Keys to Victory: Week 3 - Pats vs. Dolphins

When the 2008 Patriots schedule came out I was somewhat bummed that there weren't many regular season games that got me excited. Part of what made 2007 so much fun was that there were so many games against good teams. 

But now that we have Matt Cassel behind center it's somewhat of a relief to see the 0-2 Dolphins coming to Foxboro this Sunday. Were Brady playing we'd be wondering if the Pats would put up 60 on them. Now we just want to get the win.

Some things to monitor this week are that both Lamont Jordan and Laurence Maroney were missing from practice on Wednesday and Thursday. As much as I can't believe I'm admitting it, I'd rather see Jordan back than Maroney. Based on how they ran last week it was clear that Jordan is a destructive bowling ball out there while Maroney still dances behind the line while waiting for a hole to open. 

While Maroney can break long runs from time to time, he's not showing the same short yardage explosiveness he had last year. Hopefully they'll both be back; I'd feel much better with all the running backs than just Kevin Faulk, Sammie Morris and Heath Evans. 

On to this weeks Keys to Victory...

1. Defensive Lockdown - thru two games it looks like one of the biggest strengths of this years Patriots team is its improved defense. While the Dolphins don't have many weapons, the defense must continue their solid play. Running Backs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown haven't done much in their first two games and the Patriots need to make sure that continues.

Who'd have thought Deltha O'Neal would be the contributor we all assumed Fernando Bryant would be, despite only having signed with the team just before the season started. Ellis Hobbs looks much improved thru two games and Brandon Meriweather looks like he's coming into his own. With the youth infusion that Jerod Mayo has brought to the linebacking corps this defense needs to continue to improve and develop into a championship calibre squad that's capable of single-handedly winning games. They will need to if the 2008 Patriots want to beat the few good teams on their schedule.

2. Get Moss Involved - the Dolphins are 30th in pass yards against so it's time to see what Matt Cassel can do with his arm. A big part of that will be getting Randy Moss more involved than the 2 catches he had last week. If Miami is able to keep Moss in check it won't bode well for when the Pats face teams who actually have a pass defense. If Moss has more than 5 catches all signs will be pointing toward him and Cassel developing some chemistry. This team will go nowhere without Moss being a significant part of the offense. Look for Josh McDaniels to get Randy involved early and often.

3. Cassel Confidence - this will be Cassel's second week practicing with the first team and his second start, look for him to continue to progress. As always the biggest thing for Cassel is to not turn the ball over. When Tom Brady took the reigns in 2001 he didn't try to force things - that's how Cassel played against the Jets and it worked out well. The offense is in place around Cassel, he doesn't need to do too much. With more experience we should hope to see Cassel making strides, specifically connecting on some of his deeper throws. But if it takes another collection of bubble screens and short passes to win, so be it.

4.  Don't Get Cocky - it could be easy to overlook the 0-2 Dolphins who are in the midst of a regime change, but this is the NFL and at least Joey Porter thinks Miami can get the win. A hallmark of the Bill Belichick's Patriots is that they never overlook anyone, despite their last regular season loss coming to the same lowly Dolphins in late 2006. I expect that the Patriots will not come out flat, and still be eager to prove that one win over the Jets doesn't make their season.

5. Win - as always it's all that matter. Being 2-0 in the division before the bye week will put them in good position. Every win will count this year, especially with Buffalo looking strong early on. A win is a win and 3-0 is an excellent start.