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We have another interesting poll this week in the AFC East, and it's on one of the hottest topics in the division.

The question: What kind of career will Miami Dolphins first-round pick Ryan Tannehill have in the NFL? Tell us what you see for Miami's newest franchise quarterback.

Is Tannehill a future bust? Many scouts wondered about his lack of experience and just 19 career starts. His stock skyrocketed in the offseason after showing his physical abilities in workouts. But that's always dangerous. Miami's track record drafting quarterbacks hasn't been great. They haven't had a franchise player at the position since Dan Marino retired.

Will Tannehill be an average starter? The AFC East already has two average starting quarterbacks in Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Buffalo Bills. Will Tannehill have a career comparable to those two?

Or Will Tannehill rise above that level and become a solid franchise quarterback? That would be great for Miami to have their long-term solution and a player who can hold the position for the next seven years. This is for quarterbacks like Tony Romo, Joe Flacco and Jay Cutler, who are all solid starters at the position.

Finally, will Tannehill become an elite quarterback? Is he a future Pro Bowler at the position?

Using our SportsNation poll, vote on Tannehill's NFL future. You can also share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Don't be greedy, Miami Dolphins.

Let one of the playoff contenders with injured quarterbacks claim Kyle Orton and the $2.5 million remaining on his contract.

The Dolphins may have been interested in Orton at one time before the season. But they certainly don't need Orton now. Orton can't get Miami to the playoffs and Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore is doing just fine in the starting role.

Moore has won three straight games for the Dolphins and posted the highest Total Quarterback Rating in the NFL last week. You can't bench a player who is performing that well.

Therefore, if Orton can't start for the 3-7 Dolphins, there's no point in claiming him. Teams like the Chicago Bears (7-3) and Houston Texans (7-3) would love to have Orton down the stretch. Quarterbacks Matt Schaub (foot) and Jay Cutler (thumb) are out indefinitely for Houston and Chicago, respectively. Even the Kansas City Chiefs (4-6), without starting quarterback Matt Cassel (hand), could use Orton with still an outside chance of making a run at the AFC West division.

Because of record, Miami has waiver priority over all these teams. But the Dolphins making such a move would be out of greed, not need. That wouldn't be wise.

The New York Jets' season ended five days ago, but that hasn't stopped Antonio Cromartie from calling out anybody who irritates him.

Cromartie ripped NFL and union leaders on Monday over the looming labor confrontation that threatens to put the game in mothballs for an extended period. He dusted off his Tom Brady insult, referring to league and union bosses alike as "ass-----."

Players have rallied around their union leaders by condemning Cromartie's biting remarks, and one of them drew his ire in particular.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck reportedly tweeted on his verified account, "Somebody ask Cromartie if he knows what CBA stands for." The tweet was deleted quickly.

But Cromartie heard about it and fired off a response:

1. 
   
   
   A_Cromartie31 @Hasselbeck hey Matt if u have something to then say it be a man about it. Don't erase it. I will smash ur face in. 27 Jan 2011 from ÜberTwitter

-- this quote was brought to you by quoteurl


Hasselbeck tried to laugh off the exchange with an apology:

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   Hasselbeck @A_Cromartie31 Sorry for the joke man. No hard feelings. DB's & QB's have a hard time getting along I guess sometimes. lol 27 Jan 2011 from ÜberTwitter

-- this quote was brought to you by quoteurl


Nothing forges union brotherhood better than Twitter, apparently.

Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo ripped players who ridiculed quarterback Jay Cutler on Twitter.

"I think it's crap," Angelo said. "I thought they were a union. If that's the way the unionize themselves, they have bigger issues than the ones they have with the owners. I'm very disappointed in that.

"That, to me, is dirty pool. It is what it is. People are allowed to say what they want to say but that doesn't mean that it's right. It's certainly not grounded."

Cromartie also threatened violence on Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward a couple days before the AFC Championship Game. Cromartie said the best remedy for dealing with Ward's reputed dirty play was "Grab his ass by the throat and choke the s--- out of him."

