A grave situation needs to be buried

FOXBOROUGH - Legend has it there's a single unmarked cemetery plot near Gillette Stadium, where Patriots coach Bill Belichick symbolically buried a game ball following a lopsided loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 4 of the 2001 season.

If Richard Seymour has his way, a second plot would be dug as early as today.

Following the Patriots' 38-13 drubbing at the hands of the Dolphins yesterday at Gillette, Seymour suggested New England should watch the tape, learn from it, and then possibly break out the shovels.

"We'll try to get the corrections from this film, then bury it," said Seymour. "We'll bury the tape out there on the field."

Unfortunately for Seymour, it was the Patriots' defense that got buried yesterday. Miami piled up 461 net yards (216 on the ground; 245 through the air) and 23 first downs, while scoring five touchdowns (the Patriots' defense had allowed just two touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season).

Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown played the role of undertaker by rushing for 113 yards on 17 carries, scoring a team-record four touchdowns on the ground, and passing for another score. But there were plenty of pallbearers decked in teal as the Dolphins paraded up and down the Gillette turf, scoring on five of their first seven possessions - all touchdowns.

"They kicked our butts," safety Rodney Harrison surmised.

But despite the loss, there was no panic among the defensive leaders in the New England locker room. Like Seymour, Harrison suggested the team would learn from the loss, especially with the bye week making it impossible to move on quickly.

"You never throw a game out," said Harrison. "I don't care if it's a 40-point win or a 40-point loss. You always have to learn something from it. We understand it's a long season. We're not going to blow people out. We're going to win tough games and we have to come to work every day and play with consistency."

It was Miami quarterback Chad Pennington who oozed consistency as he picked apart the Patriots' defense by completing 17 of 20 passes for 226 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

When the Patriots keyed on Brown and Ricky Williams (16 carries, 98 yards), the veteran quarterback made them pay by finding soft spots in coverage.

"We were kind of running around like chickens with our heads cut off," said Seymour. "We really didn't know what to do. We didn't even make the plays when we had them wrapped up or bottled up."

Added Jarvis Green: "This just wasn't New England Patriots football today."

"We just weren't making the plays. We went into the locker room and came out ready to adjust and got everything together that we needed to do to make the plays and we didn't make the plays. They still outplayed us."

Not only didn't the Patriots' defense have answers for the Dolphins, it didn't have answers for another tough question: When was the last time the team endured such a beating?

"I don't know, maybe '02?" said Seymour, who was reminded of a 41-17 loss to San Diego from the 2005 season but still couldn't place the date.

"Was that '03 or '04? Something like that. Hey, what can you do? You get knocked down, you have to get back up and stay in the fight."

Indeed, the Patriots have a history of rebounding from tough early-season losses. There was the 31-0 loss to the Bills in the 2003 season-opener (New England finished 14-2 that year). Or even that fateful Miami game from 2001. The Patriots won 10 of their final 12 regular-season games that year before claiming the first of three Super Bowl crowns.

"It's just one bump in the road," said Harrison. "I told the guys that we just need to learn from it and come to work tomorrow with a positive attitude."

Chris Forsberg can be reached at cforsberg@boston.com. For a video interview with Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour, visit Boston.com/sports.