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Eric Mangini summed up the AFC East showdown between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots best on SportsCenter this week.

"The Bills think that they're good, but they don't really know whether or not that they're good," said the former New York Jets and Cleveland Browns head coach. "And this is going to be the litmus test, because New England is good. So [Buffalo] is trying to figure out where they fit in the AFC East, and this is when they find out."

Buffalo is in search of contender status. League-wide respect is just four quarters away Sunday when the Bills host the Patriots at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Bills are a nice, early season story. They are the league's biggest surprise at 2-0.

But nationally, few outside Buffalo's locker room predict the Bills to be a legitimate threat to the big boys. Buffalo is ranked No. 16 in ESPN.com's Power Rankings, behind nine teams with worse records. The Bills are more than a touchdown underdog at home against the Patriots (2-0). The Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady have looked like a machine in their first two games and are a viable Super Bowl contender.

New England has what Buffalo wants. And to be a contender, you have to beat a contender.

The Patriots swept the Bills in two games last season by a combined score of 72-33. Buffalo has lost 15 straight to New England. The Bills haven't beaten the Patriots since the "Lawyer Milloy Game" on Sept. 7, 2003.

Buffalo has to overcome a lot of bad history this weekend.

"This year we're all about changing the attitude. We have to go into this knowing that we're capable of winning this ballgame," Bills receiver David Nelson told the AFC East blog. "We have to know that we have the capability on offense to move the ball, and on defense to stop them and on special teams to make big plays. That's all we can control. We can't control what other people think about us."

Much of Buffalo's success will come down to starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Sunday's matchup is expected to be high scoring. Fitzpatrick will try to keep up with Brady, who is on a torrid pace.

New England's offense is getting most of the hype. But Buffalo's offense is leading the NFL in scoring with 79 points the first two games. The Patriots are third with 73 points, behind the Bills and Detroit Lions (75).

Buffalo's spread offense is giving opponents headaches. But Fitzpatrick has had issues with New England's defense in the past. Fitzpatrick has thrown for 676 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions in three career starts against the Patriots. He's 0-3 in those meetings.

"I think that in general they always present a tough challenge for us," Fitzpatrick admitted this week. "Obviously the streak and the number of games we’ve played without beating them, they're tough."

Do the surprising Bills have staying power? Win or lose, that will be the biggest question following Sunday's game.

The AFC East is stacked with three undefeated teams. A strong case can be made that it is the best division in football after two weeks. The Bills have the tough task of competing with the Patriots and New York Jets (2-0) four times this season.

Buffalo has a shot if the offense continues to play well. The Bills have tremendous balance through the air and on the ground. Buffalo running back Fred Jackson leads the NFL in rushing with 229 yards after two weeks. The defense also has improved from last season. It was dominant in Week 1 against Kansas City but gave up a lot of big plays in last week's 38-35 win against the Oakland Raiders.

The Bills are gradually turning their franchise around. Buffalo is 6-4 in its past 10 games under second-year head coach Chan Gailey.

"I think that our guys understand hard work. They understand about going out and getting better each day," Gailey said. "They have learned the systems better. We picked up some good players that have helped us on both sides of the ball, and when everybody gets closer to the same page, you give yourself a chance to be more successful."

The Bills also are the kind of team fans can gravitate to. They're underdogs with virtually no star power. Many of Buffalo's best players were outcasts, people who were let go or overlooked by other teams.

Fitzpatrick, 28, is a journeyman quarterback who was a backup with the St. Louis Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson, 30, spent time in NFL Europe. No. 1 receiver Stevie Johnson was drafted by Buffalo in the seventh round. Nelson, who caught the game-winning reception against Oakland, wasn't drafted.

On defense, Buffalo added veteran linebackers Nick Barnett and Shawne Merriman because their previous teams felt they were too injury-prone. Even Gailey has baggage; he was fired abruptly by the Dallas Cowboys as head coach and by the Kansas City Chiefs as offensive coordinator.

"I think we all have a common bond. We're all understanding each other," Nelson said. "We know we have been through so much. I think it motivates us and gives us that special bond to work hard for each other. We want to be there for each other and make this special."

Fitzpatrick agrees that being overlooked as individuals helped Buffalo come together as a team.

"We're a team full of guys looking to make a name for themselves. We're looking to make a name for our team," Fitzpatrick said. "Although most of us are unheralded, nobody really knows us, we think that we're pretty good and we think that we've got a lot of talent on our roster."

