The Patriots rolled to a 42-7 halftime lead in this game and then cruised to victory in the 2nd half.  Tom Brady was outstanding again yesterday as he completed 21 of 25 passes for 354 yards with 6 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  Laurence Maroney (6 car, 31 yards) and Kevin Faulk (6 car, 27 yards) carried the bulk of the running game for the Patriots.  Wes Welker got his revenge on the Dolphins for trading him as he led the way for the Patriots with 9 receptions for 138 yards (15.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Randy Moss also was outstanding as he caught 4 passes for 122 yards (30.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs including 1 that he caught 1 handed in double coverage.  Donte’ Stallworth (3 rec, 51 yards, TD) and Kyle Brady (3 rec, 10 yards, TD) each pitched in too in the passing game.  The Patriots finished up with 84 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 28 passes for 359 yards.

The defense let off the gas pedal a little bit in the second half with the Patriots enjoying a big lead.  Tedy Bruschi led the way on defense with 12 tackles for the Patriots.  Safety Rodney Harrison also had a solid game with 8 tackles and a sack.  The Dolphins ran the ball 30 times for 179 yards (6.0 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 37 passes for 203 yards.

The Patriots special teams also pitched in as reserve cornerback William Andrews returned a kickoff 77 yards to a TD in the first half of the game.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271021015

Ok, so the Pats are undefeated thus far. And I would be impressed because?

Look at your division rivals. You gotta be kidding! DON’T buy into the sports media hype. Just because ESPN licks your teams boots doesn’t make them a great team. In fact, you STILL haven’t played a good team yet. Dallas? Please. Romo is shakier than a Parkinson’s patient at a hula contest. You have arguably the weakest division in the entire league. You’d have to be totally lame not to be able to handle the other teams in the AFC East. That means the Cheatriots only have to worry about winning a couple of games outside their division, and they’re in the playoffs. Hey, better than actually EARNING your way like other teams, right? I bet the Colts take the Patsy-poos apart and make Tommi Brady cry like the little girl she is!

These are two teams going in different directions as the Patriots have started the season 6-0 and they’ve pounded everyone they have played this season by at least 17 points!  The Dolphins have started the season 0-6 and they appear to be a team that will be in contention for the first pick in the NFL Draft next April.

The New England Patriots will be without starting tight end Ben Watson and leading rusher Sammy Morris who are both injured….but fear not as they have plenty of weapons available for Tom Brady.  The Patriots will likely be able to do whatever they want against a Dolphins defense that is starting to look their age at key positions.  Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk will likely tear up the Fins defense which is allowing 168.5 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  The Dolphins hope that Jason Taylor (4 sacks) can get to Tom Brady and force him into making some mistakes….but don’t hold your breath.  After all, Brady has a QB Rating of 128.9 which leads the NFL.  Look for Brady to spread the ball around to Randy Moss (40 rec, 610 yards, 8 TDs), Wes Welker (38 rec, 386 yards, 3 TDs) and Donte’ Stallworth (19 rec, 316 yards, 2 TDs) who should find a lot of running room against the Dolphins.

The Dolphins will try to get the ball to Ronnie Brown as much as possible.  Brown has rushed for 526 yards this season and he’s also caught 34 passes for 356 yards so he will be a challenge to the Patriots linebackers.  The Patriots are only allowing 78.0 yards rushing per game but that’s mostly because teams get taken out of the running game due to the Pats offense getting a jump on them.  The Patriots blitz from all angles so the Fins need Cleo Lemon to protect the football which could be a problem as 3 of his 70 pass attempts this season have been intercepted.  Without Chris Chambers around, look for Marty Booker and TE David Martin to be the main men in the passing game.  Ted Ginn Jr. and Derek Hagan will also have increased roles against the Patriots and they need them to produce and not be intimidated.

PREDICTION:  The Dolphins ambushed the Patriots last season in Miami 21-0 and the Patriots will have a let down one of these weeks.  Look for the Dolphins to give the Patriots a game for at least a half.  PATRIOTS 30, DOLPHINS 14.

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The Patriots will be without Sammy Morris (chest) and Ben Watson (ankle) for at least two weeks each.  Morris could miss up to a month.  Morris was the Patriots leading rusher this season with 384 yards on 85 carries (4.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also has caught 6 passes for 35 yards (5.8 avg).  The Patriots hope to have Laurence Maroney back this week….but even if he does look for Kevin Faulk’s role to increase in the offense.  Faulk has carried the ball 22 times for 97 yards (4.4 ypc) and he also has caught 14 passes for 126 yards (9.0 avg).  Ben Watson will be much harder for the Patriots to replace.  He has caught 18 passes for 222 yards (12.3 avg) with 5 TD grabs and he also has carried the ball 1 time for 11 yards.  Kyle Brady will replace Watson on the field and he’s nowhere near the kind of receiver that Watson is.  He has caught 3 passes for 28 yards (9.3 avg) with 1 TD grab this season.