Scouts Inc. analyst Matt Williamson examined the best way to attack all four quarterbacks in Sunday's conference championship games.

For a detailed examination, be sure to click on the link.

Here are highlights from Williamson's rundown of leading men in Sunday night's AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field ...

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers


Strengths: "His playmaking skills are off the charts, and his mental makeup is superb for these endeavors. And Roethlisberger just might have the best physical skill set in the NFL. He is a big, strong quarterback who plays big and strong in everything he does. That goes for the way he throws the football, how he is as a runner and the degree of difficulty needed to put him on the ground within the pocket. He can make plays that few others can even dream of because of his overall physical gifts."

Plan of attack: "Roethlisberger is greatly improved in the pre-snap phases, but he still can be had mentally. There always will be a playground aspect to the way he plays the position, which can be a positive and a negative. The Steelers' pass-protection blitz pickup is a problem area. That is exactly what Jets coach Rex Ryan wants to hear; few teams can disguise and alter their pressures as well as the Jets."

Mark Sanchez, New York Jets


Strengths: "He is fearless in the clutch and often plays his best football when it matters most. His mental makeup is impressive, especially considering his age (24). Sanchez also has confidence in his talented receiving corps and isn't bashful about putting the ball up for the receivers to make a play. He is a pretty decent deep passer. But Sanchez runs hot and cold. The Jets' coaching staff does a good job of giving him easy throws and using the running game to build his confidence."

Plan of attack: "His accuracy is a major problem, and he is the least physically impressive QB of these four by a large margin. To make life toughest on Sanchez and the Jets, eliminating the running game has to be the top priority. Pittsburgh is the best team in the league against the run. Second, you want Sanchez to throw outside the numbers and really test his arm strength. He isn't the type of passer who can consistently drive the ball into tight areas, especially in poor weather."

We have an AFC East versus AFC North showdown at Heinz Field to determine who will represent the conference in Super Bowl XLV. The New York Jets (13-5) will visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (13-4) in a rematch of the Jets' 22-17 victory in Week 15.

But this time we're going to narrow our focus to the heart and soul of both teams: the defense. That is what brought the Jets and Steelers this far. The better defense Sunday likely will make the difference in the AFC Championship Game.

So which defense has the best chance to dominate? ESPN.com AFC North blogger James Walker and AFC East blogger Tim Graham break it down.

James Walker: I like the fact that both of these defenses attack first and often can dictate to the opposing offenses the tempo of the game. But when you start comparing the two teams by the numbers, New York's defense doesn't stack up to Pittsburgh's. The Steelers have the advantage over the Jets in every major statistical regular-season category, including average total yards allowed (276.8 to 291.5), points allowed (14.5 to 19), total sacks (48 to 40) and forced turnovers (35 to 30). Pittsburgh's run defense also was fifth best all-time since the start of the Super Bowl era in 1966, allowing just 62.8 yards per game. The Jets allowed an average of 90.9 rushing yards per game. New York also gave up 72 more points than Pittsburgh in the regular season. And based on their average, that's about five games' worth of points for the Steelers. If you want to compare current numbers in the playoffs, the Steelers are also No. 1 in postseason defense, allowing just 126 total yards in a divisional win over Baltimore. The Jets played in two playoff games and are not in the top six. New York has allowed an average of 342 total yards in the postseason, which is a very big discrepancy of 216 total yards per game.

Tim Graham: No, I don't want to compare postseason stats because the Steelers have played one game at home against a wild-card team. The Jets have played two road games against future Hall of Fame quarterbacks and snuffed them both -- in two of the most intimidating stadiums for a visitor to escape in any sport. What the Jets have done the past two weeks would be a remarkable feat even for the "Steel Curtain." The Jets held Peyton Manning to 16 points and made inevitable MVP Tom Brady appear lost. The Patriots scored 21 points, but the last touchdown came against the Jets' prevent defense in garbage time. But even more significant? The Jets won in Pittsburgh five weeks ago. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took his shots against the Jets and posted a passer rating almost 20 points lower than his season average. The Jets forced more fumbles than the Steelers that night, had more sacks and even recorded a safety. As for that sterling run defense ranking you quoted, in that contest the Jets' running game surpassed the Steelers' average by 44 yards -- an increase of 59 percent.