Upsetting New England would give the Bills the respect they are looking for. Most trends point to the Patriots. But this season's Bills have defied the odds.

Buffalo Bills

Defensive end Alex Carrington is getting some work at linebacker and the 6-foot-5, 304-pounder made a good impression.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins hope their defense gets a boost from the return of three players who missed most of last season.

Miami released its first depth chart for the new season.

New England Patriots

Former Patriots coordinator Eric Mangini says defensive end Shaun Ellis will be a good fit in New England.

New England has 19 defensive lineman on its roster at the moment, and that’s not counting hybrid players such as Jermaine Cunningham and Markell Carter.

Steve Buckley of BostonHerald.com talks with Patriots coach Bill Belichick about preparing for the season after a lockout-shortened offseason.

New York Jets

Quarterback Mark Sanchez compares the Jets' defense to the famed 1985 Bears unit that rampaged its way to a 15-1 regular season and a Super Bowl crown. Coach Rex Ryan quickly dismissed the notion.

Some offseason moves by the Jets should concern offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

Defensive end Shaun Ellis says there are no hard feelings with the Jets after he joined the Patriots for a contract that dwarfed what the Jets were offering.

Adding veteran receiver Derrick Mason was among the moves the Jets made aimed at helping quarterback Mark Sanchez develop.

The Jets added a pair of linebackers.

ESPN The Magazine writer Sam Alipour carried out a novel assignment. He presented Rex Ryan a bundle of criticisms pulled from the Internet and asked the Jets coach to address them.

The results were interesting.

Ryan was disparaged for being a bad clock manager, disingenuous about Mark Sanchez, a motor mouth, a hypocrite, a poor drafter and a little more into feet than the average dude.

The most pointed (and deserving) criticism dealt with Ryan blasting pass-rusher Vernon Gholston in "Play Like You Mean It," Ryan's recently released autobiography. Ryan called the sixth overall draft choice from 2008 a phony after talking up Gholston the past two summers as a player on the rise.

Ryan's response:

"There's not a phony bone in my body, but if I could change a couple of words in the book, that would be one of them. Anyway, when I called Vernon a phony, I was talking to Eric Mangini about his combine numbers; he never played to those numbers. Vernon is a great person, and he got better as a player the two years I had him. And I don't kiss anybody's butt."

The Jets released Gholston after last season. He failed to record a sack in three seasons and will forever be known as one of the worst two or three busts in Jets history.

What key event significantly changed the fortunes of the Jets -- for better or worse? Give us your take and we'll give you our definitive moment on May 26.

How many defining moments can a franchise have when it has won a single championship, and that was 42 years ago?

The New York Jets won Super Bowl III after quarterback Joe Namath made his famous guarantee. That moment didn't make my short list because the Super Bowl didn't necessarily change the Jets' fortunes; it was the Jets' fortune.

The pivotal development to get the Jets to their lone championship was Namath eschewing the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals and taking a chance on the upstart AFL. Broadway Joe became the face of the league and remains a transcendent New York icon. In four decades, no other Jets player has come close to matching the impact Namath made.

Highlights have been minimal in the years since, but the New York Sack Exchange of Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam provided the franchise milepost of the 1980s.

The Jets made a splash when they hired Bill Parcells as general manager and head coach in 1997. His arrival sparked a Jets-Patriots rivalry that has grown into one of the NFL's best, featuring Curtis Martin's jump to the Jets out of loyalty to the coach.

Although he has been with the Jets only two seasons, I don't think it's premature to include head coach Rex Ryan's arrival as an option for the defining moment. The culture under Ryan is a stark contrast to the organization under predecessor Eric Mangini. The Jets have gone to back-to-back AFC Championship Games and are considered a hot destination because free agents want to play for Ryan.

Submit your vote with the SportsNation poll. If you vote Other, please give us your suggestion in the comments area below this article.

Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano felt it was important to add former NFL players to his coaching staff.

I posted a story Wednesday that looked into the importance of assistants with playing experience. To follow up, I wanted to share Sparano's thoughts on his three new position instructors: assistant wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, tight ends coach Dan Campbell and pass-rush coach Bryan Cox.

Cox is the most familiar player to fans who follow the AFC East. He was a lightning-rod linebacker who played for the Dolphins, New York Jets and New England Patriots in a 12-year career. He recorded 51.5 sacks, 22 forced fumbles and a nice double-bird salute to Buffalo Bills fans.

