In preparation of Sunday's game between the Fins and Pats, I got the opportunity to exchange 5 questions with "MaPatsFan" from Pats Pulpit, SBN's Patriots blog.  Below are his responses to my questions.  And you can head over to his site to see my responses to his Dolphin-related questions.

The Phinsider: So I have to ask: Do you feel that Bernard Pollard's hit on Tom Brady was a "dirty play"?  And speaking of the injury, what do you think of Matt Cassel's play thus far and how do you see him performing as the season goes on?

Pats Pulpit: No, I do not think it was a dirty hit.  In fact, most everyone on PatsPulpit agrees with that assessment and most of my friends and co-workers here in Chowdah Land agree as well.  As you can imagine, I've watched that hit dozens of times, but the angle the news media got hold of only focuses on Brady; it doesn't show the events that led up to the hit.  Essentially, Patriots' RB Sammy Morris missed his blocking assignment and ended up falling on Chiefs' SS Bernard Pollard to keep him from getting to Brady.  Brady stepped into the pocket to throw to Moss.  At almost the same time, Pollard was working to get away from Morris, moved forward with Morris on his back, and landed on Brady's knee.  I no way, shape or form was Pollard deliberately trying to go after Brady's knee.

As far as Cassel, I'm pleased with his play so far.  With the help of the coaching staff, he's carefully managing the game, not taking too many risks, and winning games.  It reminds me of when Brady took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001.  Brady had to be managed as well and didn't have nearly the on-field authority he enjoys now.  That level of game management skill only comes with reps in real games.  2 Things Cassel has going for him that Brady didn't have are 1) a better team and 2) 4 years in the Patriots system.  Only time will tell, but so far, he's doing a good job.  As long as the coaching staff continues to carefully monitor what he's capable of, I think he'll do fine.

PP: I'm concerned with Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris, 3.7 and 2.9 respectively.  For our "starter" backs, they seem to be starting a little slowly.  Watching the Jets in Week 2, I felt like both of them were tentative at the line, bouncing off the linemen looking for holes.  In contrast, Maroney put up 100 yarders in 4 out of the last 6 2007 outings.  The real wildcard here is LaMont Jordan.  In a heartbeat, I would've given him offensive MVP for the game against the Jets.  Granted, he only had 68 yards, but he had a 5.2 average and the yards were just at the right time.  Oddly enough, all his carries were in the second half and I've heard this is how Jordan was used by his former team, the Jets.  That is, wait until the second half when the opposing defense is tired and hand the ball to a fresh Jordan.  At 5-10 230 lbs, he's a bowling ball with legs and pretty tough stop.  While Maroney and Morris sometimes bounce off the line looking for holes, Jordan creates holes with his size and strength.

PP: Watching the Jets, I was rather perplexed as to why there was no pass rush.  In fact, many PatsPulpit commentors made the same observation during the game thread.  OLB's Adalius Thomas and Mike Vrabel appeared to be hanging back.  And then I realized why - Belichick was shutting down Favre's targets, trying to get him to force a pass.  By keeping OLBs in pass coverage mode, it made Favre's job of finding an eligible receiver more difficult.  We were also using a lot of nickel packages which helped shutdown the passing attack as well.  Then, at the end of the second quarter, we turned on the pass rush to mix it up a bit.  Our OLBs started going after Favre and shooting the gaps.  That strategy seemed to work.

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There's a new, unconfirmed rumor making rounds on the internet this afternoon.  NFL Juice is reporting via a tip from a writer for some newspaper that Patriots QB Tom Brady could miss between 2 and 4 games to start the season with an injury.

Why am I talking about this on a Dolphins' site?  Because the Dolphins, you'll remember, play the Patriots in week 3.  Could they actually have lucked out now?  Are they going to really be playing against Matt Cassel instead of Brady? 

We'll see what happens as this rumor makes its rounds all over the 'net.  But the site does note that the last tip that this "source" gave them was indeed spot on.  So we shall see...

So a couple of days ago I was watching the classic Dolphins/Jets game from 1994 on NFL Network and I got to thinking (which I try not to do too much).  And what came from my thinking was deciding to take a break from all the recent Dolphins news and take a trip down memory lane.