JW: If you want to throw away the Jets' postseason statistics, then Pittsburgh's superior regular-season numbers over 16 games still apply. There is no way to ignore both, Tim, because Pittsburgh's defense was better no matter how you cut it. In terms of Week 15, I think you're conveniently leaving out that the game was won on special teams. Brad Smith's 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the difference. The Steelers' defense allowed just one touchdown, while Pittsburgh's offense outscored New York's offense 17-13. The Steelers also racked up 377 yards against the Jets' defense, which is worse than the 342-yard postseason average I mentioned earlier. In terms of which defense can dominate the AFC title game, you have to take into account the offenses these two teams are facing. There is zero debate that Roethlisberger is a superior quarterback to New York's Mark Sanchez. In fact, if I were ranking the four remaining playoff quarterbacks, Sanchez would be dead last behind Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and even Jay Cutler. Credit Sanchez for having some success against the Colts and Patriots, but those defenses were ranked in the 20s this season. Even Jets linebacker Bart Scott admitted New England's defense "couldn't stop a nosebleed," and he's right. Sanchez has yet to face a defense in the playoffs like Pittsburgh's once it's at full strength with a healthy Troy Polamalu, who missed the first meeting. Sanchez threw for just 170 yards in Week 15, and even then Polamalu’s absence limited what Pittsburgh could do defensively. The Pro Bowl safety makes a huge difference in coverage, stopping the run and freeing up others to pressure the quarterback. The "Polamalu factor" cannot be overlooked with the Steelers' defense, and I think he's going to be a huge headache for Sanchez, especially since Sanchez didn’t get to face Polamalu in the first meeting.

TG: I didn't ignore either the Jets' regular-season or postseason statistics. We simply cannot compare the Jets' postseason numbers to the Steelers'. The sample size is too small, they haven't played the same number of games, and they've played a different caliber of opponent so far in the tournament. The Jets were road underdogs for both of their games, while the Steelers were a home favorite coming off a bye week. You cannot compare them that way. It's apples and grapefruits. You're right when you say Sanchez has yet to face a defense like the Steelers' with Polamalu on the field. But Polamalu didn't exactly look like a superstar against the Ravens -- two tackles, no passes defensed and a whiffed tackle or two. I'll grant that nobody can expect Polamalu to have two straight subpar games, but he just showed there are no guarantees he's going to take over Sunday's game. Maybe the injury is hampering him. But let me ask you: How is Roethlisberger going to solve a mystifying, multilook defense that Manning and Brady couldn't master in the past two weeks? Oh, and one Roethlisberger couldn't defeat five weeks ago? And if you're thinking about replying with "He's had five weeks to figure it out," remember that Brady had no idea what he was looking at last Sunday, and he played the Jets twice this year.

JW: Roethlisberger threw for 264 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting with the Jets and the offense notched 25 first downs, compared to New York's 17. Steelers tailback Rashard Mendenhall led the game in rushing with 99 yards, one touchdown and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. It's safe to say the Steelers were not mystified in the first meeting after gaining 377 total yards of offense. If anything, I think the Jets' defense needs to make more adjustments to stop what Pittsburgh's offense was able to do well in Week 15. Roethlisberger has played against Rex Ryan's defenses plenty of times when Ryan was the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. This will have the familiarity of a division game for Roethlisberger, where Sanchez is seeing Dick LeBeau's defense for only the second time in his entire career and the first time with Polamalu in the lineup, which is a huge difference. Plus, here is the key advantage Roethlisberger has over Manning and Brady: Pittsburgh's elite defense. The Colts and Patriots need their quarterbacks to play lights out and take more risks to beat the Jets because they have shoddy defenses. This game isn't nearly as much on Roethlisberger's shoulders. He can simply play sound, complementary football with the Steel Curtain defense, which will do much better holding down the Jets' offense compared to New York's previous two playoff opponents.