Cox never played for Sparano, but former Dolphins vice president of football operations Bill Parcells -- the man who hired Sparano -- coached Cox for two seasons with the Jets. Cox's entire coaching career has been working as Eric Mangini's defensive line assistant for the Jets and Cleveland Browns.

"Since I came into the league with Bill Parcells, Bryan is a guy I've always talked to Bill about in different ways," Sparano said at the NFL owners meeting in New Orleans last week. "Bryan's a unique guy. His passion for the game is tremendous, and that's something that really intrigues me. Putting him in the role I have him in now gives me great luxury."

Former Dolphins defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni often would pull pass-rushers out of defensive drills to work with them individually. But current coordinator Mike Nolan doesn't like to leave the group much for one-on-one work -- although outside linebacker Cameron Wake didn't appear to suffer from a lack of instruction last season.

Cox "gives me the ability to split the pass-rushers up and get them away from the inside drills and exclusively work on pass-rush with a guy that's going to be able to help them," Sparano said.

Sparano was a Dallas Cowboys tight ends coach when Campbell was there. Sparano promoted him from intern to tight ends coach, replacing George DeLeone.

Sparano said Campbell, a 10-year veteran with three clubs, is "a guy I think an awful lot of" and called him "one of the toughest players I ever coached" and "fundamentally really good."

Hilliard was a receivers coach for the UFL's Florida Tuskers the past two seasons. He played a dozen NFL seasons for the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He caught 546 passes and scored 35 touchdowns. He'll help first-time NFL position coach Steve Bush.

"Ike Hilliard comes highly recommended to me from a lot of people that I respect in this business, guys that he played for," Sparano said. "Steve Bush is very good from a mental standpoint, scheme, how he attacks people. But Ike Hilliard would be a guy from a fundamental standpoint that would help those guys, particularly with the man-to-man stuff and how he played the position.

"It's unique to have a guy that has played the inside position as well as Ike has played it in our league, to be able to bring some of those details to the table for a guy like [Davone] Bess or [Brian] Hartline or even Marlon Moore. These guys can learn a lot from him."

Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall scoffed in September that broadcast analyst Sterling Sharpe had no right to judge him. Marshall claimed Sharpe didn't do enough on the field to earn the privilege.

Imagine, then, how much disdain Marshall would harbor for criticism from those who didn't play in the NFL at all.

When you consider Marshall's logic and the sort of position coaches he has worked with, you get a sense of how unstable a situation can be.

As a rookie, he learned from former Pro Bowl receiver Steve Watson. But since 2007, Marshall's coaches have been Jeremy Bates, Jedd Fish and Adam Gase with Denver and Karl Dorrell last year with Miami. None of them played in the NFL. Neither Fisch nor Gase played in college.

Probably not the kinds of guys you'd expect to make a connection.

Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano rearranged his coaching staff after last season. He moved Dorrell into the quarterbacks vacancy and promoted Steve Bush from a quality-control role -- usually considered entry-level -- to receivers coach. Bush hasn't been an NFL position coach before. In 2008, the Dolphins hired the one-time Syracuse assistant away from West Genesee High in upstate New York.

Some help was in order, and not just for Bush.

Sparano made it a point to add former players to his coaching staff because he identified a deficiency. He needed more voices to reach his players.

Although the Dolphins parted ways with running backs coach James Saxon, they hired Ike Hilliard to assist Bush and Bryan Cox to coach pass rushing and promoted Dan Campbell from intern to tight ends coach.

"I feel good about the way we were able to put the staff together with the infusion of ex-players onto the staff," Sparano said last week at the NFL owners meeting in New Orleans.

"A little bit of that flavor and that knowledge on your coaching staff helps a lot. Sometimes, as coaches, we can get tunnel vision and forget about what the players' needs are. When you get an ex-player on your staff -- somebody that's really not far removed -- it helps you a lot."

A breakdown of AFC East coaching staffs shows there are multiple philosophies on former NFL players as assistants.

The Dolphins went into last season with two position coaches who played in the NFL: assistant head coach and secondary assistant Todd Bowles and Saxon. They now have four assistants with a combined 557 games.

Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey has one former NFL player on his staff, but none coaching a position. Former defensive back Adrian White, a veteran of seven seasons, handles quality control.

New England Patriots defensive line coach Pepper Johnson is the lone member of Bill Belichick's crew to have experienced NFL action. Johnson played linebacker for four teams over 13 years.

