Defense had no answers

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Believe it or not, at least one member of the Miami Dolphins' secondary thought that he and his fellow defensive backs had a decent chance to do what no other opposing secondary had done to Tom Brady and the Patriots this season - slow them down.

Veteran cornerback Andre' Goodman found out early yesterday that he was mistaken as Brady went 3 of 3 for 45 yards on the Patriots' opening drive and finished it off with a 30-yard scoring pass to Donte' Stallworth. It was the first of a franchise-record six touchdown passes on the day for Brady as New England rolled to a 49-28 victory and improved to 7-0.

"Honestly, I had the feeling going into the day - and this is a true statement - I felt like we were going to play our best game of the season," said Goodman, who is in his second season with the Dolphins after spending four years with the Detroit Lions. "I felt like that running out of the tunnel, and I felt like that all week. We had the game plan to go after Brady and get the ball out of his hands as quick as possible, and have the corners cover down the field. It didn't work the first series, and I think it kind of put us on a hill."

Brady completed his first 11 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns, so the hill kept getting steeper and steeper. Even though Miami did a decent job stopping the run, holding the Patriots to 84 yards on 22 carries, Stallworth, Randy Moss, and ex-Dolphin Wes Welker had a field day in a place where the Patriots haven't had much success. Coach Bill Belichick entered the game 2-5 at Dolphin Stadium.

Goodman's fellow cornerback, Will Allen, described the Patriots' offense as "a well-oiled machine," and even when there was decent coverage on any of the wideouts, Brady still managed to complete the pass. Both of Moss's lengthy touchdown receptions - 35- and 50-yard scores in the second quarter - came with two defensive backs in the immediate vicinity. The first one from 35 yards out looked like it was up for grabs, with Allen and safety Cameron Worrell seemingly in position to knock it down or pick it off. But Moss timed his jump perfectly and pulled it in for the score.

"I could jump higher," said Worrell when asked what he could have done to prevent the catch. "I was in perfect position, he just went up over the top of me and got it. That's what he brings to the table being 6-4, you see him make those kinds of plays often. The ball was in my hands, he just took it away from me."

The Dolphins' game plan involved knowing where Moss was at all times and deploying double coverage whenever possible. Hill got a taste of Moss's ability on the 50-yarder some four minutes after the first one. This time it was Hill and Worrell trying to break it up, also to no avail.

Hill wrenched his knee in the end zone when he came down awkwardly after almost forcing an incompletion. He was despondent after the game as he tried to balance himself on his crutches with his left knee in a brace while he revisited the play.

"When I was in here I kind of got a chance to watch it," Hill said. "The ball was kind of on the other side of me, I tried to reach across him, and I looked at the replay and it looked like he only really got one hand on it and he kind of cradled it in that way, but he made a play."

Goodman summed up his and his teammates' frustrations best, while at the same time giving New England's receivers their due.

"You feel like you have the receivers covered," Goodman said. "You see what Donte' does when you think you can double Randy Moss, and Wes is probably one of the most unstoppable guys in that slot that you're ever going to find . . . At the end of the day, when [Brady] has time to throw the ball and he has that personnel, it's a pretty helpless feeling, because I can't honestly tell you I would've done anything different in my coverage today. I feel like they honestly earned everything they got, and that's pretty scary."