Patriots Drown Dolphins
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by Smmonroe2
The New England Patriots have a spotless record at 7-0, but they are not perfect. “We still have work to do” Head Coach Bill Bellicheck said, “There is plenty of room for improvement” said quarterback Tom Brady.
It sure did not look that way in the first half as the Patriots bolted out to a 42-7 lead before half time, only to finish the Dolphins off 49-28.
The Patriots started the scoring when Tom Brady tossed a pass to Donte Stallworth who broke a few tackles and took it in for a thirty-yard touchdown. About three minutes later Brady threaded the needle on a two-yard pass to tight end Kyle Brady for a touchdown, 14-0.
The Dolphins showed signs of life after converting a 76-yard drive with a four-yard run by Cleo Lemon. On the kickoff, the Dolphins did their best to keep the ball away from Ellis Hobbs and they did, however it went to Willie Andrews who took it 77 yards for a touchdown, sucking all of the life out of the Dolphins. With the next Patriot possession Tom Brady flipped a 35 yarder to the end zone which looked as though the Miami defender may pick it off only to have Randy Moss stick his hands in the way and pull it down for a touchdown, despite double coverage. On the next New England possession Brady flicked a 50-yard bomb down to the end zone to double covered Randy Moss who again plucked it out of the air for another touchdown. The quarter was ended when the Patriots who refused to play like they were up 35-7 piled it on with a Brady pass to Wes Welker who ran over a former teammate and made it a 41-7 game; Gostkowski put the extra point through the uprights.
There was no scoring in the third quarter. The Dolphins scored the first points of the half when Patrick Cobbs slammed it in from one yard out. Jason Taylor picked off back up quarterback Matt Cassel and roared down the field for a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown. Tom Brady then came back in just to make things comfortable again and tossed his sixth touchdown of the day a 16 yarder to Wes Welker. The Dolphins finished the scoring with a seven-yard run from Jesse Chatman. For the final score of 49-28.
Tom Brady finished the day 21 for 25 for 354 yards and a career high six touchdown passes. Cleo Lemon finished the day 24-37 for 236 yards and one interception. Neither quarterback threw an incomplete pass until 10:32 left in the second quarter, when Cleo Lemon tossed one short to Marty Booker. Brady’s first incomplete pass came when he was pressured and ran out of the pocket before throwing the ball were nobody could get it.
The additions that the New England Patriots made at wide receiver during the off-season paid off in this game and have also been huge all season. Wes Welker, the former Dolphin lead the way in the game with 9 receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Randy Moss had four catches for 122 yards and two spectacular touchdowns. Donte Stallworth had three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Brady had three catches and one touchdown. Heath Evans, Jabbar Gaffney, and Kevin Faulk each had one reception for 29, 12, and 7 yards respectfully.
The Dolphins receiver’s continued their struggles. Derek Haggan lead the way with four catches for 56 yards. Jesse Pelle also had four catches for 42 yards. Tony Ginn had three for 37 yards. Running back Ronnie Brown had five receptions for 33 yards. Marty Booker and David Martin each had three receptions for 28 and 22 yards in order. Jesse Chatman and Patrick Cobbs each had a catch for nine yards.
The Patriot rushing game was without Sammy Morris and had Laurence Maroney back. Maroney rushed 6 times for 31 yards, Kevin Faulk ran for 27 and Heath Evans and Kyle Eckel each had 14 and 12 yards respectively. The Dolphins did not have a bad ground game with Ronnie Brown leading the way with 17 carries for 76 yards. Jesse Chatman had 7 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Cleo Lemon had three rushes for 16 yards and a touchdown, with Patrick Cobbs getting 14 yards on three carries and a one touchdown.
Both kickers were perfect with Stephen Gostkowski nailing all seven extra point attempts and Jay Feely put four extra point attempts through the uprights.
Next week the Dolphins travel to England to play the New York Giants and attempt to gain their first win of the season. While the Patriots head back to the comfy confines of Gillette Stadium to take on the Washington Redskins.
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