TG: If the roles were reversed on this debate and I were asked to state a case for the Steelers' defense, the first words I would've written would be "Troy" and "Polamalu," and then I would have made the point that the last time the Jets played the Steelers, the Jets' offense scored one touchdown -- a fourth-down Sanchez bootleg that totally fooled the Steelers' defense. The rest was a kickoff return for a touchdown, a safety and some field goals. One touchdown surrendered would seem to support the Steelers, right? Well, it does. I'm guessing you hadn't gotten around to making that point yet. But that fact also goes to show that a dominant defense doesn't mean a team will win. The Jets did surrender more yardage, but you omitted that the Jets ran 15 fewer offensive plays and spent the fourth quarter in a prevent defense, giving the Steelers the entire middle of the field. The Steelers had the better defense in terms of yardage and still lost because the Jets' defense kept them out of the end zone when it counted. Last time I checked, a game never has been decided by yardage or league rankings.

JW: Tim, I really appreciate you repeating my points from earlier about the "Polamalu factor," the Steelers allowing just one touchdown and New York winning the first meeting via special teams on Smith's 97-yard kickoff return. I think you're finally seeing things my way. At this stage of the season the old saying still applies that "Defense wins championships." That is why both teams are here. Since the Steelers have the better defense in the regular season, the better defense in their previous meeting and the better defense in the playoffs, it's safe to say Pittsburgh's defense will be better on Sunday -- and that will be the difference in the Steelers advancing to their third Super Bowl in six seasons.

The blockbuster acquisition of star receiver Brandon Marshall failed to make the Miami Dolphins better.

In fact, they got worse. The Dolphins won the AFC East two years ago. They went 7-9 last season but still had playoff hopes entering their finale.


The best they can do this year is 8-8. They were eliminated from playoff contention two weeks ago.

At his weekly news conference, Marshall was asked for his thoughts on the team's direction. He didn't hesitate to endorse head coach Tony Sparano's return for next year, but withheld any praise for quarterback Chad Henne or offensive coordinator Dan Henning.

Marshall said he came to Miami with aspirations he and Henne would achieve greatness.

"I'm not sure," Marshall said. "We had some opportunities this year to do that, and we didn't get it done. I guess we have to evaluate what we've done this year and see if we can improve and see if can become good before we become great."

Marshall joined the Dolphins with three straight 100-reception campaigns and 10 touchdowns last year.

With one game left, he has 81 catches and three touchdowns.

Marshall advised Henne to chuck the ball around more often and trust him to make the catch. In talking about Marshall's previous quarterbacks, he said "Jay Cutler was my guy. He threw it up."

"Just got to let it go, you know?" Marshall said in a story by South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter Mike Berardino. "Don't worry about the consequences. Just throw it up and see what happens. Throw a pick or whatever. Let's live and die by it.

"We want to play smart football, and we want to be consistent, but at the same time if you look at what teams do with Roddy White, Calvin Johnson, that's something I'm used to in the past, just guys believing in me.

"You make plays like that, you build confidence in each other. You get a little snowball effect. We didn't get that this year, and it's disappointing."

CHICAGO -- A look at the New York Jets' loss against the Chicago Bears.

What it means: The New York Jets lucked out -- just like last season. They played Arena League defense and fell to the Chicago Bears 38-34, but they backed into the playoffs because the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Washington Redskins. It was a hollow way to make it for the second straight year, but Rex Ryan, no doubt, will say defiantly, “We’ll take it. We’re not apologizing to anyone.” Right.

The shoulder: Mark Sanchez, he of the ballyhooed sore throwing shoulder, played remarkably well under the circumstances -- until his final throw. At his own 33 with just under a minute to play, he broke a cardinal rule, trying to throw down the sideline against a Cover 2 defense. It was intercepted by Chris Harris, ending the game. His throws lacked some zip, perhaps because of his shoulder.

