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The New England Patriots are a solid favorite with a 65% chance to beat the Buffalo Bills. BenJarvus Green-Ellis is projected for 63 rushing yards and a 43% chance of having at least 1 rushing TD. In the 35% of simulations where Buffalo Bills wins, Ryan Fitzpatrick averages 2.54 TD passes vs 0.71 interceptions, while in losses he has a ratio of 1.83 TDs to 1.33 interceptions. Fred Jackson averages 75 rushing yards and 0.49 rushing TDs in Buffalo Bills wins and 51 yards and 0.29 TDs in losses. The New England Patriots have a 31% chance of forcing more turnovers than they commit. Positive turnover margin helps them win 85% of the time. SPREADS / TOTALS: Current Point Spread is BUF +9 — Over/Under line is 51.5

‘CURRENT SEASON: We advise relying on these trends after the first 3 weeks of the season.

LAST SEASON: We advise factoring for these trends for the first 3 to 6 weeks of the Current Season.

OVER-UNDER TRENDS

By Jeremy Gottlieb, Patriots Daily Staff

Sunday couldn’t have been a better day for football in Foxboro and the Patriots obliged their fans with another impressive win, a 35-21 beating of the San Diego Chargers in the 2011 home opener. The game unfolded like so many of the Pats previous regular season games from the last two seasons, with the offense rolling at nearly unstoppable speed while the defense had to scratch, grab and claw just to avoid getting blown off the field. Once again, Tom Brady had to come up with an otherworldly performance to pick up his D, which is no closer to being able to be considered good than its been in years. Luckily, yards don’t matter while points to which is why the Pats are 2-0 despite allowing an average of over 470 per game through two weeks. They bend and bend and bend and bend but they just don’t break and while that’s nice when a guy like Brady passes for 940 yards and seven TDs in two games, one of these weeks No. 12 may only pass for, say, 325 and a couple of scores. Plays were made when they needed to be though (four forced turnovers, another huge goal line stand), and it certainly helps that the Chargers are poorly coached by an overmatched coordinator type and shot themselves in the foot all afternoon. And since we like to stay positive here at Patriots Daily, we’ll try to focus on what’s good, not what’s worrisome. And what’s good revolves primarily around Brady and the offense, responsible for another 500+ yard output. There were a couple of hiccups (a penalty or two, a missed throw or assignment here and there) but to spend too much time on any of that would be nitpicking. The Pats are a juggernaut on offense – even Chad Ochocinco got into the act against the Chargers – and with its next two games against weaker defenses like Buffalo and Oakland on the schedule, there’s no reason to believe these videogame-esque, record pace type showings won’t go on. So with that, let’s get to this week’s report card, served with just the right amount of home cooking.

OFFENSE: A

Quarterbacks: A+

Ho hum. 31-of-40, 423 yards, 10.6 yards per attempt, three TDs, no picks, 135.7 passer rating. It’s old hat for Brady at this point. The Chargers came in supposedly having a top-level defense but if that’s true, they must have left their top-level cleats on the team bus or maybe even back in Southern California. Brady picked them apart routinely, sitting back in the pocket for most of the day and finding open man after open man in the middle of the zone coverages the San Diego D kept showing him. Seven different receivers caught passes from Brady, who if he didn’t, should have sent a bottle of champagne to Chargers defensive coordinator Greg Manusky for calling off his pass rushers in favor of those zone looks over and over again. The only times Brady looked anything less than Superman were when the Chargers rushed more than four guys (when they did, he was sacked twice and hit five other times). But again, the Chargers, for all their talent, are coached by people not fit to be coaching (hence their woeful under achievement the past few years, but for more on that, come back Friday for Around The League!), so they stuck with what wasn’t working instead of what was. Brady had to have laughed at that while carving up the Chargers secondary. He operated the no-huddle at peak efficiency. He made every throw as usual, the best of which were TD tosses to Aaron Hernandez (high, back shoulder, out of everyone’s reach but A-Herb’s despite good coverage), two to Rob Gronkowski (both rifle shots over the middle that were perfectly timed) and a couple of sideline throws to Deion Branch at the end of the first half that allowed the Pats a field goal and a 13-point lead at the break. He led another 99-yard scoring drive (this one in 10 plays instead of just one, but who’s counting?). And he even made a couple plays with his supernaturally slow feet. Yet again, it seemed like there was nothing Brady can’t do. He’s still the best and showed no signs otherwise on Sunday.

