Miami: the Game and the new VP

Let's drink the Belichick cool aid for a moment.

Don't let the spread fool you. Don't let Miami's record fool you either. Don't think Miami will be a tough opponent? A closer look at the last time these two teams played back in October might be a little eye opening. The Pats won 49-28 in good weather. Take away the two freak-like catches Moss made on the Brady long balls and the score is 35-28. Take away the Willie Andrews kick return TD and you've got a tie game. They gave up 28 points to the Dolphins, who lost Ronnie Brown to injury during the game. Despite the loss of Brown, Miami ran for 6 yds per carry including 10 yds per carry by backup Jesse Chatman while gaining 180 rushing yards. CLEO LEMON was 24 of 37 passing for 236 yds. That's a 65% completion percentage.

Now factor in the the Pats are a passing team that will be playing in high winds and possible rain on Sunday. Miami is the 4th BEST defense in the league against the pass. Miami is last against the run, but in the last game the Sammy Morris-less Pats ran for a grand total of 84 yds, 3.8 yds per carry. And that was playing with the lead the entire game.


The Reality

The reality is that the Pats are motivated as hell to go undefeated, especially against the Dolphins. The Dophins won their game last week and have nothing to play for at all this week except to avoid injury and get to the golf course. The Pats will win this one in the first quarter. The only question will be how long Belichick let's Brady and Moss play and how close they can come to the passing TD records.



Dolphin Friendly Tuna

Bill Parcells has officially joined the fins as the VP in charge of all football operations. That will have no effect on this game whatsoever. Miami probably won't be 'good' again next year either, more like 2009 or 2010. Parcells might become a factor vs the Pats when he starts hiring though. Think he doesn't know all about Dante Scarnechia or Pepper Johnson or (hopefully) Josh McDaniels? What about his son-in -law Scott Pioli? Parcells always goes with who he knows, so Dallas and the Pats should both be on Tuna alert. He'll be raiding coaching staffs and players alike.



The Pick

Patriots 35
Dolphins 0

Brady gets the record early in the 3rd Quarter then rides the bench the rest of the way. The 35 point total would also break the record of most points scored in a single season in NFL history.