Then there's Rex Ryan's staff, populated by six former NFL players with 62 seasons and 829 games. Matt Cavanaugh coaches quarterbacks, Anthony Lynn running backs, Henry Ellard receivers, Mike Devlin tight ends, Mark Carrier defensive line and Dennis Thurman defensive backs.

I reached out to three former coaches who played in the NFL -- Tom Flores, Herm Edwards and Ted Cottrell -- to get their opinions on the significance of having on-field experience on staff.

"It's always been a thing with the players," said Cottrell, an Atlanta Falcons linebacker and successful defensive coordinator for the Bills, Jets, Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers, "where they think in the backs of their minds, 'Well, you haven't played this game. You don't know what we're going through. You haven't done this, Coach.' But if you have some playing experience on your staff, it helps offset that."

As valuable as those players-turned-coaches are, they're difficult to find. The best players don't necessarily make the best coaches because what came to them naturally can't always be conveyed through instruction.

Flores found a way to make it work. He and Mike Ditka are the only two in NFL history to win a Super Bowl ring as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Flores played quarterback for the Bills, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs before guiding the Raiders to pair of Super Bowl titles.

"Some of the young kids coming out have no idea," Flores said. "They think they invented the game. Sometimes you have to bring them back to reality.

"But you also don't want somebody who keeps saying, 'Well, when I played ... When I played ... When I played ...' The player thinks, 'I don't give a damn when you played. We're playing now.'"

The transition from player to coach is difficult. Many players focus so much on their specific jobs when they're active that they don't become students of the overall game or learn how their roles fit into the overall puzzle. Others find it difficult to stop acting like a player when their careers are over.

Still, the ex-player element can be crucial in various instances.

"Sometimes you need a bridge with a former player," said Edwards, who played cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles and was head coach for the Jets and Chiefs. "His voice is going to speak volumes, especially during the rough times because he's done it; he's been through it. He can give them, 'OK, this is what we gotta do' speech.

"He's going to respect because he played, but can he teach? That's the whole key. Players will figure that out."

Not all coaches are comfortable hiring former players, particularly those fresh off the field. Cottrell claimed there's a fear of subversion, that the former player will relate better to the locker room than the man in charge.

"Who do you think the players on the roster will gravitate towards more?" Cottrell asked. "The guy who played in the NFL and is young, or the older guy who didn't play?"

The former player, I responded.

"Damn right they would," Cottrell said. "That's why some coaches are intimidated to hire them. That's the truth. They don't want that guy around."

Added Edwards: "I've seen that happen. There's no doubt about that. That's when you're paranoid, but there are coaches like that."

Even so, Edwards conceded insurrections aren't an unfounded conspiracy theory.

"If you've got a former player in his positional meeting room, saying, 'Man, the coach doesn't know what he's talking about,' then you've got no shot as a head coach," Edwards said. "That's why you've got to be particular on who you hire."

The Patriots have a more institutional coaching staff. Their message is easy to deliver when players consider Belichick has won three Super Bowls and four conference championships in the past decade.

Rather than rely on former players, Belichick has core assistants such as offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia (28th season with New England) and running backs coach Ivan Fears (15th season).

Belichick grooms assistants from gophers into coordinators and even head coaches. A steady stream of his acolytes -- Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels, Brian Daboll, Bill O'Brien, Matt Patricia -- got their NFL starts under Belichick with no pro playing experience.

New England's cyclical process protects organizational doctrine from outside influences. Johnson, the lone ex-player on the staff, played 10 of his 13 seasons under Belichick.

"Belichick has a certain philosophy, and you want everybody to be on the same page," Flores said. "Sometimes, when you bring in guys that have been too many other places, they're not going to be on your page because they've been trained someplace else.

"If you bring up assistants through the ranks, then they'll be trained the way you want them to be. Everybody has to buy into the same program."

At the other end of the spectrum are the Jets.

Ryan obviously values former players. Their presence on the staff contributes to the Jets being an attractive destination for free agents, and Cottrell surmises the Dolphins have noticed.

"From a coaching standpoint, he looks at the Jets and wants to catch them in the division," Cottrell said. "He thinks, 'Rex has six guys that have played the game who are coaching. Uh oh. Rex has got an advantage on me.'

"That's got to be in the back of his mind. You've got to win your division to get into the playoffs, and when you look at your coaching staff, you see you don't matchup in that area."

