It's that time of week again. Time to sit down with a blogger from the team the Dolphins are scheduled to face for a little Q&A exchange. I don't know about you, but to me, this is hands down becoming the best read of the week. Please welcome in Derek Hanson from Foxboro Blog, Bloguin's one stop for New England Patriots' coverage. Be sure to check out the questions I answered for Derek about the Dolphins right here.

Phins Phocus: How are you feeling about the Pats' defense right now? Will they turn it around, or do you see a mediocre defense separating them from the dominate Patriot teams of years past?

FB: I'm certainly not excited by what I've seen of the Patriots defense thus far, but I also don't think that it's been the disaster that most people are making it out to be. The bulk of the points that New England gave up against Cincinnati came after the Patriots were already up by 20. The D certainly wasn't great against the Jets, but I tend to pin that loss more on the offense who blew a halftime lead by getting shut out for the last two quarters. As for the 30 points they surrendered to Buffalo, seven came off a kick return, and other seven were set up by an offensive fumble that gave the Bills great field position. That leaves 16 points, one TD and three FG's, which isn't horrendous.

Don't get me wrong, the defense certainly needs work and is nowhere near the level that we saw during the Patriots big runs last decade. That being said, the bulk of our defensive players have played less than three seasons, and they're still learning to play together. I do expect things to improve as the season progresses. Right now, the Pats' D has some flaws, but pretty much every team in the league has something wrong with them. I don't think there's a clear-cut favorite for the Super Bowl at the moment. With some improvement, there's no reason this defense shouldn't be good enough to keep New England in contention.

Phins Phocus: If you were an opposing defensive coordinator, how exactly would you go about stopping Tom Brady and the Pats' offense?

FB: Tom Brady simply has so many weapons at his disposal, that I don't think that any team can shut them all down. I think there are two keys to stopping New England. For starters, if you can stop the run game, the Patriots have a tendency to abandon it and become very predictable and one-dimensional. Once you've been able to shut down the run, I'd say the next key is to make it difficult for Brady to hit Wes Welker. The Jets were able to turn Welker into a non-factor in the second half of their game, and, as a result, Brady was stuck either bombing to Moss (which has a high incompletion percentage) or throwing to receivers he's less comfortable with. That's how New England's powerful offense found themselves shut out in the second half.

Phins Phocus: How much longer do you anticipate the Super Bowl window being open for this team? How much longer will they remain elite, or have they already fallen from that pedestal?

FB: I actually don't see the Super Bowl window as something that is closing on this team. I think it's a window that's been shut since last season, is currently still shut, and is about to open up again. This Patriots team is young. Yes, Brady, Moss, and Welker are all getting up there in years, but they certainly aren't rapidly declining. Then you have a defense comprised largely of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year players, who all look good but just need time to mature. Tack on two 1st round picks and two 2nd round picks in 2011, and the Patriots are a team that could be really, really scary in a couple of years. 2011-14 has the potential for some nice Super Bowl runs with the way this team is currently set up.

Phins Phocus: With the Pats, Phins, and Jets all being tied at 2-1, how do you see this heated race eventually playing out?

FB: It's really anybody's game at this point, although I think New York and New England have a slight edge over Miami. Monday Night's game is absolutely critical. Whoever loses that game will have dropped two of two to their top division rivals. It would be particularly devastating for Miami, because you would've have blown both home games and I'm not sure you can recover from that. At least with a Pats loss, they were both on the road and there's reasonable hope for redeption at home. Still, whoever loses on Monday is going to be in a really bad spot.

I'm going to stick with the Patriots taking the division. In the end, they have the better quarterback, and the Jets just seem ripe for an implosion. Like I said though, it's anybody's game. The only team that would surprise me is Buffalo.

Phins Phocus: How do you see Monday night's game unfolding? Final Score?

FB: I'm very, very nervous about this game. No matter how good the Patriots are or how bad the Dolphins are, this annual game at Miami is usually a house of horrors for New England. One thing that I think does bode well for the Patriots is that everyone seems a little down on them. When that happens, they tend to respond by coming out and playing some good football.

I think it's going to be a fairly physical game. The Patriots will likely get their points and the big question will be how the defense plays. A key for the Patriots will be stopping the run. I think that the secondary will have their hands full with Brandon Marshall. If the Dolphins are also allowed to run all over the field, it's going to be a long night for the Patriots.

