Week 3 preview, Miami @ New England

The 2-0 New England Patriots hope to head into next week’s off week with some momentum going against the 0-2 Miami Dolphins.  Joey Porter from Miami has already opened his mouth, virutally predicting victory because “Tom Brady isn’t back there.”  Too bad for Porter, the Miami Dolphins don’t have the firepower on offense or the talent on defense to beat the Patriots this week.

The Patriots offense has to be breathing a colective sigh of relief after seeing Jason Taylor leave via a trade in the preseason, and seeing Zack Thomas leave for Dallas.  Furthermore, the Phins were torched by the Cardinals last week for over 400 yards and 31 points, and while the Pats offense looked stagnant last week in New York, going 1/5 in the Red Zone TD conversions, this will be a nice home start for Cassel with nowhere near the pressure of a hostile road start in New Jersey vs the hated New York Jets.    I can see the Pats moving the ball at will Sunday afternoon.

The Pats on defense will be using the old plans they have used against the Jets for the last few years, as Chad Pennington is now the starting QB for the Dolphins, and he might be benched for Chad Henne sooner rather than later.  They have been trying to establish a double backfield attack with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, but neither player can get anything going behind a young rebuilding offensive line.

I see a laugher happening Sunday.  The Dolphins are once again in contention for the #1 pick in the draft, and the Pats have this week and the bye to prepare for back to back west coast games weeks five and six.