Running Backs: B+

It was a quieter day for this group, though the Law Firm of BenJarvus Green-Ellis did get stronger as the game wore on, throwing the knockout blow with a sweet, 16-yard TD scamper in the final two minutes, a power, off-tackle play to the left on which Gronk and Matt Light completely wiped out their men to clear the way. BJGE racked up 70 yards on 17 carries, good for just over four yards a pop and almost three-quarters of the team’s total rushing output (25 carries, 94 yards, 3.8 YPA). Danny Woodhead only had six touches in the running and passing games combined, good for just 27 total yards. Woodhead also had a couple of issues in blitz pickup/pass protection, not because he missed assignments or was in the wrong place, but because he’s so small, he got swallowed up by far bigger dudes a couple times. It’s not a major problem, but something perhaps on which to keep an eye. And rookie Stevan Ridley saw some second quarter action, showing pretty good shiftiness and awareness in picking up nine yards on two carries. At this point, there’s no doubt the running game is a supporting character to the passing game’s leading man. But through two weeks, those roles have worked out just fine.

Wide Receivers: A

Can you believe Branch didn’t play here for four-plus years? It looks like he never left, that’s how in sync he and Brady still are. Branch, lost for those years in Seattle, was exceptional once again on Sunday, catching eight passes for 119 yards. He was exactly where Brady expected him pretty much every time and while he didn’t score, he was just as important as anyone in the passing game. He found every crease underneath the Chargers’ zone looks and picked up crucial yards after the catch all day.  Not to be outdone, Wes Welker piled up seven more grabs of his own and even though none were 99-yard TDs, he still made his presence felt as the Pats go-to guy on third down. Welker had 81 of Brady’s 423 yards and Chad Ochocinco, chastised all week for tweeting more about the Pats offense than seeming to actually know it, grabbed two balls for 45. Ocho got a huge ovation after his first catch, a beautiful, reaching grab on a super quick slant, then caught one of the two balls that got the Pats from the 1 to midfield on the 99-yard drive. He seemed more assured and confident this week and should see his role increase in the coming weeks, especially in light of the sprained knee suffered by A-Herb. Brady may look like an extra-terrestrial most of the time but someone has to catch all of his passes. This group is well-qualified.

Tight Ends: A

Gronk had a bad holding penalty and allowed one of the Chargers two sacks when trying to block Chargers pass rushing demon Shaun Phillips one-on-one. And the complaining portion of the section is now over. The Pats ran 65 of 80 plays against Miami in Week 1 with two or more tight ends on the field and followed that up on Sunday with multiple tight end packages on 60 of 71 snaps. Again, you think the Pats find this position important? Before that knee injury, A-Herb caught seven more balls for 62 yards and the first score, twisting to haul in a perfect back shoulder throw and burning Colts cast-off Bob Sanders in the process. And Gronk bounced back from his slow start to pick up four catches for 86 yards and the two scores, coming off the field just twice out of the 71 offensive plays. It’s hard to imagine how anyone can cover Gronk thanks to his size and skills; he boxes out defenders around the goal line like a low post player in basketball and, while not as quick and nimble as A-Herb, still seems faster than any linebacker or safety who comes near him. With A-Herb expected to miss the next couple of games, it should be fascinating to see how the Pats adapt on offense given how vital to their attack these two monsters have been.

Offensive Line: A-

Brady took a little heat when the Chargers coaches were smart enough to realize they could get pressure sending more than four rushers. Luckily, they aren’t that smart. In addition to the two sacks and five knockdowns on Brady, there were also a couple of holding penalties and a false start. But all in all, it was an excellent effort. Dan Koppen’s first full game away barely registered, as the incomparable, jack-of-all-trades Dan Connolly filled in flawlessly at center. Sebastian Vollmer returned and looked healthy and active all day. And Light handled the left side as well as he usually does, the highlight of his day coming on BJGE’s game-icing TD. And rookie Nate Solder got into the act and then some despite Vollmer’s return, lining up at tight end for 18 snaps. He wiped out two guys on the Law Firm TD and provided excellent insurance both in protection and the running game. Given his history playing the position in college, maybe we’ll see a red zone pass-catching opportunity for the first-rounder. We shall see.

