This Week
The New England Patriots visit the Miami Dolphins at Dolphins Stadium in Miami FL on Sunday at 1 p .m.
The Patriots are 2-2 on the road, 2-2 in the division and 4-4 against the AFC. The Dolphins are 4-2 at home, 2-1 in the division and 5-3 against the AFC. The teams are tied for 2nd in the AFC East.
The Dolphins beat the Patriots 35-14 in week 3 at Gillette Stadium.
Here are the rosters for the Patriots and Dolphins.
Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots +1. The over/under is 42.
My prediction is Patriots 27, Dolphins, 20. Take the points (Patriots) and take the over. I am 4-5-1 against the spread and 5 of 10 on calling the over/under in 2008.
Tickets
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in the Miami make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.
Click for stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and a Dolphins Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.
And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
CBS is televising the game regionally and Greg Gumbel will do the play-by-play while Dan Dierdorf will handle the game analysis. You can see if you are getting the game and look for your local CBS Station.
Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 706.
For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.
Patriots All-Access airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.
It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 157, the Dolphins Radio Network has a trio of former Dolphins calling the game including former WR Jimmy Cefalo doing play-by-play and fomer Dolphin TE’s Jim Mandich and Joe Rose with analysis. Their call is available on Channel 121.
Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team. This game can be heard on XM Channel 108.
Last Week
The Patriots lost to the Jets in OT 34-31 at the Razor, while the Dolphins edged the Raiders in Miami, 17-15.
History
- The Dolphins beat the Patriots earlier this season when Ronnie Brown ran for four TD’s and threw for another as Miami routed New England 38-13, in Week 3 at Gillette Stadium.
- That Dolphins win in Week 3 snapped a 21 game regular season winning streak for the Patriots.
- This is the 87th meeting all-time between the teams. Miami leads the series 49-37 including playoffs.
- The Patriots have won 8 of the last 12 games between the teams.
- 13 of the last 32 games in the series have been decided by 7 points or less. Nine were decided by 3 points or less.
Connections
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was an assistant coach under Dolphins vice president of football operations Bill Parcells with the Giants, Patriots and Jets.
- Parcells was the head coach of the Patriots from 1993 to 1996 leading the team to Super Bowl XXXI which they lost to Green Bay. Parcells left after that game to coach the New York Jets. He was named Dolphins vice president of football operations in December 2007 after having been retired for one season after a coaching stint with the Dallas Cowboys.
- Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano is from West Haven CT and was the former head coach of the University of New Haven Chargers. He also coached at Boston University before the football program was shut down by the university. He was named Dolphins head coach on January 16, 2008.
- Former UConn offensive lineman Donald Thomas was drafted by Miami in the 6th round of the 2008 NFL Draft. After starting in Week 1 Thomas was placed on IR with a foot injury and will miss the rest of the season.
- Patriots WR Randy Moss and Dolphins QB Chad Pennington were college teammates at Marshall.
- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker was acquired from Miami on March 5, 2007, for draft picks in the second and seventh rounds of the 2007 NFL Draft.
- Patriots running back Sammy Morris signed with the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent in 2004.
- Patriots linebacker and special teams captain Larry Izzo originally signed with the Dolphins as a rookie free agent following the 1996 NFL Draft.
- Patriots fullback Heath Evans played in the first six games of the 2005 season for the Dolphins and earned two starts. He was signed by the Patriots on Nov. 1, 2005. Evans is a native of West Palm Beach, FL.
- Patriots guard Billy Yates was originally signed by the Dolphins as a rookie free agent in 2003. He was waived by Miami in September 2004 and signed to the Patriots active roster on Feb. 4, 2005.
- Patriots wide receiver Jabar Gaffney is from Jacksonville, FL. and attended the University of Florida.
- Patriots defensive back Brandon Meriweather, a Florida native, is an alumnus of the University of Miami and attended Apopka High School in Apopka, FL. (near Orlando).
- Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork is from Boynton Beach FL and is also an alumni of the University of Miami.
- Dolphins first year WR Brandon London attended the Universty of Massachusetts.
- Dolphins fullback Casey Cramer is a Dartmouth graduate (2004).
- Dolphins practice squad TE Matthew Mulligan is from Enfield ME and graduated from the University of Maine. The former Black Bear signed as a rookie free agent.
- Dolphins Director of College Scouting Chris Grier’s is the son of Bobby Grier, the former Vice President of Player Personnel for New England.
