Dolphins Outscore Patriots 23-0 In The Second Half to Take 2014 Season-Opener, 33-20

I don't want to have to resort to using it already in the opener of the 2014 season but how else can you explain the Patriots-Dolphins game other than saying it was a tale of two halves? After allowing a blocked punt and subsequent TD following their opening drive, New England (0-1) recovered to outscore Miami (1-0) 20-3 for the rest of the first half. It was similar to a basketball game in the second half as the Dolphins gained all the momentum and ran away with it by outscoring the Pats 23-0 for a 33-20 win at Sun Life Stadium.

If it feels like a while since New England dropped their first contest of the regular season, it has been. 2003 in Buffalo (right after they released Lawyer Milloy) was the last time it had happened. Apropos of nothing, the Patriots bounced back quickly from that drubbing to go 14-2 and win their second of three Super Bowl titles in three years. Besides the obvious disappointment of a loss to a division rival, who look like their biggest threat, the most frustrating aspect of this for the Patriots had to be how their supposedly improved defense wilted in the swampy Miami weather.

Ryan Tannehill (18 of 32 for 178 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was OK while Knowshon Moreno (24 carries, 134 yards, 1 TD) tore New England to shreds for the second time in a row (he also did that with Denver last season). Tom Brady (29 of 56, 249 yards, 1 TD) couldn't do it by himself and he wasn't perfect either missing a couple throws that he normally makes in his sleep. The easy way to diagnose the loss was that the Patriots' offensive line was a mess with the Logan Mankins trade looking awful at least for the near future.

A few plays later after the blocked punt set them up in great field position, Miami punched it in the end zone on a four-yard touchdown run by Lamar Miller. You couldn't script a much worst start for the Pats or dream scenario for the Dolphins but it didn't last long as New England scored on their next drive (13 plays, 80 yards, 6:36) thanks to a 2-yard run by Shane Vereen.

Miami started to turn the ball over like it was going out of style, allowing New England to convert on three straight possessions. Miller and Mike Wallace (7 catches, 81 yards) both fumbled while Tannehill was picked off on an errant deep ball by Alfonzo Dennard. Stephen Gostkowski gave the Patriots their first lead at 10-7 with a 47-yard field goal late in the first quarter.

As expected, Rob Gronkowski wasn't on the field for a ton of snaps (4 catches on 11 targets, 40 yards) but he made it count with a 6-yard touchdown catch midway through the second quarter. Miami cut it to 17-10 with 1:59 left in the half on a 38-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis but New England answered with a 45-yard kick by Gostkowski with six seconds left.

It's not an excuse since they both had to play in it, plus New England has practiced in the heat and humidity for a while, but just stating a fact that they usually struggle in Miami (they fell to 15-35 all-time there). I don't think being there for Week 1 helped them either. The third quarter was all Dolphins as they scored 13 points to take a 23-20 lead. Two Sturgis field goals (24, 22) were sandwiched around a 14-yard touchdown catch by stone hands Wallace.

Back to New England's offensive line, they really struggled since they allowed Brady to get sacked four times (and pressured numerous times) while the running game only produced a paltry 89 total yards. Cameron Wake as usual was a force with two sacks and two forced fumbles (Miami recovered both). Moreno iced it with a four-yard touchdown run with 3:29 left and Strugis' 27-yard field goal closed it out.

It's only one game but still I'm bracing myself for a week of complaining and second-guessing which should at least make for some good talk radio. Julian Edelman (6 catches, 95 yards; 2 carries, 21 yards) was unstoppable in the first half but he got completely bottled up in the second half. Darrelle Revis' much-anticipated Patriots debut wasn't particularly memorable: he was beaten by Wallace for the TD (well sort of) but he deflected two passes away and recovered a fumble. Jerod Mayo (10 tackles, sack, fumble recovery) played well in his return from the pectoral injury from last season.

0-1 is not the end of the world but 0-2 looks more realistic for the Patriots because the Vikings (1-0) drubbed the Rams 34-3 in their opener this afternoon in Minnesota. New England will travel to new TCF Bank Stadium next Sunday (1, CBS) to play Brady's former backup Matt Cassel who at least for now is the Vikings' starting quarterback. Fixing the rushing defense I'm sure will be the main focus this week with Adrian Peterson, still the best running back in the NFL, awaiting New England next weekend.

Miami will try to go to 2-0 on Sunday (1) when they travel to Orchard Park, NY to face the 1-0 Bills. The Dolphins make their annual pilgrimage to Gillette Stadium on December 14 (Week 15) when you know it will be cold and miserable (advantage New England as always). Along with Buffalo's surprising 23-20 overtime win at Chicago, the Jets took care of the Raiders 19-14 meaning that the Patriots are at the bottom of the AFC East for once.

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Nothing Will Be Easy For The Patriots From Here on Out This Season

It was a very weird day in the AFC: the Patriots had a golden opportunity this afternoon to take control of the No. 1 seed with a win in Miami (after Denver loss to San Diego on Thursday). Unfortunately, the Dolphins (8-6 overall, 4-3 home) had other plans though as they beat New England (10-4 overall, 3-4 away) 24-20 at Sun Life Stadium. The Pats just missed out on another last-second victory as Michael Thomas picked off Tom Brady (34 of 55 for 364 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) in the end zone to wrap it up. The night ended with plenty of help from the Bengals as they lost 30-20 at the Steelers to remain in the No. 3 spot in the conference.