DEFENSE: C+

Defensive Line: B

Pluses and minuses here aplenty. The revamped group got next to no pressure on Chargers QB Philip Rivers all day; the one time anyone got near him before the last play of the game, Andre Carter was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer (a brutal call, by the way; Carter wrapped up Rivers and tackled him, mid-section first but since his head made first contact with Rivers stomach, Carter was basically called for being built like a human being). Rivers had plenty of time to carve up the Pats weak, overmatched secondary, even without having star tight end Antonio Gates at his disposal (more on that coming up). Luckily, Vince Wilfork was there to save the day when he read a delayed swing pass intended for running back Mike Tolbert perfectly and deflected the ball to himself for his first career interception before rumbling for a 28-yard return that set up the Pats late first half field goal. Wilfork also held up Tolbert (nine carries, 10 yards) before Jerod Mayo forced a huge fumble that came on one of San Diego’s six drives through the first three quarters that reached Pats territory yet netted only seven points. And even though the biggest play was made by Mayo and Devin McCourty, the D’s showing on that goal line stand started up front. Out of all the D-liners, Wilfork and Carter saw the majority of the snaps and while Shaun Ellis, Albert Haynesworth and Myron Pryor mostly saw spot duty, more is needed out that trio going forward, particularly those first two names. Props to Mark Anderson for his sack of Rivers on the Chargers last gasp play and Kyle Love for recovering the subsequent fumble.

Linebackers: B-

Pretty good day for these guys, particularly Mayo and Rob Ninkovich. Mayo bounced back from a couple of grisly missed tackles early on and played a solid game. He read Tolbert’s fourth-and-goal run perfectly, waited patiently for McCourty to sneak underneath and take his man then stuffed Tolbert to complete the goal line stand. he was just as responsible for Tolbert’s fumble as Wilfork as well; after Wilfork loosened up the ball, it was Mayo who poked the ball free. He had 11 tackles, eight solo, and looked quite comfortable playing outside in the Pats’ 4-3 alignment. Ninkovich recovered Tolbert’s fumble and also had the other sack on Rivers while playing more snaps than anyone but Mayo and McCourty. After that, not much. Brandon Spikes returned but didn’t do anything of consequence and was on the field less down the stretch than newcomer A.J. Edds. Spikes may just be getting his feet wet after missing most of the preseason and Week 1; we’ll see how much he plays and what he does next week at Buffalo. And Jermaine Cunningham was active but played one down, the fourth down stop of Tolbert at the Pats 1. Looks like last year’s two Florida draft picks have some work to do.

Defensive Backs: C-

Still by far the weak of weak points, the secondary was scorched again. Through two games, the Pats are allowing an average of 381 yards through the air and while there were things to like about some of the individual play by members of this group, there were far more that were awful, starting with all those yards allowed (Rivers completed 29-of-40 passes for 378 yards) and continuing with San Diego’s 10-of-12 conversion rate on third down. To its credit, the defensive backfield stymied Gates, who caught zero passes for just the second time since 2003 and was targeted by Rivers just once (a forced throw that was impressively picked off by Sergio Brown, who had his best game as a pro by far). McCourty made the play that led to the huge stop on the goal line stand but was thrown at and beaten all day by Rivers and Vincent Jackson, respectively. Jackson, another big, physical receiver (like Miami’s Brandon Marshall in Week 1) had a career day, catching 10 balls for 172 yards and two TDs. It may behoove the Pats to give McCourty a little help covering bigger, stronger receivers, something he’s been unable to do in the first two weeks of the season, Even when the coverage was there, McCourty still couldn’t make any plays if the ball was anywhere near catchable. It was painful to watch at times and is something that needs to be shored up. Patrick Chung played well mostly in run support but was one of a handful of DBs to leave, at least temporarily with injuries (along with Kyle Arrington, Ras-I Dowling and James Ihedigbo). Higher marks to Josh Barrett for his work on Gates but both he and Arrington looked foolish on separate occasions trying catch passes that were caught a foot in front of them by Chargers receivers. The Pats lack of a pass rush contributed to the bad day of the DBs but there’s still reason for alarm here. Minus Brown’s INT, these guys haven’t made a single play through two games.

Special Teams: B

Good bounce back for Stephen Gostkowski, who atoned for his bad miss in Week 1 with a 47-yard blast at the first half buzzer. It would have been nice to see the Pats take some advantage of the Chargers notoriously atrocious kick coverage units but oh well. Bummer to see our man Zoltan Mesko go down with a knee injury in the second half; it forced the Pats to go for it on fourth-and-4 from near midfield in the third quarter with the game still in doubt. But that’s a more appropriate development for…