Too bad, because Sanchez had played wonderfully until then. He opened by hitting his first nine passes, and he finished 24-for-37 for 269 yards and one touchdown. He should’ve had two touchdown passes, but tight end Dustin Keller dropped a pass in the end zone.

Sanchez showed patience against the Bears’ Cover 2 defense, throwing short passes and finding seams in their zone scheme. The slant routes and in-cuts were there all day, and he consistently found Braylon Edwards (6 catches for 78 yards).

If Sanchez’s shoulder was bothering him -- he has minor cartilage damage -- it didn’t show. His improved play over the past two weeks is a positive for the Jets.

Weird call: The Jets got cute with a seven-point halftime lead, trying a fake punt from their 40 on the opening possession of the third quarter. Sanchez, the up-back in punt formation, rolled right and threw an incompletion to Brad Smith. It was a strange decision, to be sure, but it should’ve worked. Smith was open and had enough for the first down -- three yards -- but he dropped it. It was a huge momentum shift.

Where’s the D? Facing the league’s 30th-rated offense, the Jets’ defense sprung leaks everywhere -- no pass rush, porous coverage in the secondary and shoddy tackling. The Bears opened the second half by scoring on three straight possessions. The Jets made offensive coordinator Mike Martz look like the genius he thinks he is.

In the past two games, the Jets have allowed 700 total yards -- a major concern as they head into a likely postseason appearance. They prepared to stop the Bears’ running game, but the Bears adjusted and put the ball in Jay Cutler’s hands.

Cutler shredded them in the third quarter, throwing three touchdowns and passing for 117 yards. Naturally, he stayed away from cornerback Darrelle Revis and picked on everybody else, burning safety Dwight Lowery, cornerback Antonio Cromartie and nickel back Drew Coleman for touchdowns.

Greene day: Shonn Greene, not LaDainian Tomlinson, was the feature back. Very interesting. Tomlinson didn’t appear on the injury report, so this had to be a coach’s decision. Not only did Greene (12 carries for 70 yards) take a lot of reps for Tomlinson in the base offense, but he also replaced him as the third-down back in many situations.

Pick-six, burn-six: Lowery, starting his second game at safety for Eric Smith (concussion), was involved in three scoring plays -- two negative, one positive. He scored on a 20-yard interception return (his second of the season), but he also got torched by receiver Johnny Knox on a 40-yard touchdown and missed a tackle on a 22-yard scoring run by Matt Forte.

Brick wall: Bears defensive end Julius Peppers had a quiet game, and there was a reason for that -- left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson did a fantastic job in pass protection, locking down Sanchez’s blind side.

What’s ahead: The Jets close the regular season with a home game against the Buffalo Bills (4-11). They crushed the Bills in October 38-14, but Chan Gailey’s team has improved -- Sunday’s blowout loss to the New England Patriots notwithstanding.

ESPN analysts Tedy Bruschi, Mark Schlereth and Matthew Berry discuss some key matchups in Sunday's game between the New York Jets and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

Mark Schlereth and Marcellus Wiley give their thoughts on Sunday's game between the New York Jets and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Both ESPN analysts predict the Jets will win because they'll generate plenty of pressure on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.

In a game between quarterbacks with reputations for being careless, you better believe the one who avoids interceptions will give his team a significant advantage Sunday.

That's why AccuScore's report for the New York Jets and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field focuses on Mark Sanchez and Jay Cutler and little else.

The Bears won 59 percent of AccuScore's 10,000 simulations by an average of three points. With that foundation, the trends also favored Cutler when it came to being efficient.

In simulations where Sanchez didn't throw an interception, the Jets' chances increased to just 55 percent. When Cutler didn't throw one, the Bears' chances rose to 72 percent.

In games when the Jets averaged 4 yards per carry against the NFL's third-ranked run defense, they won 51 percent of the time. The Jets averaged 4.8 yards against the top-rated Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend.

CHICAGO -- Rapid reaction from the Patriots’ stunning 36-7 blowout of the Bears at snowy, windy Soldier Field.

