ESPN AFC East Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- No surprises on the inactive list for Sunday's game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium.

Miami Dolphins

• Quarterback Tyler Thigpen
• Running back Kory Sheets
• Receiver Patrick Turner
• Tackle Andrew Gardner
• Tackle Lydon Murtha
• Nose tackle Jason Ferguson
• Inside linebacker Channing Crowder
• Outside linebacker Quentin Moses

New England Patriots

• Running back Sammy Morris
• Running back Fred Taylor
• Receiver Julian Edelman
• Left tackle Matt Light
• Guard Rich Ohrnberger
• Defensive end Jarvis Green
• Linebacker Eric Alexander
• Cornerback Jonathan Wilhite

Here are today's inactives from around the league.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Drivers in the Fort Lauderdale area should keep their eyes peeled for a homeless man in a Philadelphia Eagles hat. Rest assured, South Florida reporters will be on the prowl for him.

Bill Parcells supposedly talks football with this guy more than he has with the media in the two years he's been in charge of the Miami Dolphins.

Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote a column about the "Man Behind The Curtain in Miami" and mentioned Parcells' dispossessed buddy. Parcells, on his drive to the Dolphins' facility in Davie, Fla., purportedly brings the guy the newspaper every morning on 17th Street. Problem is, there are eleventy-six 17th Streets, Avenues and Courts -- each in NE, SW, NW, SE versions -- in South Florida.

But the bulk of Shaughnessy's column is about Parcells' history of turning around downtrodden franchises. Compared to past rebuilding projects, Parcells hides in his spider hole and speaks to the media less often than Fidel Castro.

"I've spent limited time with him," Dolphins CEO Mike Dee told Shaughnessy. Dee is former CEO of the Boston Red Sox. "But in the time I have known him, I have found him to be everything you would expect -- smart, experienced, with great insight. An iconic figure. He's a very tall tree in a forest of tall trees.

"The Dolphins hold a high place in this community. In the last six or seven years, they had fallen on hard times. Them going 1-15 was the equivalent of the Red Sox going 70-92 and finishing 22 games behind the Yankees.

"Bill's arrival, and what he stands for, immediately gave optimism to the marketplace. Even with the 0-3 start this year, fans are not panicking. He brings a level of credibility that things are going to turn around. It goes way beyond the X's and O's."

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- What a gorgeous Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The forecast is for a high temperature of 63 degrees and the skies couldn't be bluer, so clear that I still could see the moon when I walked toward the stadium at 10 a.m.

The forecast for Sunday's only AFC East game -- the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets are on their byes -- appears about as crystalline.

The New England Patriots originally were installed as heavy favorites to beat the Miami Dolphins, and the matchup has gotten easier for the division leaders. The Dolphins on Saturday downgraded two of their better defensive players, underappreciated nose tackle Jason Ferguson and inside linebacker Channing Crowder.

Referee Mike Carey's crew will call the game. Perhaps we'll see if there's anything to Dolphins outside linebacker Joey Porter's contention Patriots quarterback Tom Brady benefits from a special set of rules. Carey has called only one roughing the passer penalty all year, so he doesn't seem too liberal. Any borderline call will be scrutinized.

I'll post the official inactives a little later, but we already have a good head start.

In addition to Dolphins third quarterback Tyler Thigpen, Ferguson and Crowder, we already know these players are out for the Patriots: running backs Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor, receiver Julian Edelman, left tackle Matt Light and defensive lineman Jarvis Green.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

The New England Patriots' chances of victory over the Miami Dolphins have improved even more.

Ferguson

Crowder

The Dolphins have downgraded underrated nose tackle Jason Ferguson and inside linebacker Channing Crowder from doubtful to out for Sunday's game Gillette Stadium.

A battered, inexperienced defense generally isn't the blueprint to beat Tom Brady.

A significant amount of experience has vanished from Miami's defense the past two weeks. Top cornerback Will Allen went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 7, forcing the Dolphins to start two rookie cornerbacks (Sean Smith and Vontae Davis).

In last week's victory over the New York Jets, the Dolphins took it a step further and granted safety Chris Clemons his first NFL start in place of Gibril Wilson. That gave the Dolphins a secondary comprised of three-quarters rookies.