Coaching: B

That fourth down call wasn’t Bill Belichick’s finest moment but it didn’t come back to bite anyone so it can be deemed as nothing more than a curious decision and forgotten. The game plan on both sides was mostly solid. Belichick could probably tell ahead of time that the Chargers coach Norv Turner (who might be overmatched coaching a high school game) wouldn’t be able to keep up with him (hence the refusal to attack the Pats one potential weak spot on offense and rush more than four guys) and therefore OK the calling of one underneath/over-the-middle pass after another. He also proved his superiority on the two-play field goal drive late in the first half. Turner didn’t recognize that anyone with an IQ over 60 would be throwing to the sidelines with less than 10 seconds left on the clock so naturally, Branch was wider than wide open on both plays. On defense, it’s clear Belichick and his staff have to do something. Hiding his secondary from giving up the inevitable big play by giving up huge swaths of the middle of the field only goes so far, especially when there is next to no push from the guys up front. But what can they do? The talent level, after McCourty and Chung, goes way, way down. And it’s not like McCourty is setting the world on fire right now. The move to a base 4-3 along with the importing of a bunch of linemen with pass rushing acumen was a good start. But now what? The Jets are coming up in three weeks. They have a great defense and know how to slow down the Pats offense (see the 2011 AFC Divisional Playoffs). So again, what happens if/when the offense isn’t up to par? Will the D be able to step it up? Belichick and company need to find out.

By Jeremy Gottlieb, Patriots Daily Staff

In his postgame press conference following the Patriots season-opening, 38-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, coach Bill Belichick said, “That was no Rembrandt performance, but fortunately it was good enough.” You may be thinking that’s some pretty tough love, eh? 622 total yards on offense sure looks pretty nice. But of course, there are more aspects to a football game than just when your team has the ball and the Pats, for all of their firepower on offense, didn’t look a lot different on D against Miami than they have the past couple of years. This team has made a habit out of bending but not breaking on the defensive side of the ball for a good long stretch and that’s just what happened on Monday night. If it weren’t for Tom Brady’s record-setting performance in the passing game, the Pats might still be answering questions regarding how and why they continually make mediocre, stiff quarterbacks (in this case, Miami’s Chad Henne) look like some sort of freakish hybrid of Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas and Slingin’ Sammy Baugh. A lot has been made about the imports the Pats have made on defense this season and all of those new faces (Albert Haynesworth, Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter, Mark Anderson) were on display against the Dolphins. But even with the revamped front getting more pressure on an opposing QB than we’ve seen in some time around these parts, the linebacking corps was still inconsistent, the secondary play was still weak and the ability to make a play, big or otherwise, was still missing. The Pats offense, other than a few silly penalties, is already in mid-season form. It’s their defense that still remains a problem. So with that, let’s get to the inaugural report card of the 2011 season, Monday Night Football styles.

OFFENSE: A

Quarterbacks: A+

Move along folks, nothing to see here. Just Tom Brady, subject of multiple articles by multiple notorious Boston sports media party poopers as being borderline washed up (on the heels of a 36 TD, four INT, unanimous MVP season, by the way), setting multiple passing records while taking a metaphorical blowtorch to a Dolphins defense that I keep reading is “top-flight” and “vastly underrated” (so top-flight and vastly underrated, I might add, that Miami hasn’t made the playoffs in three years and won one game at home last season). Brady was only 32-of-48 f0r 517 yards and four TDs. Sure, he threw a deflected INT that was his first in 358 regular season pass attempts. But he also completed his 3000th career pass, entered the top 10 in league history in career TD passes, blew away the previous franchise record for passing yards in a game (426, Drew Bledsoe) and passed for the fifth most yards in a single game in NFL history. He shredded the Dolphins all night, easily commanding a fast, no-huddle attack that gassed the Miami defense all night long. He made every throw, the coup-de-grace being his perfect dart from his own end zone the dropped right into Wes Welker’s bread basket over the top of a chasing Dolphins defender and wound up tied for the longest play from scrimmage in league history 99 yards later. Brady may be close to being done according to some doomsday prognosticators. But if his performance on Monday night is an indication of that, I’ll take borderline washed up every weekend. He’s still the best there is.

Running Backs: A

It was so easy for Brady and the Pats to throw on the Miami D that running the ball Monday night was almost an afterthought. But since the Pats offense is awesome, they ran it more than effectively anyway. The Law Firm of BenJarvus Green-Ellis only carried the ball seven times but he did so at five yards a clip and continued to be nails on the goal line, scoring from a yard out for his 14th TD in his last 17 games. And the little engine that could, Danny Woodhead, added still more verses to his unending ballad with 69 tough yards on 14 carries, mostly racked up on draws and traps out of passing formations. Overall, the Pats rushed 22 times for 106 yards, a tidy 4.8 yards per attempt. The running game was a perfect complement to the passing game on Monday night while also looking strong enough to be relied upon down the road when it’s not as easy for Brady to sling the ball up and down the field as it was against the Dolphins.

