sack. Who actually starts at safety for Miami will be a mystery until gametime, but Wilson will continue to play an important role. But it all boils down to the pass rush and how well the Dolphins can pressure Brady. Offensively, the gameplan will be about like it has been. Dan Henning will need to put some new wrinkles into the Wildcat, because it has been ineffective lately and Belichick is still one of the best defensive minds in the league. I believe the way to really sharpen the Wildcat's claws is to pass more from the formation, which raises the question - isn't it time to see more of Pat White and possibly Tyler Thigpen? In the first game against Atlanta, White overthrew a wide open Ted Ginn down the middle from the Wildcat - presumably because he was nervous in his first game. But now that he has been in a couple of games, it might be time to try those plays again. But the idea will be (as always) to control the football by running as much as possible to set up the play-action passes. The Dolphin offensive line needs to play better than it has been for this approach to work, but I believe they will have better success against the Patriots than they did against the Jets. Still, the Dolphins can't afford to get into a shootout with the Patriots, because that is a recipe for defeat. Most intriguing to me will be what the Dolphins do with Ted Ginn this week after his terrific performance last week. I would like to see them put him in the passing offense in the slot and in motion, where he could avoid the jams at the line of scrimmage and just have him run the deep post, the deep slants and fly routes down the sidelines. His best assets are not his leaping ability, nor his strength, so the Dolphins should not put him in those situations. But if they can get just one deep completion to him on a fly route, that forces the Patriots to back off. Of course, Ginn could have another big return this week, but the odds are against him. However, I would like to see him return punts as well. In his rookie season, his one return for a touchdown cam on a punt. Ultimately, however, I believe the key to the whole game will be the Dolphins' ability to put pressure on Tom Brady. If they can do that, they stand a good chance to win. If they can't manage that, they probably will drop to 3-5. To watch the game on TV, you may go to one of the sports bars listed on my "Places To Watch" web page. To listen to the game live over the Internet, you must now pay the NFL for the privelege. They are charging $9.99 (US) per month or $39.99 for the season for something you used to get for free. If you want to sign up for that, go to the following link NFL Field Pass. Also, here is a list of some websites that have live scores and updates. Both the Official Website and NFL.com have almost live applications that run in your browser and give you current stats and play-by-play information.
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