Miami will miss Ferguson the most. He's not a star nose tackle like Kris Jenkins for the Jets or Vince Wilfork for the Patriots, but he's in their mold. Ferguson anchors the Dolphins' 3-4 defense and is a solid run-stopper who can occupy multiple blockers.

Backup defensive tackle Paul Soliai, who was in coach Tony Sparano's doghouse over weight issues and a general lack of commitment last year, is coming off the best game of his career. Soliai was credited with six tackles, a pass deflection and the forced fumble Jason Taylor returned for a touchdown against the Jets.

Soliai will need to be a force again to compensate for Ferguson.

Crowder will miss his second straight game with a shoulder injury. Reggie Torbor should start again.

Crowder's absence doesn't mean as much to the Dolphins as the casual fan might think. His mouth has made him more relevant than his play this season. He's a decent tackler but has zero sacks, zero passes defensed and zero forced fumbles.

Plus, the dropoff to Torbor isn't that considerable. The season the New York Giants won the Super Bowl, Torbor started their final five regular-season games and all four in the postseason, including that gargantuan upset to deny the Patriots a perfect season.

The Patriots, however, have their share of injuries. They've already ruled out left tackle Matt Light, running backs Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor, receiver Julian Edelman and defensive end Jarvis Green.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

Why isn't anybody barking about Trent Edwards having his own special set of rules?

Turns out Edwards has drawn just as many roughing the passer calls as Tom Brady, the subject of a Joey Porter rant that alleged the NFL gives Brady favorable treatment.

Porter, the outspoken Miami Dolphins pass-rusher, made some bold comments Thursday on the NFL Network. Porter declared Brady the beneficiary of courtesy calls.

I took that as my cue to sort through the NFL penalty stats to see if Porter was onto something about the New England Patriots.

What I found was that opponents have been flagged for roughing Brady five times, a high number, but the same as Edwards, who is averaging almost one roughing call per game. He has missed the Buffalo Bills' past two games with a concussion.

Edwards' replacement, Ryan Fitzpatrick, also has elicited a roughing flag. That gives the Bills and league-leading six calls in their favor. Two of them were committed by the Patriots against Edwards on opening night.

All but one of Brady's roughing calls occurred in two games. The Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans were flagged twice each. The Titans have done the deed a league-high four times.

Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears have drawn three roughing calls apiece. No other quarterback has been wronged more than twice.

Miami Dolphins quarterbacks Chad Henne and Chad Pennington haven't gotten a call. Neither has New York Jets rookie Mark Sanchez.

The Jets are the lone AFC East team that hasn't committed a roughing the passer penalty, which is impressive given their penchant for blitzing.

Defenses should be extra careful when Ed Hochuli, Ron Winter or Walt Anderson is lined up behind the quarterback. Hochuli has ruled roughing the passer six times, more than any other referee. Winter, who handled the Ravens-Patriots game in Week 4, and Anderson have flagged it five times.

AFC East team-by-team penalties Team Players Flagged Total Flags Accepted Yards Buffalo Bills 36 69 59 458 New England Patriots 26 50 44 347 New York Jets 26 60 52 381 Miami Dolphins 27 47 40 323

AFC East Penalty Tracker Player Team Pos. Flagged* Yards Will Allen Dolphins CB 5 69 Mark Sanchez Jets QB 6 57 Logan Mankins Patriots LG 5 41 D'Brickashaw Ferguson Jets LT 4 35 Geoff Hangartner Bills C 3 30 Kawika Mitchell Bills LB 2 30 Jairus Byrd Bills S 3 28 Demetrius Bell Bills LT 9 27 Eric Wood Bills LG 5 25 Stephen Neal Patriots RG 4 25 Dwight Lowery Jets CB 2 25 Jake Grove Dolphins C 4 24 Ben Hartsock Jets TE 4 22 Chris Baker Patriots TE 3 21 Shawn Nelson Bills TE 3 21 Marshawn Lynch Bills RB 2 21 *Includes declined and offsetting penalties

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

It's a pretty good formula for victory.

Get first downs on offense; prevent first downs on defense.

AFC South sensei Paul Kuharsky has an enlightening item that ranks how often teams avoid three-and-outs offensively and force them defensively.