What it means: The Patriots improve to 11-2 and clinch a playoff spot, but this type of convincing effort figures to have analysts thinking about much more than just a playoff spot for this team. The Patriots, who had a 33-0 lead at halftime, look like a well-oiled machine capable of a Super Bowl run.

Impressive burst from Patriots over seven quarters: The Patriots have been on a tear since the fourth quarter of their Thanksgiving win over the Lions. From the fourth quarter of that game, through the second quarter of Sunday’s win over the Bears, the Patriots outscored opponents 99-3.

Brady’s interception streak intact: Quarterback Tom Brady continues his remarkable stretch of error-free football. He has now gone eight games without an interception, his last pick coming Oct. 17 on a Hail Mary at the end of regulation against the Ravens. Brady had a few passes tipped the Bears almost intercepted. His MVP candidacy only grew stronger after this effort.

Guyton steps into Spikes’ role and delivers: With rookie inside linebacker Brandon Spikes serving the first game of his four-game suspension, Gary Guyton stepped into a full-time role and came up with two big plays -- a 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter and an interception in the third quarter.

McCourty the big injury to watch: Rookie cornerback Devin McCourty, who has been impressive in locking down the left side and totaling six interceptions, left the game in the second quarter with a rib injury and did not return. The potential loss of McCourty would be a big blow to the Patriots, who have been dressing just three corners on game-day. In addition, defensive lineman Ron Brace (head) left the game in the third quarter and did not return.

Bears crash back to earth: Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had said during the week that “We’re the best team, period.” They didn’t play like it on this day. The Bears were outclassed, with quarterback Jay Cutler turning into the “Cutler of old” with a mistake-filled performance while the defense was shredded by Brady and Co.

What’s next: The Patriots return home to face the Packers in a Sunday night game. Green Bay lost at Detroit and could be without quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who left the game against the Lions with a concussion. It is Rodgers’ second concussion of the season.

A couple of former players turned analysts are suspicious about Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall's bad hamstring.

Steve Tasker and Qadry Ismail told Palm Beach Post reporter Brian Biggane that Marshall's injury seemed rather fishy to them. Marshall left the Week 11 game against the Chicago Bears in the second quarter. He has missed the past two games and is questionable for Sunday's rematch with the New York Jets at the Meadowlands.

"When a guy pulls a hamstring at this point of the season, that tells me one thing and that is that he's not in shape," Tasker, a seven-time Pro Bowler and Hall of Fame semifinalist, told Biggane. "I could see it maybe very early in a game if he hadn't warmed up properly. But this happened well into [the Bears game], and he'd already been involved quite a bit. It was really a surprise to me."

That wasn't the first time respected former players questioned Marshall's conditioning. NFL Network analysts Sterling Sharpe, Solomon Wilcots and Mike Mayock were critical of Marshall's laziness in the waning moments of a Week 3 home loss to the Jets.

Ismail suggested Marshall was quitting on the Dolphins. Ismail, a two-time 1,000-yard receiver who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, made a mental note of Marshall being worked on by trainers before the Bears game.

"It was like, 'I'm glad he's taking care of his body. It puts him in a better position to win,' " Ismail said. "But after that it caught me off guard to see him get hurt. And it's been surprising to me that it's taken him this long to come back from it. When guys do things differently, like he does, they normally come back a lot faster than that.

"I'll be curious to see how motivated he plays [Sunday against the Jets]. In other words, I'm not expecting too much."

Marshall's season has been a serious disappointment. The Dolphins made him the NFL's highest-paid receiver after acquiring him from the Denver Broncos for two second-round draft picks.

He has decent reception numbers but just one touchdown catch. In his past two games he has been flagged for chucking a ball into the stands and for throwing one at former Broncos teammate Jay Cutler on the Bears' sideline.

Marshall claimed he was keeping his lack of production in perspective.

"The great players around the league want to be put in position to help the team," Marshall said Thursday. "But sometimes, like Coach [Tony] Sparano taught me and is trying to teach me still, some days it's a shot glass and some days it's a wheel barrow.

