New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins Preview
Patriots look for 3-0 start to 2008 season
Offense: New England heads into this home matchup a little banged up, as runningbacks Lamont Jordan and Laurence Maroney are suffereing from minor injuries. Jordan has a sore foot and did not practice while Maroney received limited participation. Tight end Ben Watson also has a knee injury and it will be a game-time decision as to whether he will play. 
The rushing attack was enough to get a win last week and the Patriots will go with a similar strategy against the Doplhins. Matt Cassel has been doing an excellent job at managing the game, controlling field position and time of possesison while not forcing turnovers. Cassel is able to make both short and long throws with decent accuracy, short crossing routes and longer sideline patterns have been very successful. Having received significant playing time in both games, this will be an opportune time for Cassel to test the Miami secondary with longer passes, since his confidence and accuracy have increased. Maroney and Faulk will pribably split most of the carries, with Jordan being on the sidelines for the majority of plays. Randy Moss and Wes Welker have praised Cassel for stepping up as quarterback and being a team leader. The offensive line has also provided ample time for passes and later on in games are creating gaps for runningbacks to pick up first downs and manage the clock. The one weakness has been red zone efficiency with New England scoring touchdowns on only 3 of 8 attempts. During practice two days ago, Bill Belichick had the offense working on red zone situations and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called a variety of both passing and rushing plays to see which ones would work. New England appears to be a more determined team and is on their way to finding an identity with the new offense.
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Defense: The defensive line has excelled at stopping the run, holding both opponents to about 100 yards. Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork have provided energy and leadership to this group and they are getting good penetration, stopping ballcarriers near the line of scrimmage. Towards the ending of games, the line is still able to make plays and are not showing signs of fatigue. The pass rush is about average but the main thing is that big plays don't occur very often in passing situations. Linebacker Jerod Mayo is already making an impact, coming up with several nice tackles and breaking up some passes. Other defensive starters are taking notices and praising his game performance and preparation in practice. Adalius Thomas and Tedy Bruschi are also having a good start to the season. These linebackers are responsible for many third down stops and turnovres that have been forced. Miami will rely on the run to move the ball and set up short yargade on thrid downs so this group needs to make solid tackles. The secondary led by Rodney Harrison and Ellis Hobbs are playing a little above average cocerage. They are staying with receivers and are in position to make plays on the ball. A few times they have allowed the big play and it's led to a few scores. In practices, there is a lot of time to improve on technique so the secondary will look to impriove on their mistakes. Miami will not throw deep as often as the New York Jets so less pressure and emphasis will be placed in that area. The defense was excited and energized about this game after hearing about the Dolphins' aggressive defensive gameplan involving blitzing Cassel and "throwing the kitchen sink" at him, so they will want to shoecase their best efforts.
By Chad Fukuoka
ProFootball-fans.com New England Patriots Correspondent