You can check out the Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon of charts on Kuharsky's blog. I'd run them here, but I don't have the bandwidth.

The New England Patriots and New York Giants are the only clubs that rank among the top six in both categories. The Patriots have possessions without a first down 30.8 percent of the time (sixth-lowest in the NFL) and stop opponents from gaining a first down 44.2 percent of the time (second-highest).

The rest of the AFC East ranges from fair to uninspiring.

The Miami Dolphins rank 12th on offense with 32.9 percent of their possessions failing to achieve a first down and 23rd on defense by forcing a three-and-out at a 33.3 percent clip. The latter figure combined with the Patriots' offensive efficiency doesn't bode well for the Dolphins on Sunday in Gillette Stadium.

The Buffalo Bills are 19th on offense at 36.8 percent and 17th on defense at 35.6 percent.

The New York Jets rank 26th on offense at 40.8 percent and 12th on defense at 39.3 percent.

ESPN's Mark Schlereth, Mike Golic and Matthew Berry preview Sunday's game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

Boston Globe reporter Albert Breer caught up with Tom Brady on Friday, and the New England Patriots quarterback scoffed at the notion he gets special treatment from officials.

Brady

Porter

Miami Dolphins outside linebacker Joey Porter alleged Thursday that Brady gets courtesy calls because he's such a big star and suffered a season-ending knee injury last year.

"No, I don't think so," Brady told Breer. "You may get more calls [for roughing the passer this year than in the past]. I don't know. I don't think I've ever influenced a call. I think the ref calls what he sees. I don't think I've ever influenced a call.

"The refs we have are very good. If they make a call on that, great. If they don't, that's fine."

This year, the NFL is enforcing what has come to be known as the Brady Rule, which prevents defenders for lunging helmet- or shoulder-first at a quarterback's legs.

In a six-point victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4, linebackers Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs wailed about one call in particular.

Brady gestured theatrically that he had been hit in the knee right before referee Ron Winter threw the flag on Suggs. Instead of third-and-10, the Patriots had a first down on what turned out to be a touchdown drive.

"I don't think about [the rules] very often," Brady said. "We're standing back there, trying to make the plays. You can't think about it. And we're not the only ones. Rules are in place that protect the quarterback, protect the kicker, protect defenseless receivers, defensive linemen on cut blocks. I just don't see it as a quarterback issue. We're just the ones holding the ball, so it's pretty visible when it happens.

"We're all kind of in the same boat there, especially if you run outside the pocket. They find ways to protect receivers, and they should. You can't just go and knock the crap out of the kicker. We all play by the rules. If you’re flagged, you deal with it, and find a way to not let it happen again."

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole recently stopped by Gillette Stadium for a few minutes in New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's office. Cole came away with a compelling Q&A interview with Belichick that was posted Friday.

Belichick discussed a lot of topics, from the Richard Seymour trade to the two most important quarterback traits to how he handles watching his kids play sports.

But the exchange I found most interesting was Belichick's response to a question about why there are so many substandard teams in the NFL these days. Here is that exchange, but I highly recommend you read the whole interview:

Cole: Why are there so many bad teams around the league this year?

Belichick: Here’s the only thing I’ll say: I think to have a really good team in this league, you have to make a lot, a lot of good decisions. You have to have a lot of good people, players, coaches, whatever. You need a lot of those Conversely, to not be competitive, you would have to have a lot of bad decisions. One bad decision is not going to do it, one bad player is not going to do it, one bad coach is not going to do it. You’re going to have to collectively, over a cumulative period of time, make a long series of bad decisions and accumulate a lot of players who are substandard for their position. There have to be a multitude of things that go wrong.

Cole: Because you can keep yourself average for a long time?

Belichick: That’s the system. If you don’t have good players, you have money to spend on players. If you have a bunch of good players, you eventually run out of money and you can’t keep them all and somebody else gets them. That’s the system, it keeps everybody average. We’ve seen teams be really good just on coaching. We’ve seen teams be competitive with just a few good players.

Cole: Jimmy Johnson once said, if you don’t take too many risks, you can win nine or 10 games a year.

