Pennington Q&A

Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington answers questions following Sunday's 38-13 win over the New England Patriots. Click the "full entry" link at the bottom to read the entire transcript, as provided by the Patriots media relations department.

Q: Did you work with Ronnie in throwing the ball this week?
CP: Oh you should've seen the first pass he (Ronnie Brown) threw in practice. It wasn't very pretty. But what a strike, maybe he should play quarterback. It was a great throw. It was a crucial situation and he knew if it was there take it, but if not we'd have a field goal. He made a great decision, Anthony (Fasano) made a great catch and it kind of summed up the day for us.

Q: How did the offense prepare for New England?
CP: We knew we had our work cut out for us. You play against those guys, they're the epitome of how to play defense. We knew we had to get the running game going to help the passing game and vice versa. Our guys were very focused and had a great week of practice. Wednesday was a turning point for us. It was extremely hot outside. Things were not going very well and we turned it around coming into Thursday and Friday and had two really solid practices and it carried over.

Q: How did the same play formation work five times?
CP: When your guys up front are communicating and getting all the different looks on the same page, that's what happens. Offense is about being on the same page, it's about communication. You can have the greatest players in the world, the greatest schemes in the world but if you don't communicate and if you're not on the same page things just don't happen right. It's different from defensive football. Today we took a step in the right direction.

Q: Are you excited as an offense?
CP: We're excited because we came out here and we built upon last week. Really the last two weeks our practices have really been good and it didn't show last week and we were extremely disappointed last week on every side of the ball. This week we just wanted to build on that and it was important for us not to hang our heads and it was important for us to realize that in this league it's not like college and it's not like high school, you have to come to play every Sunday. Regardless of your record, regardless of your opponent, you have to come to play. When you do that good things will happen.

Q: Were there big plays to be had down field?
CP: We felt like if we complimented each other well both running and passing that we could get some of those plays. They do a great job. They have such a good pass rush with just three or four guys that they play a lot of coverage. Sometimes the holes are very small and you have to live with the check down, you have to live with the seven or eight yarders. I think the key to offensive football especially against a really good defense is first and second down production. If you don't produce on first and second downs, the odds are tremendously on the defensive side.

Q: Were you surprised at how the Patriots defense didn't adjust today?
CP: It was something that we didn't use on a consistent basis. It was something that we pulled out every once in a while. It's a different look, it really is. I don't have a defensive perspective. I just sit out there and watch

Q: How did your experience as a New York Jet help you against the Patriots?
CP: Staying in the AFC East for me has helped my ability to run this offense effectively. Because I've played against this division for my nine years, I know what each team is about. That being said, you still have to go out there and execute and run what is called. In your preparation it gives you a little more confidence because you've played them twice a year for eight years.

Q: Did you think you were able to get rid of the ball quickly?
CP: I just tried to take what they were giving us. They are extremely good if you turn the ball over, capitalizing on turnovers, they're like top five in the league throughout the years that I've been in the league and they're extremely good. When we had the shots I wanted to take them but if they weren't there I didn't want to force the football and give their offense a chance to capitalize on turnovers, they're extremely good at that. They did it last week against the Jets, it was 6-3, they have an interception, they go down there and score. That basically put the game away. I was very conscience of that and wanted to make sure if the Patriots offense had to go on the field to make sure they did it the long way, the long route. We didn't want to make it easy.

Q: How hard is it to beat the Patriots at home?
CP: The Patriots have amazing fans. They're awesome. The whole atmosphere is great. Never once, no matter what the score was, I never felt like it was in the bag. With the fire power that they have and with how opportunistic their defense is, I never felt like we had it in the bag. We had to keep pushing forward and keep working and not let up. I thought that was a big step for our young team to take today was to hold onto a lead and not only hold on to it but make it bigger and do even better things.

Q: Is the win that much sweeter because it's against the Patriots?
CP: A division win is a division win. It's crucial. If you want to be successful in this league and be a playoff contender you have to win games within your division. I believe our division, the AFC East, has been a tough division ever since I've been in the league. To get one of the road is a good feeling.