Another thing to watch is how New England plays during the second half. In 2009, the Patriots were 1-6 on the road if you discount the neutral site game in England against Tampa. In the majority of those games they held leads going into halftime before they stalled out and blew the game. Two weeks ago against the Jets it was the same old story. The Patriots are certainly going to have to reverse that trend if they want to walk out of Miami 3-1.

I think the Patriots will be able to contain the run and put enough pressure on Henne to force him into some mistakes. Brandon Marshall will get his catches, but in the end the New England offense will put up enough points to seal the deal.

Prediction: New England 31, Miami 27

It's been a couple weeks since we got a little film study in. I didn't intentionally skip a week, but last week's version was lost when the Bloguin network underwent a server change. Oh well, were back in action this week in preparation for what should be considered a must win for the Dolphins. I know that's an unfortunate situation this early in the season, especially after winning their first two games, but that's just the price you pay in a division as competitive as the AFC East.

Let's take a look back at the two games between the Dolphins and Pats last year. The Dolphins dropped the first one in New England but managed to knock off the Pats at home with Chad Henne having one of his best performances as a pro and a defense that bent but didn't break, forcing a turnover on downs and a Vontae Davis interception in the red zone.

Week 9 2009: New England 27 Miami 17

Week 13 2009: Miami 22 New England 21

The Dolphins may have sent a message to the special teams unit today by waiving Erik Walden, who missed a block on the Jets' blocked punt deep in Miami territory Sunday night, or they could have just been making room for an extra defensive end (Rob Rose, who was promoted from the practice squad) with news of Tony McDaniel's one-game suspension. Anyway you see it, the weekly roster churning continues.

Also making headlines today, was a little insight into the Jared Odrick and Channing Crowder situations. As expected, Odrick still didn't practice today, and is probably a long shot for Monday night's game. Crowder, on the other hand, was back practicing on a limited basis, and will reportedly be evaluated on how he responds to the workout. Hopefully he continues to progress, because the run defense could sure use his services right now.

Dolphins' offense: 112.0 rush ypg (15th)
Patriots' offense: 123.3 rush ypg (10th)
Dolphins' defense: 117.3 rush ypg(19th)
Patriots' defense: 119.0 rush ypg (20th)

The best way to move on from a difficult loss is to begin preparing for your next opponent. Similarly, to the Dolphins getting back to work here in the next couple days, it's time for us to begin previewing the Dolphins-Patriots match-up. The Jets game is now officially in the review mirror and there's really no reason to bring it up again until December.

Week 4 is here, and it's a must win for the Dolphins. I know it's early, but in my mind anyway, I don't see the Dolphins winning the AFC East if they lose back-to-back home games against their two biggest competitors in the division. Considering Green Bay on the road, Pittsburgh at home, and then back on the road against Cincinnati and Baltimore await the Dolphins after the bye, they could be on the verge of burying themselves in yet another early season hole despite the 2-0 start.

That's why the Dolphins must come away with a victory Monday night to maintain good position for a playoff push down the stretch of a less daunting second half schedule, let alone keep up in the heated AFC East race.

Even though the Dolphins finally unleashed their passing attack a couple nights ago, and the Patriots are one of the most pass happy teams in the whole league, the running game will, once again, play a big role in who comes out on top Monday night and keep at least a tie for the division lead.

Patriots running game vs. Dolphins run defense
Although Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker usually get all the recognition on the highlights, the New England Patriots have a very underrated running game. After a solid 12th overall ranking a year ago, the Pats are back at it with the 10th best running game after three weeks. Even better, their 4.6 yards per carryis tied for 7th. BenJarvus Green-Ellis has clearly established himself as the most productive in their committee of backs, with a very solid 4.5 yards per carry and a total of 136 yards. Fred Taylor is still holding down a contributing role with 98 yards of his own on 25 carries.

With all that said, though, I still think the Dolphins are getting somewhat of break after facing Adrian Peterson in Week 2, and the best offensive line in football on Sunday night. After stuffing the Bills' trio of backs in Week 1, the run defense has completely fell apart. Sparano even used words like "stop the bleeding" in his press conference after the Jets game. If you can't stop the run, no matter how much the passing game is beginning to take over, you can't win in this league.