Or, in the case of adding Hilliard at least, maybe it was as simple as noticing the Dolphins didn't match up with Marshall.

After two years in exile, Bryan Cox is back where he belongs: the AFC East.

The Miami Dolphins on Monday announced they've hired the outspoken former linebacker to be their pass-rush coach.

Cox spent nine of his 12 NFL seasons in the AFC East. The Dolphins drafted him in the fifth round in 1991. He went to three Pro Bowls in his five years with them. He played two seasons for the Chicago Bears, three for the New York Jets and one with the New England Patriots, helping them win their first Super Bowl.

Cox infamously delivered the double-bird salute to fans of the only AFC East team he didn't play for, gesturing to Buffalo Bills faithful before a 1993 game in Orchard Park. The act was shown live on national television. The NFL fined him $10,000.

He finished his playing career with the New Orleans Saints in 2002 and broke into coaching in 2006 as a Jets defensive line assistant under Eric Mangini. Cox handled the same position for Mangini with the Cleveland Browns the past two seasons.

A few weeks ago, there was a bit of an uproar in South Florida over a report the San Francisco 49ers wanted to seek Bill Parcells' counsel regarding their organizational direction.

Dolfans didn't like the idea of Parcells helping another NFL team while he's still drawing a paycheck from the Miami Dolphins as a consultant.

Would it make Dolfans feel any better that two years ago -- while still a full-fledged executive vice president with an office, parking spot, secretary and access to free office supplies -- Parcells advised the New York Jets to hire Rex Ryan?

ESPNNewYork.com columnist Ian O'Connor caught up with Parcells to revisit that moment and other thoughts on Ryan's success. Ryan has reached the AFC Championship Game in each of his first two seasons as Jets head coach.

Parcells said he probably would have hired Ryan on the spot for the Dolphins had he not been so close to Tony Sparano, who served on Parcells' staff with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dolphins won the AFC East title in Sparano's first season, but they have gone 7-9 back-to-back years and tried to replace Sparano with Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh two weeks ago.

"I was very impressed with Rex when I met with him," Parcells told O'Connor. "I could just sense that, 'Hey, this guy's going to have a chance.' "

He was so impressed that when Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum approached him for guidance upon firing Eric Mangini at the end of the 2008 season, Parcells recommended Ryan for the job -- even though the Dolphins would face him twice a year.

"I enjoy his personality," Parcells told me two months after the Jets hired Ryan. "I think he's a real football guy. Football is very, very important to him. Those are the kinds of guys that I like.

"I'm happy he got a chance to be a head coach. He's good. You've got to welcome competition. That's the way it is. It's a highly competitive industry. I like to see young guys get a chance."

Parcells also recalled what he declared "my saddest day in professional football," when he guided the Jets to the AFC Championship Game and had a 10-0 lead in the third quarter before succumbing to John Elway and the Denver Broncos.

Parcells compared that defeat to the top-seeded New England Patriots' stunning elimination Sunday.

"It was such a devastating loss, it's hard to explain how I felt," Parcells said. "I'm sure it's how Bill Belichick felt last Sunday. I'm sure every coach gets to a place where you think you can go to the next spot, and you don't get to go. It takes a lot of blood to get back there, and those windows can close fast."

Miami Dolphins backup quarterback Chad Pennington gave his endorsement for their new offensive coordinator and said he intends to play another season despite a fourth surgery on his throwing shoulder.

Pennington told Palm Beach Post reporter Ben Volin that Brian Daboll had a major impact on his development as a quarterback and was influential in teaching Pennington how to read a defense, instruction Dolphins starter Chad Henne certainly could benefit from.

Daboll was New York Jets quarterbacks coach in 2007 and 2008, encompassing Pennington's last year with them and Brett Favre's stopover.

"A lot of the coverage knowledge that I have and understanding defenses comes from Brian," Pennington said. "The year I spent with him, I just learned so much about how defenses attack offenses and all of the nuances of coverage that I didn't understand before."

Daboll was a low-level defensive aide to New England Patriots defensive backs coach Eric Mangini for two seasons before head coach Bill Belichick promoted Daboll to receivers coach. Daboll followed Mangini to the Jets and then the Cleveland Browns, where Daboll was offensive coordinator the past two seasons.

"He made me a better quarterback and helped make me become a quarterback who not only understood what I was doing, but how to do it, and why, why we are running certain plays and why we were attacking certain coverages the way we were," Pennington said.