So today, I present to you all the top 5 moments (in-game moments, that is - not as in when the Dolphins drafted "X" player or traded for "X player) of the past 15 years, in my own personal opinion.  And that's the fun of this.  Some you might agree with.  Some you probably won't.  But it makes for a fun debate and is something to help past the time until this weekend's mini-camp, which the media is able to access (meaning we'll have some good reports on what is going on).

So let's get into my top 5 moments of the past 15 years:

Number 5: Dolphins vs Raiders, Week 2 2001

Some might be wondering why an early season game is up this high.  Well the Raiders were coming off of a 12-4 season where they lost in the AFC title game to Baltimore.  Entering the season, the Raiders were one of the favorites to win the AFC and were 1-0 coming into Miami.  You'll also remember that this game was the first one following the tragic events of September 11 of that year.  Living in New Jersey, that day's events were probably a much bigger deal to me than to most of you around the country.  So you put all that together, and this game was a big deal for many reasons.

With the Dolphins leading 10-9 to start the 4th quarter, Jay Fiedler made a huge mistake by throwing an interception that would be returned for a touchdown by Anthony Dorsett.  Now trailing 15-10, the Dolphins were unable the move the ball beyond their own 26 yard line on their next 3 possessions.  When they got the ball back at their own 20 and just 1:41, many expected the Dolphins offense to sputter once again.

It didn't.  Instead, Fiedler completed the first 4 passes of the drive and got Miami to Oakland's 19 yard line with 1:15 left.  The drive would then end a few plays later when, on 3rd & goal with 12 seconds left, Fiedler scrambled and dove in for the touchdown with only 5 ticks left in the game.  Say all of what you want about Jay Fiedler, but the man had balls.  And that moment is #5 on my list.

Number 4: Dolphins at Cowboys, Week 13 1993

Going into Dallas on Thanksgiving Day in some rare Dallas snowstorm and pulling out a victory is a very difficult thing to ask from a team.  Doing it without their quarterback and leader makes an almost impossible task.  So it was up to Steve DeBerg to lead this team to an improbable win.

Trailing 14-13 and  following a fumble by Terry Kirby with under 4 minutes to play deep in Miami territory, the Dolphins defense stepped up, holding Dallas to a FG opportunity.  However, the icy, slippery field caused Eddie Murray to miss a 32 yard field goal and give life to the Dolphins. 

So with 2:16 remaining, the Dolphins took over deep in their own territory.  DeBerg made a couple of big throws and got the Dolphins into FG range.  It was a 40 yard attempt for Pete Stoyanovich.  But it was blocked.  Enter Leon Lett.  After the ball was blocked, the Dolphins can't recover it unless a Dallas player touches the ball.  So if no Cowboys touch the ball, the game is over.  Thankfully for Dolphin fans, Leon Lett slid into the ball for some mysterious reason.  The Dolphins then recovered the ball at Dallas' 1 yard line and Pete Stoyanovich kicked a short field goal for the win.  So Leon Lett's huge blunder and Stoyanovich's kick come in at #4 on our list.

Number 3: Dolphins vs Patriots, Week 15 2004

Who could forget this classic Monday Night game.  The Patriots entered with a 12-1 record while the Dolphins were 2-11 and had an interim head coach, Jim Bates.  But by halftime, the Dolphins were showing that they indeed came to play, trailing only 14-10.  The Dolphins even took a 3 point lead midway through the 3rd quarter on a Travis Minor 1 yard run.  However, the Patriots came back with a TD in the final minutes of the 3rd quarter and another touchdown with just 3:59 left in the game.

With the Dolphins trailing 28-17, it was A.J. Feeley leading a quick TD drive to pull the Dolphins within 5 (Miami went for 2 and failed).  Bates decided to kick it deep and put it on the defense to get a stop.  And that they did.  On a 3rd and 9, Jason Taylor rushed in and had Tom Brady in his grasp.  Despite being in the process of falling, Brady threw the ball anyways (because he's as pompous as they come) and was intercepted by Brendon Ayanbadejo.

Now with great field position, it was up to A.J. Feeley to make something happen.  And on a 4th down and 10 play from NE's 21 yard line, Feeley throw basically a jump ball...which Derrius Thompson actually caught for the touchdown.  Now with a 29-28 lead, Brady would be intercepted again on the next drive and Feeley would take a couple of knees to seal the improbable win.  So Feeley's connection with Thompson comes in at #3.

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