"You got to understand that, and you just got to try to be mentally tough, and it's a struggle when you're used to catching a bunch of balls or being so involved. But we got to do what's best for the team and hopefully get a couple wins here and have some things fall into place for us and get in that postseason."

ESPN analysts Herm Edwards and Mark Schlereth preview Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Schlereth picks the Patriots to win, but Edwards believes the Bears will find be triumphant on their atrocious playing surface.

The best way for the Chicago Bears to beat the New England Patriots is to knock molten quarterback Tom Brady off his game.

That will be a difficult task and doesn't seem likely based on the way Brady has been playing the past few weeks, but the Cleveland Browns managed to do it last month, and the Bears field a much more formidable defense than that.

AccuScore's 10,000 simulations returned a Patriots victory 61 percent of the time at Soldier Field by an average of four points.

In 25 percent of the mock-ups, Brady extended his streak of throwing at least two touchdown passes and zero interceptions. The Patriots won 80 percent of those simulations.

When the Bears sack Brady at least three times and force him to throw an interception (he has thrown 228 straight passes without one), they won 63 percent of the time.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler averaged 1.7 touchdown passes, but 1.4 interceptions. When Cutler threw no more than one interception and Matt Forte averaged 4 yards a carry, the Bears became 65 percent favorites.

A few thoughts about Miami's 16-0 loss to the Bears.

What it means: The Dolphins technically aren't out of the playoff race, but they're almost out of hope.

To get a wild-card berth, the Dolphins must catch either the AFC East runners-up (New York Jets or New England Patriots) or surpass the AFC North runners-up (Baltimore Ravens or Pittsburgh Steelers) while also outjockeying the other teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans.

The Dolphins won't win many tiebreakers, having already lost head-to-head versus the Jets, Patriots, Steelers and Ravens.

Rare shutout: The Dolphins had been blanked at home only once in the past 40 years. That was in 2001 against the Jets.

Dolphins quarterback update: Tyler Thigpen didn't get much help. His line was banged up, the Dolphins failed to establish a running game and he had only three days to prepare for the match. Still, Thigpen didn't give Dolfans much hope for the homestretch, completing 17 of 29 passes for 187 yards and an interception.

Miami abandons the run: The Dolphins rushed for a season-low 39 yards, with Thigpen gaining 27 of them. Ronnie Brown ran three times for 10 yards. Ricky Williams ran three times for 1 yard.

Marshall disappoints again: Brandon Marshall, after insisting over the summer he was a changed man, is living up to his reputation as a clown. On one second quarter possession he had two bad drops and was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct along the Bears sideline for throwing the ball at old Denver Broncos teammate Jay Cutler. That's the second straight week Marshall was flagged for chucking the ball after a catch. Marshall permanently left the game in the second quarter with a right hamstring injury.

More injuries: The Dolphins are eroding by the week, but at least they have 10 days to slather on some spackle. Cory Procter, playing center for the injured Joe Berger, went down with a non-contact knee injury in the first quarter. That's bad news. Left guard Richie Incognito was shifted to center and had trouble with shotgun snaps.

Wake a bright spot for Miami: Unless he gets hurt, Dolphins outside linebacker Cameron Wake is headed to the Pro Bowl. He was a force in the first half, recording a strip sack (the Bears recovered) and drawing two holding calls on tackle J'Marcus Webb.

Third-down woes: Miami was awful on third down. Chicago converted 55 percent in the game. On a drive that straddled the first and second quarters, Chicago converted third downs of 9 and 16 yards (a Cutler scramble) before kicking a field goal. Miami's offense converted 9 percent of its third downs.

Henne in uniform: Chad Henne dressed as the third quarterback. That doesn't necessarily indicate anything about his injured knee, but it's a better sign than going to the injured reserve. The thing is, if the Dolphins can't generate any momentum, then there's no motivation to bring him back this year, and they might as well shelve him.

What's next: The Dolphins have extra time to prepare, but they'll have to travel cross-continent to play the Oakland Raiders in Week 12.