Belichick: Jimmy probably said the same thing to you that he once said to me: “You’re really only competing with about 10 teams a year. If you just say out of the way, the other 20 teams will screw it up themselves. Whether it’s ownership or personnel or coaching or some combination of factors.” Ego, internal struggle, something will happen to two-thirds of the teams, that was Jimmy’s theory. That leaves you with about 10 teams that you’re going to have to really battle with. Those teams have it together. They’re going to make good decisions and if you play bad football, they’re going to take advantage of it. They’re going to find some undrafted guy or some middle-round pick or some veteran free agent who is going to spark their team.

Pittsburgh is always going to be there. Indianapolis is always going to be there. They may not win it, but they’ll be there. You’re going to have to beat them. Philadelphia is going to be there. Yeah, [quarterback Donovan] McNabb might get hurt one year and they might go 7-9, but they’re going to be there. You’re still battling them on every front.

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 9:

	AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
	Tom Brady and the Patriots have some wiggle room in the AFC East. The Dolphins do not.

Sunday will mean more to the Miami Dolphins than it will the New England Patriots. With a little separation in the AFC East standings, the Patriots can afford to drop a game in early November. Yes, it's a divisional game. Yes, the Patriots are entering a rugged five-game stretch. But they have some wiggle room. The Dolphins do not.

Postseason berths aren't based on how narrowly a team lost to the NFL's elite teams. Tough losses to the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints are losses, and another one this week will make them 3-5, tied with the Buffalo Bills for last place, and three games behind the Patriots.

The New York Jets' self-evaluation during the bye week should include an oral exam. The blogger in me doesn't want to the Jets to change a thing. I hope Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, Kerry Rhodes and the boys keep speaking their minds. It makes my job much more entertaining.

But the words are ringing hollow with one victory in their past five tries. The Jets' bombastic pregame rhetoric is starting to sound empty. The postgame comments sound like excuses. The act is wearing thin. The fans deserve results. Until they start winning, the Jets would be wise to hush until they generate some credibility in the standings. But I personally hope they don't.

The Dolphins need to unveil another Wildcat wrinkle to beat the Patriots. A lot of elements appear to be working against the Wildcat offense Sunday. The Dolphins sprung it on the Patriots with dramatic results in Week 3 last year, calling it six times for 119 yards and four touchdowns. But Patriots coach Bill Belichick knows how to adjust. When they met again in Week 12, the Patriots held Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams to 25 yards on eight Wildcat plays and beat the Dolphins 48-28.

Belichick has had two weeks to prepare for the Dolphins. The Patriots are coming off their bye week, and under Belichick they are 7-2 in their first game back. He also has had the benefit of watching two films on how to stop the Wildcat. In Week 7, New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams blitzed from the secondary every time Brown lined up for the shotgun snap, holding the Dolphins to 27 yards on 14 Wildcat tries. The Jets swarmed them, too. The Dolphins ran the Wildcat five times for 15 yards last week.

Ted Ginn cannot be evaluated simply as a player. As much as the Dolfans have hoped Ginn would become a complete performer when Miami drafted him ninth overall in 2007, it's evident that the returner and the receiver are two different people.

Ginn, under fire from the fans and in the coaching staff's doghouse over dropped passes, dazzlingly returned kickoffs 100 yards and 101 yards for touchdowns Sunday against the Jets. But he didn't vindicate himself as a receiver. He lost his starting job to rookie Brian Hartine and didn't catch a pass. Only one was thrown his way. Ginn reminded everyone he's a brilliant return man, but teams don't draft return specialists ninth overall.

Ryan Fitzpatrick went 2-1, but the Bills have to put Trent Edwards back in the lineup. Fitzpatrick had a chance to seize the starting job while Edwards was sidelined three games with a concussion. Fitzpatrick came off the bench in an overtime victory over the Jets and beat the Carolina Panthers in his first start. Another win or even a respectable performance against the Houston Texans would have cinched it, but he had 63 yards passing before the final drive.

Edwards isn't the answer to Buffalo's problems. In fact, he's a part of the problem. But the Bills have no choice but to reinstall him. Their wins over the Jets and Panthers were ugly. They have recorded single-digit first downs in Fitzpatrick's two stars. The Bills hadn't done that in consecutive games since they went 1-13 in 1971.