- Dolphins tight ends coach George DeLeone attended the University of Connecticut. The New Haven native was an assistant at Southern Connecticut State from 1970-79 and Holy Cross College in 1984 .
- Miami defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni grew up in Cheshire, CT. He was an assistant coach at Southern Connecticut State (1976-81) and at Western Connecticut State (1982-86).
- Dolphins assistant strength and conditioning coach Dave Puloka played defensive end, while also lettering in track, at Holy Cross College from 1997-2000. He grew up in Arlington, MA.
- Miami outside linebackers coach Jim Reid attended the University of Maine, where he was a three-year starter as a safety, from 1970-72. He earned his graduate degree at the University of Massachusetts, where he was an assistant coach from 1973-85 and the head coach from 1986-91. He also served as an assistant at Boston College in 1994.
- Fish offensive coordinator Dan Henning was the head coach at Boston College from 1994-96.
- Patriots special assistant/secondary coach Dom Capers was a member of the Dolphins’ staff the last two years, including 2007 as defensive coordinator.
Other News
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Dolphins. You can also see what Miami head coach Tony Sparano had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.
Here is the injury list for the game.
Belichick is 9-10 in his career against the Dolphins. He is 9-8 against them as the head coach in New England.
Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 133-85 in 14 NFL seasons. He is 97-41 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland. He is 15-4 in the playoffs, 14-3 as the head coach of the Patriots in the postseason. When you combine the regular season and postseason Belichick is 148-89.
Matt Cassel is 5-4 since he took over for the injured Tom Brady. He earned his first career win against the New York Jets in Week 2 early this season.
The Patriots overall franchise record is 372-253-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXIII, XXXIX) in 6 appearances.
New England is 0-4 this season when trailing at halftime.
The Patriots are +2 in turnover differential for the season.
Since 2003 New England is 16-1 in games after a loss.
Based on points per game the Patriots offense is ranked 19th in the league, while the defense is 9th.
This is the final game of three consecutive games against AFC East teams.
New England is 37-11 against the rest of the AFC East since 2001.
Since 2001 the Patriots are 65-16 in games played on November 1st or later.
The Patriots lost OL Jacob Bender from the practice squad when he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers and placed on their 53-man roster.
NFL Pro Bowl balloting runs through Dec. 9. Fans may vote for their favorite NFL players to represent the AFC and NFC in the 2009 Pro Bowl in Honolulu on Sunday, Feb. 8. Fans may vote online at nfl.com/probowl or on Web-enabled mobile phones by going to NFL.com.
2008 Patriots schedule/results
News from this weeks opponent:
West Haven CT native Tony Sparano is 6-4 in his first season as a NFL head coach. He is 1-0 against New England.
Chad Pennington is 38-33 as a NFL starter. He is 3-6 in his career against New England.
Miami’s overall franchise record is 375-271-4. Miami came into the AFL as an expansion team in 1966 and was part of the AFL-NFL merger. They have won two Super Bowls (VII,VIII) in five appearances.
Miami has a 20-19 playoff record having last made the post season in 2001 when they lost 20-3 to the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card game. They last played for the AFC Championship in 1992 losing to Buffalo. Their last Super Bowl appearance was in 1984 in Dan Marino’s second season when they lost to the San Francsco 49ers.
Based on points per game the Dolphins offense is ranked 23rd in the NFL, while the defense is ranked 10th.
Miami is +7 in turnover differential this season.
The Dolphins have 20 players with two years or less of NFL experience on their active roster. They had 1 pick in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft and they took OT Jake Long (Michigan – 1st overall). They selected 9 players overall in the seven rounds of the draft including UConn G Donald Thomas in the 6th round. Thomas went on the IR after Week1 and is done for the year.
Long is the second player the Dolphins have ever selected first overall the other being RB Jim Grabowski in the 1966 AFL Draft in their inaugural season.
Miami has two players each from Alabama, Auburn, BYU, Georgia, Hawaii, Marshall, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee and Texas.
Miami only had one Pro Bowl player last year, DE Jason Taylor and he is no longer with the team having been traded to Washington in training camp.
The Dolphins are one of the few teams that have a fight song. This one is a direct rip off of the old Houston Oilers fight song. I know the Chargers have one that sounds like the theme to a bad disco movie but I can’t think of or don’t know of any others. If you know of team with a fight song leave a link to it in the comments or tell me who has one and if you know the name.
2008 Dolphins schedule/results
Next Week
The New England Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium at 4:15 p.m.