Wide Receivers: A-

Why no A? Because Chad Ochocinco still doesn’t get it. But we’ll get to him. First, let’s focus on Welker and Deion Branch, the rocks of this receiving corps. The two combined on 15 catches for 253 yards and two TDs (both to Welker). All of the preseason hemming and hawing about Branch not having any catches in exhibition games has to have been forgotten after Monday, a night on which he made catch after catch after catch; at one point it looked like Brady was throwing to him on every play. It’s safe to say that if anything was ailing him in the preseason, it’s gone by the wayside. And Welker, the absolute man, continues to amaze. One of his TDs was a perfectly quick out on which he took a couple quick steps, threw a jerk move on his man and turned left at the goal line to find Brady’s pass sitting right between the numbers 8 and 3 on his jersey. The other was the 99-yarder, on which he proved capable of being a deep threat, streaking up the seam and past his man, hauling in the throw, shedding a weak attempt at a tackle and taking off to paydirt. It’s been said that there’s too much overlap between Branch and Welker in terms of skill sets and in last year’s playoff loss to the Jets, that may well have been the case. But both are so dependable, so sure-handed and so well-versed in not just the offense but what makes Brady tick, it’s a delight to watch As for Ochocinco, he played just 18 snaps, caught one pass (though it was a very nice grab) and had a brutal, illegal formation penalty that cost the Pats a big gain. It’s safe to assume that this guy will figure it out before too much longer; he’s too talented and experienced not to. But watching him first in the preseason and again Monday night is tough. Bonus points to special teams ace Matthew Slater for his first career catch, a perfectly executed, first quarter deep-in on which he dove to haul in a perfectly tossed bomb by Brady for a 46-yard pickup. He narrowly missed another deep ball in the second half, but that’s OK. It’s nice to know he can be used as a spot threat now that Brandon Tate is gone and Taylor Price can’t get on the field.

Tight Ends: A+

80 offensive snaps. 51 with both Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez on the field. 75 total for Gronk, 66 total for A-Herb. Think the Pats still absolutely love what they have in these two beasts? I’d say yep, they sure as shit do. What a nightmare these two are for opposing pass defenses. They combined for 189 yards on 13 catches and two scores and looked like wide receivers in doing so. If they’re heads are in the game and Brady is finding them, how can they be covered? Jon Gruden, who called the game for ESPN, sounded like he was going to pass out a couple of times when discussing how great both Gronk and A-Herb were on Monday night. A-Herb, who hilariously mocked making it rain after his third quarter TD, smoked the Dolphins, lighting up a defender who drilled him over the middle then collapsed as the Former Florida standout bounced away and kept going, and earlier, burning excellent coverage with a leaping, outstretched grab on a sideline route. And Gronk, as he did throughout last season, created matchup havoc over the middle, in the red zone and from the slot all night. Even Gronk’s brother, the recently signed Dan Gronkowski (Gronk 2!) got into the act, playing 21 snaps (or, three more than Ochocinco) despite being signed off the street five minutes ago. The tight end talent is so vast on this team, it’s no wonder the position has taken on such a major role in the offense. They just keep humming right along.

Offensive Line: A

So Dan Koppen gets his ankle broke in particularly gruesome fashion. The Pats, already thin up front thanks to injuries to Sebastian Vollmer and Ryan Wendell, slide Dan Connolly to center and give newly acquired veteran Brian Waters more snaps. Does the offense miss a beat? Nope. Brady was sacked once and hit twice. Not too shabby. Rookie Nate Solder, filling in for Vollmer on the right side, was as enormous as he looks, shutting down Miami pass rushing specialist Cameron Wake (Wake had the sack, but it was of the coverage variety; Solder held him up perfectly on the play before the play broke down). Waters was solid in his Pats debut, stalwarts Matt Light and Logan Mankins, with the exception of one holding call on Light, were their usual, powerful selves. And Connolly shined in Koppen’s absence, not disrupting a thing in the offense’s rhythm. There are still depth issues here; it doesn’t look like Koppen will go on injured reserve but if Connolly is going to play center, the Pats still need help at guard even after Wendell gets healthy. But on Monday, any questions regarding this group were answered and answered resoundingly.

