I still respect the Dolphins
 

I never did fear Miami in the first place, I considered the Patriots a good enough team that if things went their way injury-wise, they could handle the division.

At the same time, I thought the Fins were good enough to possibly take us down if we had some tough injuries or some that were bad timing before a tough stretch of games or something.

I can't say I didn't feal a little more at ease seeing that Miami didn't seem to be the unstoppable train of dominance that some of the hype had built them into. However, I am still not looking past this team.

They played solid for 54 minutes before their meltdown. Pass protection was excellent based on what we thought it would be. The running game struggled but no more than ours has the majority of games against Pittsburgh recently.

As others have said in other threads, I'm not ready for the engravers to start etching out "New England Patriots" in the AFC East trophy. It's a long season and while very doubtful, who knows, we might stink it up this Sunday. I do think Miami has enough talent to win the East if we stumble a bit.

If nothing else just think back to 2003. We were so far beyond God-awful in our 31-0 raping by the Bills to start the year and we got torn up by fans on this board afterwards. Let's not do the same thing to Miami fans because we all know how that season ended up.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

I agree. Also it was just ONE game.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

I'm sure most Pats fans feel the same way, but of course we're going to get our shots in at every opportunity we get. Especially after a couple of fish fans start gloating before the season even starts.

They'll play us tough head to head as they always do, and with both our schedules being weak we'll probably be neck and neck for awhile.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

I'm glad they lost b/c they're a division rival, but this doesn't make me feel any better or worse about what they are. They're fine, a bit overhyped but capable of beating us on a bad day.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

I think the dolphins are an above average team. I think the Pats will beat them in Foxboro and it could go either way in Miami, with the Dolphins having a slight edge. Because of their week schedule, I think they will finish 10-6 and sneak into the playoffs. I was happy to see that Chambers is definitely no Moss, even with a "good" qb.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

I do agree that it is way to early to know anything about how the season will play out, but as far as this game tonight, I dont have all the stats in front of me, but I will say (which I did in another post) that if it wasnt for two big plays by that white guy for the fins (sorry I dont know his name) this game wouldnt have been even close! let alone batch's fumble at the goal line. anyway, I think that people here are actually giving the fins too much credit based on this one game. they had 38 yards rushing with a guy who was supposed to be the second coming.
anyway, glad to see that the fins obnoxious fans will at least be humbled and shut up for at least a week.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

I think it has been proven in recent years that mistake prone QBs kill you in the modern day NFL. Culpepper is one of those guys and it will kill the Dolphins.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

Dolphins and Culpeper have proved nothing substantial in years.

Re: I still respect the Dolphins
 

Ditto - Bills 31, Patriots, 0

A loss in the first game can serve as a major wake up call for a team, and they can go on to have a great season.

Way too soon to write off the Fins