What is the cause for the struggles you might ask? Well, teams are beginning to test the edge, more specifically Cameron Wake and Koa Misi, and are finding all kinds of room to operate. Wake and Misi need to do a better job of block shedding and containing the perimeter, and force teams to test the middle of the defense again. Running right at them with consistent success will only get them back on their heals, thus slowing down the one thing Wake has been superb at, and the one area Misi has actually flashed some promise with his motor- the pass rush.

Another explanation could be injuries. Of course, injuries are apart of the game, every team has them, and the Dolphins will undoubtedly have some more, but Jared Odrick and Channing Crowder being out could be holding back this run defense. With Odrick at defensive end and Starks at nose tackle the Dolphins looked stout against the run in Week 1. Grant it, the Bills offensive line isn't very good, but the Dolphins front seven had their way with them like would expect in a lopsided match-up.

With Odrick out, though, the Dolphins were forced to move Starks back over to defensive end, and Paul Soliai filled his void at nose tackle. It's not like the front three have been terrible after the switch, as a lot of the yardage has been surrendered on the edge, but that front three looked pretty quick and athletic in that first game. We don't know Odrick's status yet, but best case scenerio was he was going to be back for this game.

Channing Crowder, meanwhile, hasn't played a down yet this season and just returned to practice last week. For all of his struggles as a playmaker, he is fantastic against the run. Besides, the Dolphins have their playmaking inside linebacker now, and his name is Karlos Dansby. When Crowder returns, he simply needs to do what he's done his whole career. Sure, some game changing plays would be welcomed, but if he can simply return to his 08' form, when he was a complete beast filling in running lanes, the Dolphins' run defense will significantly improve the second he gets back on the field.

I'm a little more optimistic inCrowder's case too. He practiced, on a limited basis anyway, last week. I think another week of practice will be enough to get activated on the game day roster against the Pats.

On another note, Tony McDaniel's one-game suspension hurts the depth at defensive end. Odrick returning this week would surely benefit some of the concerns there.
Edge: Dolphins

Dolphins running game vs. Patriots run defense
Just like the defense, the Dolphins' running game should be getting a much needed break this week. After facing consistently one of the best run defenses in football two weeks ago in Minnesota, and facing the all-around great defense of the Jets, the Dolphins will surely welcome the 20th overall run defense this week.

Does that ranking do the Pats' defense justice? Just three games can be awfully misleading, but I think it's safe to say Monday night will provide a great opportunity for the Dolphins to get what was thought to be one of the better rushing attacks in the league going again. Vince Wilfork is still one of the best nose tackles in football, but the absence of Ty Warren at defensive end obviously detracts from their ability to stop the run. Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo provide some potential up the middle at linebacker, but are nothing like the David Harris-Bart Scott combo the Dolphins faced on Sunday night.

A lot of it just comes down to the Dolphins blocking better, though. People may want to place the blame on an expired wildcat, or Ronnie and Ricky losing a step, but to me, it all boils down to the interior offensive line. John Jerry being sick last week obviously hurt. Hopefully he returns to 100% by practice tomorrow, because the longer the starting guards and center play together, the more chemistry and cohesiveness will begin to build. Throwing Pat McQuistan into the starting lineup doesn't bode well for the continuity.

And just because the Dolphins threw all over the Jets Sunday night, that doesn't mean it's time to abandon the identiy of this offense. They moved the ball, but they still fell apart in the red zone. Settling for three field goals and turning the ball over in the end zone attempting to tie the game isn't a great offensive day in my book. Henne and his receivers were fantastic, yes, but for the Dolphins' offense to dominate defenses and rack up the scoring they are going to need a little help from the running game.

The wildcat may have killed a few drives, but it seemed like any running play the Dolphins ran Sunday night halted the momentum the passing game was building. It shouldn't be that way. With two talented backs like Ronnie and Ricky, the running game should keep the defense off balance and help sustain long drives that eventually tire the defense out. Then, chunk yardage, whether it be from the running game or passing game, should follow.

For the Dolphins to beat the Pats, we need to see both the passing game and running game on full display. We've seen potential from both, but we haven't seen both doing well simultaneously. If Dan Henning can strike up the right balance, this offense should be successful against anyone they play, and should definitely be able to move the ball up and down the field against what has been a sub-par defense.
Edge: Dolphins

Jets 31 Dolphins 23

If you would have told me heading into last night's division showdown that Chad Henne was going to throw for 363 yards and 2 touchdowns and Brandon Marshall was going to have his breakout game as a Fin with 166 receiving yards and a score I would have prematurely began to celebrate the win.