Previous offensive coordinator Dan Henning retired. Quarterbacks coach David Lee left to become offensive coordinator at Ole Miss.

As for Pennington's future, he told Volin he will extend his career if his shoulder holds up through yet another rehabilitation. Pennington is the only two-time Comeback Player of the Year winner in league history.

"I'm going to make a run at it, and the reason I am is that I still have that fire inside," Pennington said. "I have to go out and see if my shoulder can respond. If it doesn't respond, I can live with that. But if it does, or it could have responded and I didn't give it a chance, I don't think I could live with that."

Brian Daboll knows all about the AFC East.

He was raised in the Southtowns of Buffalo, got his start in the NFL as a New England Patriots gopher and was New York Jets quarterbacks coach when Brett Favre was there.

And he'll be the Miami Dolphins' next offensive coordinator, multiple sources tell ESPN. Daboll was the Cleveland Browns' offensive coordinator the past two seasons under Eric Mangini, who was fired.

Daboll, 35, is a disciple of former Dolphins head coach Nick Saban and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. And like many of their protégés, Daboll's career is a story of perseverance from the ground floor.

He went from unpaid volunteer at a nonscholarship Division I-AA program to three Super Bowls rings as an assistant and now his second crack as an offensive coordinator.

Daboll graduated from St. Francis High in suburban Buffalo. He played safety at the University of Rochester, a Division III college.

His first coaching job was a volunteer assistant at William & Mary. Then he flooded Division I schools with his résumé. Saban, the head coach at Michigan State, took in Daboll as a graduate office assistant.

Saban's connection with Belichick led to a grunt assignment as a Patriots defensive aide in 2000. Daboll worked with Mangini, who was New England's defensive backs coach. Daboll's thankless duties included breaking down game film to record formations and personnel groupings.

Belichick was impressed enough with Daboll to make him wide receivers coach in 2002. He held the post until he went to the Jets as quarterbacks coach in 2007, working with Dolphins backup Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens the first season and Favre the next.

When the Jets fired Mangini after their collapse from 8-3 to not in the playoffs, Daboll migrated with him to Cleveland and was named offensive coordinator.

The Browns had quarterback problems throughout the past season because of injuries and inexperience. They ranked 31st in points per game, 29th in total offense, 20th in rushing offense and 29th in passing offense.

Cleveland fielded one of the few offenses worse than Miami's.

The Dolphins ranked 30th in scoring, 21st in total offense, 21st in rushing offense and 16th in passing offense. The campaign, which included a benching of supposed franchise quarterback Chad Henne, was brutal enough to convince Dan Henning to retire.

When coming up with experts who can provide a proper breakdown of Sunday's playoff game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots, few have better perspective than Eric Mangini.

The former Cleveland Browns coach spent seven seasons under New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and was head coach of the Jets from 2006 until 2008.

Mangini drew up effective game plans against both teams this season. His Browns were the last team to beat the Patriots in Week 9 and lost to the Jets in overtime in Week 10.

Mangini made the ESPN rounds Thursday to offer his insights on the game.

He said the secret to beating Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is to keep him off the field for as long as possible, and when he's out there, don't give him any information he can use to skewer your defense.

"You've got to constantly be disguising, and everybody's got to do it," Mangini said. "It's a lot like Texas Hold 'Em. Nobody can be the tell. Nobody can give away what [defense] they're in because if he knows what it is, he's going to be able to get the ball to the right place.

"He'll do a lot of things to gather information. He makes it hard for you to hold onto your information and not give it away to him."

As for the Jets, Mangini stressed keeping Mark Sanchez in the pocket.

"He's excellent in the move-the-pocket-type plays the Jets run," Mangini said. "They build that off the play-action, but in the drop-back game that's a key component, too.

"You want him in the pocket to make sure that he's there, reading the coverages and winning the game from that way. When he gets out and plays breakdown, he's gotten better and better at making plays down the field."

What if Bill Belichick hadn't scribbled his resignation on a napkin and remained the head coach of the New York Jets?

New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro explores that daydream with the Jets about to play the New England Patriots in the playoffs.

The Jets and Patriots form one of the NFL's most intense rivalries, and Belichick's stunning decision to jilt the Jets is a prominent reason.

Belichick was supposed to succeed Bill Parcells as head coach 11 years ago last week, but his introductory news conference turned into a resignation. He joined the Patriots quickly thereafter.

