37-year old WR Troy Brown has officially retired from the New England Patriots.  Brown was a good all around player for the Patriots as he did whatever it takes to win the game.  He played in 192 games (70 starts) for the Patriots in his career and he caught 557 passes for 6,366 yards (11.4 avg) with 31 TD grabs.  He also carried the football 29 times for 178 yards (6.1 ypc).  But, Brown also helped out on special teams.  He returned 87 kickoffs for 1,862 yards (21.4 avg) and 252 punts for 2,625 yards (10.4 avg) with 3 TD returns.  Brown also played CB when the Patriots got in a bind in 2004 due to injuries.  He finished up with 25 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he had 3 interceptions.  Brown will go down as one of the better players in Patriots history despite never being a dominant player as he was always there to make a big play when the team really needed it.

This result was a shocker but when you think about how the Patriots played in the preseason this year you had to think this would happen at some point.  Matt Cassel didn’t look too sharp in this game as he completed 19 of 31 passes for 131 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Rookie Kevin O’Connell got to mop up in this game as he completed 3 of 4 passes for 25 yards.  Sammy Morris led the Fins’ in rushing in this game with 27 yards on 9 carries (3.0 ypc).  LaMont Jordan pitched in with 6 carries for 22 yards (3.7 ypc).  Wes Welker had a solid game with 6 grabs for 55 yards (9.2 avg) and he also carried the ball 1 time for 19 yards.  Jabar Gaffney also had a decent game with 6 grabs for 51 yards (8.5 avg) with a TD grab.  The Patriots finished up with 79 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 35 passes for 137 yards.

The Patriots’ defense was flat out terrible against the Dolphins as they got pushed around the whole game.  Linebacker Jared Mayo and safety Rodney Harrison led the way for the Patriots’ defense with 12 tackles apiece in this game.  The Dolphins finished up with a whopping 216 yards rushing on 36 carries (6.0 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 21 passes for 245 yards.  The Patriots fell to 2-1 on the season with this loss.

The Patriots have won 21 regular season games in a row which is an NFL record, while the Dolphins have lost 17 of their last 18 games.  The Dolphins would love to run the football in this game and control the clock.  But, Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown have only combined for 100 yards rushing this season on 38 carries (2.6 ypc).  If the Dolphins can get the running game going somehow against the Patriots then Chad Pennington can work his play action passing game.  Still, with Chad Pennington’s lack of arm strength the Patriots will likely sneak the defense up towards the line of scrimmage and dare the Fins to throw the football.

The Dolphins have a stingy run defense allowing only 96.5 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry.  That, coupled with injuries to Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan could lead the Fins to finally unleash Matt Cassel in this game.  After all, opposing QBs have a Rating of 147.0 against the Dolphins this season and they are averaging 285.0 yards thru the air per contest.  This could be the game that Randy Moss has his first breakout game of the 2008 season.  Also look for Wes Welker to want to stick it to his old team.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 24, MIAMI DOLPHINS 13

The Patriots played a solid all around game in defeating the division rival Jets yesterday.  Matt Cassel managed the game well as he completed 16 of 23 passes for 165 yards.  LaMont Jordan led the Patriots in rushing yesterday with 62 yards on 11 carries (5.6 ypc).  Laurence Maroney was banged up in this game as he only rushed for 16 yards on 8 carries (2.0 ypc).  Sammy Morris ran the ball 8 times for 0 yards but he scored on a 1-yard TD run.  Kevin Faulk got into his first game of the year yesterday and he rushed for 16 yards on 3 carries (5.3 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 50 yards (12.5 avg).  Wes Welker led the way in the passing game for the Patriots with 7 grabs for 72 yards (10.3 avg).  Randy Moss only caught 2 passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg) against the Jets.  The Patriots finished up with 104 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 23 passes for 156 yards.

The Patriots’ Defense put together another outstanding effort yesterday.  Safety Rodney Harrison (8 tackles) and rookie LB Jared Mayo (7 tackles) led the way for the Patriots’ D on Sunday.  The Jets finished up with 104 yards rushing on 21 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 26 passes for 152 yards.  The Patriots improved to 2-0 on the season with this win.

The Patriots swept the season series with the Jets last season by a combined score of 58-24, but, Brett Favre and Matt Cassel are the starting QBs now so things will likely be different this year.  Matt Cassel will be making his first start since 1999 when he was in high school!  Look for the Patriots to keep the offense the same with Cassel at QB as that was what he has been trained to do.  He played well last week for the Patriots leading them to a nice victory over the Chiefs plus the Jets allowed 251 yards passing to the lowly Dolphins last week.  Randy Moss will be looking to duplicate his numbers of last week (6 rec, 116 yards, TD) against the Jets tomorrow.  Look for Wes Welker to also be very busy for the Patriots in the passing game.  The Patriots also might decide to run the ball a little bit more than usual to protect Cassel.  Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris should get their fair share of work against a Jets’ defense that only allowed 49 yards rushing (2.9 ypc) last week against the Dolphins.

The Jets will likely look to stay balanced on offense to keep the Patriots guessing.  RB Thomas Jones has a nice game last week rushing for 101 yards on 22 carries (4.6 ypc) with a TD run.  The Patriots allowed 102 yards rushing last week against the Chiefs so Jones could find some running room.  If Brett Favre gets protection (the Patriots had 4 sacks last week) then he can attack the subpar corners of the Patriots deep with Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 27, NEW YORK JETS 24