But so much for that new and improved Dolphins' defense. After dominating a hapless Bills offense in Week 1, and taking advantage of a turnover plagued Vikings' offense in Week 2, we probably bought into this defense as one of the league's best way too soon.

All the credit in the world to the Jets offense, though. I have been critical of Mark Sanchez many times before, but he forced me to eat those words last night. If Sanchez can play this well for the rest of the season, with that running game and defense, watch out league, the Jets are every bit as good as they say they are.

Perhaps even more concerning was the way the Jets offensive line was plowing right through Miami towards the end of that game. Offenses are starting to find where the Dolphins' weakness on defense is. The Jets were attacking the perimeter all night long, and as solid as Cameron Wake and Koa Misi look rushing the passer, they can't contain the edge right now.

In coverage, Jason Allen sure came back down to earth in a hurry, didn't he? After two stellar weeks, he whiffed badly attempting to tackle Braylon Edwards, who basically went untouched for a 67 yard touchdown, then cost the defense a chance to get off the field when he played that Edwards' sideline grab terribly considering he had Clemons helping over the top, and gave the Jets a fresh set of downs on a pass interference call in the endzone a few plays later.

Earlier in the game, with Edwards benched for the first quarter, and Vontae Davis locking down Jerricho Cotchery, it was pretty obvious who Sanchez was going to. But the Dolphins still couldn't stop it. Dustin Keller absolutely ripped the Dolphins to pieces on those first two Jets touchdowns, and put them in a pretty deep hole to start the game.

Yeremiah Bell is a fantastic safety playing in the box, and is usually a splendid open field tackler (even though he embarrassingly couldn't bring down Brad Smith on a wildcat gainer of 16 yards on 3rd and 15), but he can't cover. Shiancoe roughed him up last week, and Keller flat out abused him last night.

I know the Dolphins want Karlos Dansby up near the line of scrimmage making plays, but when they face elite tight ends I don't know what other options they have at this point but to put Dansby on them. He's flashed fantastic cover skills when given the opportunity, and when Channing Crowder returns to hopefully save the run defense, maybe Dansby should drop back into coverage more often. They could continue to give Sean Smith looks on tight ends, but I just don't think he's physical enough to get the job done.

Now that we got all the finger pointing out of the way, by no means is it time to panic. The Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots are all tied at 2-1 with plenty of football left to be played, including two games against the Pats, and another crack at the Jets in the Meadowlands. Sure, it sucks losing to them, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. They are a great football team, and the Dolphins can't beat them every time. This is an intense rivalry, it's near impossible to pull off four straight wins.

And how about your quarterback? Revis or no Revis, the Jets still have one of the best pass defenses in the league. Outside of that panic run on the final drive, Henne was as cool as a cucumber in the pocket and was rocketing the ball all over the field. Marshall was the beast the Dolphins paid him to be, as it finally looked like Dan Henning was taking the leash off the passing game.

Speaking of Henning, though, those wildcat calls were riduculous. With Henne as hot as he was, you don't call that Ronnie pass, and especially not that reverse to Cobbs. Those were drive killers, and if he continued to put the ball in Henne's hands, who knows how the outcome would have changed.

I'm not willing to say abandon the wildcat, it's still useful as a power running formation. But get rid of all the trickery, and only use it when the offense is struggling to get something going, not when Henne and his receivers are clicking on all cylinders.

Finally, special teams also haunted the Dolphins last night. The blocked punt obviously killed any momentum they had, and conceded three points to the Jets, but giving up 37 yards per kick return is completely unacceptable. Brad Smith is a very solid returner, yes, but I don't care if it's Devin Hester in 06', you can't let offenses start with that kind of field position.

All in all, a very difficult loss to take, considering the Dolphins could have really began to distance themselves from the AFC East. Now, though, the Jets have the obvious advantage having already beaten the Pats as well. I know it's only Monday, but it's time to get over this loss in a hurry. Next week could easily make or break the Dolphins season. In the AFC East you can't afford to lose back-to-back games, especially to your biggest competitors within the division, and definitely not when both of those games are at home.

It's a hard thing to do, but let's put this one behind us. Patriots week is here, and Monday Night Football is always a good place to capture some season altering momentum.