Herm Edwards talks about Joey Porter's comments that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has his own set of special rules.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

CBS Sports color commentator Dan Dierdorf doesn't seem to give the Miami Dolphins much of a shot Sunday against the New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium.

The Hall of Fame offensive lineman shared his thoughts on this week's only AFC East game. He said he sees Tom Brady getting more comfortable by the week and predicted Brady will exploit the Dolphins' young secondary.

On the Dolphins:

After their 1-15 season and the recovery last year, everyone in the AFC East takes the Dolphins a little bit more seriously than they used to, especially the Patriots, who had problems with them last year. We only know what the Wildcat is because of how it broke out of the gates. And where did that happen? Against New England last year. That 38-13 loss at home, where Ronnie Brown went crazy, is still an irritant to New England.

On the Dolphins' Wildcat offense:

It is part of who Miami is. At times it has been a real asset. But then you take last week and Miami was basically inept on offense and yet somehow managed to win a football game.

On the Patriots:

The bad news for Miami is every week that goes by we have seen a more comfortable and efficient Tom Brady in the pocket for New England. Even Brady's biggest fans would have to admit he looked rusty at the beginning of the year. Of course, what would you expect coming back from a total knee reconstruction? What you look for are signs of progress and improvement, and he has shown those signs every single week. This is also a Patriots team that has won its last two games by a combined score of 94-7.

On Brady versus three rookies in secondary:

Miami won't start three rookies back there because they're trying to prove something. They're doing it out of necessity. It's their first-, second- and fifth-round picks if [Vontae] Davis, [Sean] Smith and [Chris] Clemons all start. I have a hard time imagining three rookies shutting down this New England passing attack. It could be not pretty. Randy Moss can take a lot of coverage with him by going deep and that will leave the underneath for [Benjamin] Watson and [Wes] Welker.

On the Patriots gaining separation the AFC East:

This is a chance for New England to deal Miami a pretty good blow. If Miami loses this game, it will really put them behind the eight ball in trying to catch up. A young quarterback and a young secondary is not what you would call the ideal formula for success playing against a Bill Belichick football team.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

"Bruschi's Breakdown" is a must-read feature on ESPNBoston.com.

You might think I'm shilling for the company, but do yourself a favor and check it out. You'll see.

ESPN analyst and former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi visits with ESPNBoston.com blogger Mike Reiss to talk inside football. Even if you aren't a Patriots fan, the dialogue is educational.

In this week's edition, Bruschi previews Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins in Gillette Stadium, hashing out matchups on both sides of the ball.

Reiss also gets Bruschi going on his memories of former Patriots coach Bill Parcells and how he compares to Bill Belichick.

A quick excerpt from Bruschi:

"People that I've spoken to have given me a hard time for saying the Miami Dolphins are such a viable threat to the Patriots. But being a former player, and knowing how the players feel in the locker room, they respect that team and how they play. The Dolphins are now 3-0 in the AFC East, which is a big stat when it comes to tiebreakers later in the year. Since Belichick came to New England, he is 40-12 against the AFC East, and eight of those losses have come against Miami.

"That's why I always view the game against the Dolphins as one of the toughest of the year. They play smashmouth football offensively. They're looking to run the ball. Defensively, they always give the Patriots problems, and they do it by getting pressure on Tom Brady."

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

If you're a Buffalo Bills fan who likes to wallow in your team's despair or just an NFL fan who can sympathize, have I found the place for you.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and Buffalo's NBC affiliate, WGRZ, have teamed up to launch "Decade of Disappointment," a sharp and clever site that takes a hard look at the Bills' inability to make the playoffs since 1999.

As noted on the AFC East blog Thursday, AccuScore computes the Bills' chances of making the playoffs this year at 2 percent. Looks like a completely blank stretch since Y2K.

Prominent on the "Decade of Disappointment" home page is Mount Crushmore, with the visages of owner Ralph Wilson, head coach Dick Jauron, former general manager Tom Donahoe and former tackle Mike Williams, the fourth overall draft pick in 2002.

But there are several other rocks to overturn. Drag your mouse across the faces of 17 other culprits to hear an analyst explain another problem.

The site features several videos, including one from NBC Sports analysts Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison, another from Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas and a roundtable with Democrat & Chronicle reporters Sal Maiorana and Leo Roth and the WGRZ staff.