The Patriots put on a clinic on how to stop a good offense in this game……you just don’t let them have the ball.  The Patriots controlled the football for 38:15 of this football game.  Don’t get me wrong…the Cowboys did put up a fight for a while before their defense got tired and that’s not a good thing vs. the Patriots.  Tom Brady was awesome again against the Cowboys as he completed 31 of 46 passes for 388 yards with 5 TDs and 0 INTs!  Sammy Morris started the game at running back but he didn’t play well before leaving the game with a chest injury.  He carried the ball 10 times for 14 yards (1.4 ypc).  Kevin Faulk replaced Morris and he did a decent job with 13 carries for 50 yards (3.8 ypc) and 3 catches for 24 yards (8.0 avg).  Kyle Eckel even got 3 carries for 6 yards (2.0 ypc) and he scored a TD in the 4th quarter.  Donte’ Stallworth was outstanding as he caught 7 passes for 136 yards (19.4 avg) with a TD grab.  Wes Welker was also great as he caught 11 passes for 124 yards (11.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Randy Moss also got his numbers as he caught 6 passes for 59 yards (9.8 avg) with a TD.  The Patriots finished up with 75 yards rushing on 29 carries (2.6 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 46 passes for 373 yards.

Tedy Bruschi led the way for the Pats defense with 6 tackles.  The Cowboys rushed for 97 yards on 15 carries (6.5 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 29 passes for 186 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014006

This will be the battle that everyone is looking forward to on Sunday Afternoon.  Both teams are both 5-0 and they have only played in one game that was decided by less than 10 points which was Dallas’ miracle win over the Bills on Monday Night.  Could they have been caught looking ahead to this week?  We will soon find out.

The Patriots like to mix it up on offense and it will be interesting to see how they deal with the Cowboys defense which is pretty tight.  Look for Sammy Morris (370 yards rushing, 4.9 ypc, 3 TDs) and Laurence Maroney (252 yards rushing, 4.7 ypc) to challenge the Front 7 of the Cowboys which is only allowing 80.6 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry.  The Cowboys defense is not likely to be intimidated by Tom Brady and the Patriots passing attack as they already have 10 INTs this season and 12 sacks.  Still, Brady has only been sacked 3 times this season and he has thrown for 1,383 yards with 16 TD passes and 2 INTs (128.7 QB Rating) so far this season.  Look for the Patriots to spread out Randy Moss (34 rec, 551 yards, 7 TDs), Wes Welker (27 rec, 262 yards, TD), Ben Watson (17 rec, 194 yards, 5 TDs) and Donte’ Stallworth (12 rec, 180 yards, TD) and look for mis-matches that Brady can exploit.

The Cowboys will probably come out trying to run the ball in an attempt to control the clock.  Marion Barber (334 yards rushing, 6.0 ypc, 4 TDs) and Julius Jones (217 yards rushing, 3.4 ypc, 1 TD) could have a hard time finding running room against the Patriots defense which is allowing only 74.2 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry.  The Cowboys offensive line better do a good job of protecting Tony Romo or he could get forced into making big mistakes like he did last week and the Cowboys can’t win if he does.  Still, overall Romo is having a great season with 1,508 yards passing, 13 TD passes and 9 INTs.  The Cowboys also have numerous weapons in the passing game as Jason Witten (29 rec, 407 yards, 4 TDs), Terrell Owens (21 rec, 387 yards, 3 TDs) and Patrick Crayton (19 rec, 335 yards, 3 TDs) are all having great seasons. 

PREDICTION:  This will be a lower scoring game than most people expect it to be because of the defenses of the Patriots and Cowboys.  I like the Patriots by a field goal only because of the fight the Cowboys had to put up to beat the Bills and the short preparation week.

The amazing Patriots played their worst game of the season and still beat the Browns by 17 points.  Tom Brady had a good game as he completed 22 of 38 passes for 265 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Sammy Morris was outstanding again as he carried the ball 21 times for 102 yards (4.9 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 9 yards (4.5 avg).  TE Ben Watson was outstanding as he caught 6 passes for 107 yards (17.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Donte’ Stallworth also had a good game as he caught 4 passes for 65 yards (16.3 avg) with a TD catch and he also carried the ball 1 time for 12 yards.  The Patriots finished up rushing for 147 yards on 32 carries (4.6 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 38 passes for 265 yards.

The defense was outstanding for the Patriots on Sunday.  Junior Seau led the way for the Patriots with 6 tackles and 2 interceptions.  Tedy Bruschi also had an outstanding game with 7 tackles and 2 sacks.  Randall Gay only had 3 tackles but he returned a fumble 15 yards for a TD in the 4th quarter.  The Browns finished up with 92 yards rushing on 21 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 43 passes for 261 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271007017

The Patriots flat out stole Wes Welker from the division rival Miami Dolphins.  Welker is doing a good job as the #2 WR of the Patriots as he has caught 23 passes for 243 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab and he also has carried the ball 2 times for 33 yards (16.5 avg).  He also has been really good at returning punts for the Pats.  He has returned 9 punts for 107 yards (11.9 avg) so far this year.  Cornerback Ellis Hobbs has been outstanding at returning kickoffs for the Patriots.  He has returned 10 kickoffs for 334 yards (33.4 avg) with an NFL record 108 yard kickoff return for a TD!  He also is a solid corner for the defense as he has 14 tackles and 1 sack this season.

The Patriots have placed TE David Thomas on the Injured Reserve List with a foot injury ending his season.  He caught 1 pass for 9 yards this season.  The Pats have re-signed Marcellus Rivers to take Thomas’ spot on the roster.  He has played in 76 games (14 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 51 passes for 395 yards (7.7 avg) with 4 TD grabs.