Dolphins “kicked our butts”

It’s been quite a while since the Patriots have had to deal with a regular season loss of this type – at home, by a wide margin, and to a team that, to most observers, was not quite in its league. After the 38-13 loss to Miami, the Patriots weren’t ready to panic by any means, but in the locker room, the general tone was that this performance wasn’t up to par.

Rodney Harrison called it a bad effort and said “they kicked our butts” and Richard Seymour said the Pats were “one step late all day.”

Now the Pats are 2-1, and with Buffalo winning to go 3-0, the Pats are in second place in their division.

Thanks for checking out the blog today. We’ll be back with more during the week.

2 minute warning

What a difference a week makes. As satisfying a win as the Pats had last Sunday at the Jets, this loss is equally disappointing. The Pats will have 2 weeks to ponder this one, a stunning and one-sided home loss to the Dolphins.

Off to the locker room to get reaction.

Long streak ending?

Assuming the Dolphins’ lead holds up (and there’s no reason to believe it won’t) this will be the Patriots’ first regular season loss since December 2006, when they were shut out by the Dolphins in Miami. The Pats’ NFL record 21-game regular season win streak will come to close, it appears.

One-sided affair

The Dolphins are out-gaining the Pats 415-177. They have 2 turnovers to 0 for the Pats. They’ve converted on all four of their red zone trips, while the Pats have just one score in 3 opportunities inside the 20. Just a few of the numbers that show how one-sided the game has been. In case the score didn’t tell you.

Rout is on

Yet another direct snap to Ronnie Brown. No need for a pass this time. Brown continued his sensational day with a 62-yard touchdown run. Brown just set a Dolphins record with 4 touchdown runs in one game. And, oh yeah, he threw one as well. A one-man wrecking crew at Gillette Stadium.

35-13 MIA, 14:49 left in 4th Q

Cassel to Gaffney TD

The Pats made the most of an 81-yard kickoff by Ellis Hobbs, scoring their first touchdown of the day on a Matt Cassel 5-yard pass to Jabar Gaffney. There was a scare during the drive, with Randy Moss losing the ball after a 7-yard reception, but he was ruled to be down when the ball came loose.

28-13 MIA, 3:20 left in 3rd Q

For the second time today, Ronnie Brown took a direct snap from center. This time, he rolled left and hit Anthony Fasano streaking into the end zone for a touchdown. The play epitomized the type of afternoon it has been for the Patriots defense.

It’s interesting to note that the play came just after Tedy Bruschi came off the field with an apparent injury, and the Patriots had two rookies – Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton – at inside linebacker.

28-6 MIA, 5:46 left in 3rd Q

Even when they get pressure on Chad…

The Pats haven’t gotten much pressure on Chad Pennington all game long. Rodney Harrison just came in  with a blitz on Pennington and made contact, but the Dolphins QB still got a short pass off, picking up a first down on a dump off to Ricky Williams. Two plays later, Pennington avoided heaby pressure from Adalius Thomas and got another pass off, this time to Ernest Wilford for a first down.

Good start to second half

Stephen Gostkowski fired off a touchback to open the second half, and the Dolphins offense went 3-and-out, capped by an Adalius Thomas tipped pass on 3rd down.

Hall of Famers at the half

Each of the Patriots Hall of Famers who are on hand – led by Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah – are being introduced here at halftime and are being escorted to mid-field by Patriots cheerleaders. Their bright red blazers look sharp.