Vaccaro writes:

The underlying, overriding issue was always the looming specter of Parcells. By the time Belichick held his "Blair Witch" press conference, he had clearly grown tired of his Parcellian link. Eleven years later, we know why: Parcells has never been to a Super Bowl without Belichick; Belichick has won three without Parcells. But in 2000, that notion would've seemed ludicrous. He had to strike out on his own.

Vaccaro notes Belichick's staff would have been in place with the Jets. Assistant coaches Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Al Groh and Eric Mangini followed him from the Jets to the Patriots. So did personnel executive Scott Pioli.

That's quite an infrastructure the Jets would've had in place.

But would the Jets have had the fortune of drafting Tom Brady?

The Patriots selected him 199th overall in 2000. The Jets had four first-round picks that year. They had three choices between the third and sixth rounds and another in the 218th slot. Based on Brady's profile leaving Michigan, there's a good chance he still would have been on the board then.

What do you think would have happened?

I only kissed her, and that's as far as it went.

I didn't inhale.

We did not offer Jim Harbaugh a contract or reach out to Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden.

I've seen enough episodes of "Maury" to know these sorts of declarations rarely hold up.

Tony Sparano said the Dolphins were in "a happy place" after a week of embarrassment and agitation. The Miami Dolphins announced Saturday that they were going to stick with Sparano as their head coach -- and gave him an extension through 2013 -- after a disastrous flirtation with Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, general manager Jeff Ireland and Sparano held a media roundtable in their board room to clear the air and give their side of the story. Much of what they said sounded like spin, but they also debunked some erroneous media reports about their pursuit of Harbaugh.

Ross and Ireland admitted they jetted cross-continent to meet Harbaugh without telling Sparano. Ross said he was naïve to think he could get away with pursuing Harbaugh -- just like that hidden camera and the hot-to-trot decoy in Maury's green room -- without the nation finding out.

Ross insisted he didn't make a contract offer to Harbaugh. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Ross was "willing" to make Harbaugh one of the NFL's richest coaches with a deal between $7 million and $8 million. Ross claimed during the meeting he advised Harbaugh to stay at Stanford, which makes Ireland's presence even more curious.

Ross also was emphatic that no one within the Dolphins organization contacted Cowher or Gruden. Within seconds of Ross voicing that contention, Miami Herald reporter Jeff Darlington, who was seated at the media roundtable, tweeted "I have multiple sources who will refute that." NFL Network reporter Jason La Canfora also added he had sources that told him the Dolphins did reach out to Cowher and Gruden. Mortensen previously reported the Dolphins had done so.

Perhaps Ross was dealing in semantics. His close friend is former Kansas City Chiefs executive Carl Peterson, who has been an adviser since Ross took over the Dolphins and has helped him in ancillary business endeavors. Peterson technically doesn't hold a position within the Dolphins organization. Or maybe the Dolphins didn't specifically speak with Cowher or Gruden, rather with their agents to gauge their interest level.

But for the sake of discussion, let's assume Ross is being genuine in his assertion the Dolphins didn't contact Gruden or Cowher.

That, to me, would make him look worse.

The Dolphins would have you believe they were going to stick with Sparano or dump him for Harbaugh only. If a team has identified that it needs to upgrade its coach, then why not explore all viable options?

Ross said Peterson wasn't on the flight to see Harbaugh as reported. Ross also explained the meeting he had agreed to and then canceled with former Cleveland Browns and New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini. Ross said Mangini asked to meet about a non-coaching capacity through Dolphins capologist Dawn Aponte, who came from the Browns.

The Dolphins will go through a healing process in the coming months.

They'll need to set aside their differences and get ready to evaluate prospects at the Senior Bowl and then the NFL scouting combine. They'll need to work together through free agency. They'll need to be on the same page at the draft.

The Dolphins fully expect to move past this. But so often these fractured relationships simply don't have a happy ending.

The Miami Dolphins prolonged their public relations disaster Friday.

Miami Herald beat writer Jeff Darlington reported the Dolphins had set up a meeting with Eric Mangini, but canceled it. Darlington wrote unidentified team sources informed him the Dolphins weren't going to speak with Mangini about being their coach, but just wanted to seek his advice.

Allrighty then.

Also reported Friday was a looming contract adjustment for Sparano, supposedly to smooth over any hard feelings. The Dolphins' front office embarrassed itself with a futile courtship of Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh and and reported contact with retired Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

Chicago Tribune and National Football Post writer Brad Biggs reported the Dolphins never made an actual contract offer to Harbaugh. Biggs, quoting an unnamed source, wrote Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was "intoxicated" with the idea of hiring Harbaugh after spending time with him in the days leading up to the Orange Bowl, but that Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland remained behind Sparano.