I'd like to come up with a more creative reason or a viewpoint not already shared by most but New England's biggest issues: injuries on defense and not having Rob Gronkowski particularly in the red zone (1 of 4) were a major factor in this loss. Julian Edelman (career-high 13 catches, 139 yards, 1 TD) and Danny Amendola (10 catches, 131 yards) were locked in with Brady, they combined for 33 of 54 targets (61%). Miami clearly focused on shutting down Shane Vereen (2 carries, 13 yards; 3 catches, 8 yards) and without Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins, that's pretty much where Brady's options sit.

This is to take nothing away from the Dolphins, they are a good team and with their last two games at Bills then hosting the Jets, they could very well find themselves in the postseason as well. Ryan Tannehill (25 of 37 for 312 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) is improving and they are tough to beat when Mike Wallace (6 catches, 105 yards, 1 TD) is involved in the game-plan.

The first three quarters were actually pretty dull, setting the stage for a wild fourth in the heat. New England went 16 plays for 83 yards on their opening drive but they had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski (remember that). Michael Hoomanawanui made his first touchdown catch as a Patriot a memorable one: he speared it with one-hand to give the Pats a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Wallace shook loose for a 39-yard touchdown catch and run with 32 seconds left in the first half. It was a huge momentum swing for the Dolphins and conversely against the Patriots' defense which had pitched a shutout up to that point. A 32-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis was the only score of the third quarter and it tied things at 10.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins went up 17-10 on a two-yard touchdown catch by Daniel Thomas. Apparently New England had never seen a swing pass before. The Pats had another long drive (15 plays, 67 yards) stall in the red zone (sense a pattern here?) and Gostkowski's 23-yard field goal cut it to 17-16.

After a timely stop by New England's defense, yes this really happened, Edelman caught a 24-yard touchdown (similar to Wallace's) that gave his team a temporary 20-17 lead. Of course Miami went right down the field and Tannehill found Marcus Thigpen for a 14-yard touchdown. Dont'a Hightower was burned by that nobody, proving yet again that he can't do anything right.

New England is at Baltimore (7-6) next Sunday afternoon (4:25, CBS) at M&T Bank Stadium in the game that was flexed out of Sunday Night Football for Bears-Eagles (huh?). The Ravens are in Detroit tomorrow night for Monday Night Football so hopefully that important game takes something out of them along with the short week of preparation. The Ravens are always a tough matchup for the Patriots and this will be the first time they've met since last season's AFC Championship shellacking by Baltimore at Gillette Stadium en route to their unexpected Super Bowl triumph vs. San Francisco.

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The NFL is filled with punks and criminals but Big Ben & Jeff Reed take the cake

There's something immensely satisfying about beating a team that's fans think they're the shit. Clearly, that is why so many people outside of New England love it when the Patriots lose but is their a bigger group of frauds than Steelers fans?

Cheering for a scumbag like Ben Roethlisberger like he is a choir boy is sickening. The guy can play tackle football but yikes, the hard-working people of Pittsburgh are better than that right? No, I guess they're just like the fanboys of the Vikings who fell hook and sinker for Brett Favre. How's that going? End of rant.

After the Pats shit the bed last week in Cleveland, to put it politely, they obviously were just setting themselves up for their best performance in years: a 39-26 last night at Heinz Field.

New England (7-2) dominated this game of the AFC's best (not named the Jets) and the Steelers (6-3) scored a pair of garbage time touchdown catches by Mike Wallace (8 catches, 136 yards) to make it respectable for their fans who were already headed back to the steel mills and coal mines (stereotype much?).

Tom Brady (30 for 43, 350 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) ridiculous hair and all (still no haircut) was the star of stars and his matchup with Big Ben (30 for 49, 387 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) never really materialized since the Pats sacked Roethlisberger five times (I know, unreal) and James Sanders returned the pick 36 yards for the clinching score (29-10).

After a brutal game last week, rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski showed why he is such a stud, hauling in all three touchdown passes from Brady. Overall, he had five catches for 72 yards.

The playbook for New England was back to spreading the field and using all their weapons: Wes Welker had his best game of the season by far (8 catches, 89 yards), Deion Branch (7 catches, 71 yards) looked healthy again and Brandon Tate had a 45-yard catch. Somewhere Randy Moss gets released.

You can't run on the Steelers' top ranked rushed defense, except BenJarvus Green-Ellis put up 87 yards on 18 carries. His 17-yard rush in the first drive of the game was the longest given up by Pittsburgh all season.

In fact, Gronkowski's impressive 19-yard touchdown grab on New England's opening drive, was the first TD the Steelers had allowed this season. New kicker Shayne Graham added a 31-yard field goal for the early 10-0 lead.

That drunk kicker/goofball Jeff Reed hit a 22-yard kick in the second quarter which would be the game's only scoring.

Brady and the Patriots showed the first half was no fluke as once again he found Gronk for a 9-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. Brady even ran for a 3-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, putting New England up 23-3 late in the third quarter.

Steelers rookie wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (in for a concussed Hines Ward) gave the Steelers some hope with a 6-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter but then Sanders iced it.

The last four scores for strictly for fantasy football purposes: Wallace's 15-yard TD catch, a 25-yard touchdown catch by Gronk - completing his hat trick according to Al Michaels - a 33-yard score by Wallace and a 36-yard kick by Graham.

Patrick Chung was back in action for the Pats and he made his presence felt with 11 tackles, six solo including a couple serious pops. Devin McCourty continued to ball with 11 tackles, nine solo. Finally, Jerod Mayo had nine tackles, four solo.

It will take another effort like this next week as Peyton Manning and the Colts (6-3) come to Gillette Stadium. As much as Brady (6-1 career record against them) has the Steelers' number, Indianapolis has seemingly always beat the Patriots the last few seasons. Should be another good one.