The Dolphins called a news conference for 4:45 p.m. Friday presumably to declare their allegiance to Sparano and then postponed it until noon Saturday with no word about whether Sparano's contract has been amended or if he's coming back for next season at all.

Strange days indeed.

All this happened while I was traveling for Saturday night's playoff game between the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts in Lucas Oil Stadium. I had been playing phone tag with ESPN analyst Herm Edwards all day, and once we finally connected, I had to ask for his take on the Miami madness.

"Feelings are hurt, obviously, because of the way things went about," said Edwards, the former Jets and Kansas City Chiefs coach. "But, hey, they didn't have a good record. They could have fired him.

"But that's the sad part. They had a coach under contract. They wouldn't fire him, but they went and interviewed people. If you're going to do that, man, you need to do that on the QT. This didn't have to be public. You don't need to bring that attention to your organization."

Edwards, though, stressed this saga won't necessarily drag down the team and noted the more critical concern should be what the Dolphins do at quarterback than the current mess.

"If you win, all this goes away," Edwards said. "If you win, this is no big deal. The good part is the season's over with. The players aren't even in the building right now.

"By the time training camp starts, if anything the players look at it and say 'The coach is in the same boat we're in.' The players get it. But if the quarterback doesn't get better they'll be in that same boat again in a year."

For additional perspective on what it's like to hang by thread, I rang up former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel for his thoughts.

"If you have the right guys on the team, they'll battle for the head coach," Fassel said. "Players know regardless, they're still going to be judged on their own performance. It won't affect their performance unless they're not very smart.

"The way it might play a role is in the discipline phase of it might say 'I don't care what he says to be anymore.' But that would a small minority of the players."

Edwards felt more sympathy for the coaching staff than for Sparano.

"The assistants are the ones who are suffering," Edwards said. "They're tied to the head coach. You want to let these 15 or so guys know because when the merry-go-round stops and all the jobs have been filled, you're stuck."

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FALLING

1. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills quarterback: Bills fans have been debating the merits of sticking with Fitzpatrick as their franchise quarterback or drafting a prospect. Sunday's meltdown against the Patriots would favor new blood. Fitzpatrick committed five turnovers -- three interceptions and two fumbles. The Patriots turned his first three giveaways into 21 points and romped.

2. Jets' run defense: It took a statistical review a few days after the fact to drop Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall below 100 yards rushing against the Jets two weeks ago. He would have been the first to hit the century mark against the Jets since Nov. 15, 2009. Their streak remained intact for that week only because Bears running back Matt Forte rushed for 113 yards (5.9 average) and one touchdown Sunday.

3. Davone Bess, Dolphins receiver: He's still one of the Dolphins' top players, but his second-half production hasn't measured up to his hot start or the lucrative contract extension he signed in October. That's the definition of a slumping stock. Bess caught his first touchdown pass since Week 7 on a tipped ball that should have been intercepted. He also fumbled a punt return the Lions converted into a field goal and fell down to allow Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy to intercept and score the winning touchdown in a late fourth-quarter collapse that might cost people their jobs.

RISING

1. Chances for another AFC East coaching change: We could be following an AFC East head coaching search for the eighth straight year. The Dolphins would appear primed for change after a dull and disappointing season that can be described as mediocre at best. The Dolphins began the year with Super Bowl aspirations and went 1-7 at Sun Life Stadium. They lost to the Browns, Bills and Lions in their final three home games. It's pretty easy to see Tony Sparano joining Dick Jauron, Eric Mangini, Cam Cameron, Nick Saban, Mike Mularkey, Herm Edwards, Dave Wannstedt and Gregg Williams as AFC East head coaches who either were fired or stepped down since the 2003 season.

2. Shonn Greene, Jets running back: The Jets couldn't find a better time to get their torpid rushing attack in gear. Greene ran 12 times for 70 yards and his first touchdown in 10 games Sunday against the Bears. Greene's 5.8-yard average was his highest of the season.

3. Gary Guyton, Patriots linebacker: He continues to shine while Brandon Spikes is suspended for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. Guyton had a strip-sack and two passes defensed in Sunday's victory over the Bills. Over the past seven weeks he has three sacks, an interception, five passes defensed and a fumble return for a touchdown.