DEFENSE: C

Defensive Line: B

Here’s where the Pats shined brightest on D. Four sacks, all by D-linemen (one for Carter, one for Mike Wright, one for Anderson and a split for Myron Pryor and Vince Wilfork). Stout play in the red zone, particularly inside the five, with two goal line stands (one leading to the 99-yard TD from Brady to Welker) highlighted. Seven of the unit’s 10 hits on Henne were by members of this group. And Haynesworth, who was spotted frequently and only played 32 of 76 total snaps, had one monstrous play on which he shed a double team and clotheslined a full speed ahead Reggie Bush with a certain amount of panache, while also drawing two holds from his counterpart on the Dolphins O-Line, Richie Incognito. There was pressure on Henne for most of the night – he was able to navigate it and find holes in the Pats porous secondary more often than one might have imagined he’s capable of, but that’s not on this group. It will be fun to see the cohesion continue to develop among these guys, as well watch the rotations throughout the year (Pryor, Wright, Anderson and Kyle Love all saw significant time despite not starting). Definitely a good start for the new look defensive line.

Linebackers: C+

Here’s where things start to get a little dicey. Rob Ninkovich played very well. Dane Fletcher, broken hand and all, made a few things happen both against the run and in pass rushing situations. And that’s about it. Gary Guyton, pressed into every down action thanks to Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham being inactive with injuries, proved for at least the 322nd time in the last three years that he is not, nor will ever be, an every down player. He has no chance against the run, particularly when the surge is coming right at him, and although he is pretty good in coverage/passing situations, he was beaten time and again by Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano on Monday (a couple of his arms flailing, no clue where the ball is chasedowns may have been a tribute to former teammate Darius Butler). And Jerod Mayo did not have his best night as a pro. There were missed tackles, there were wildly swings and misses on a couple of open field opportunities, there were stretches of complete invisibility. Mayo is a very good, very tough, very talented player and his locker room presence and leadership ability have made him a shoo-in for a nice contract extension. But it seems odd that he’s still having games like Monday night now into his fourth year. No one is expecting him to be Ray Lewis but a player of his supposed caliber should not have as many no-shows as he’s had over the past two-plus years, even if that number isn’t too terribly high. In anticipation of seeing what the defense would look like on Monday after all the changes since the lockout ended, watching Mayo was high on the list. It’s safe to say he disappointed.

Defensive Backs: C-

So here we are again, ripping the secondary. It felt like this wouldn’t be as regular an occurrence as the past two seasons, especially now that Butler and the awful Brandon Meriweather are gone. But even without those two around, this group managed to mostly stink up the joint, with most of the stinking coming from a strange place. Before we go any further, it’s important to point out that a) Miami was just 2-of-14 on third down, b) 211 of their 488 total yards came on their final three possessions and were down by three TDs, c) as good as Henne’s numbers were (30-of-49, 416 yards, two TDs), there were multiple sensational catches made by Miami receivers (one each by Fasano and Brandon Marshall instantly come to mind), and d) part of the reason Henne ran for 59 yards and was the Dolphins leading rusher was due to good coverage downfield that prompted him to tuck the ball away and take off. That being said, it was not a good night for newly minted captain Devin McCourty. Subtract one excellent pass breakup in the end zone on a quick throw to Marshall and he had one of his worst nights as a Patriot. Marshall, who was McCourty’s primary responsibility, caught seven passes for 139 yards. Ouch. And while Leigh Bodden (in his first game since 2009) and Ras-I Dowling (in his first game ever) were OK, Henne picked on McCourty all night long. When a QB like Henne (not even in the top 20 of all NFL QBs) does that to you, that’s disrespect. McCourty didn’t have much of an answer. I’m sure he’ll bounce back; he’s an outstanding corner as proven all through last season. And Marshall is a fantastic receiver, big, strong, fast, a matchup nightmare. So let’s hope he forgets Monday night right quick.

Special Teams: C+

Could have been much much better if not for Stephen Gostkowski’s brutal, first half miss. It was a 48-yarder which is no gimme at all. But it wasn’t even close. The ball was wide right by a mile from the minute it left his foot. Maybe he’s rusty after going on IR with a month and a half left last season. Elsewhere, Julian Edelman made a big boo-boo when he decided to field a punt on his own 1. But other than that, things were OK. Our man Zoltan opened his season reasonably well, the highlight being a late game pooch that was downed inside the Miami 5. And Sergio Brown, looking like Meriweather both because he now wears No. 31 and because he was woofing a lot, made three tackles. Nothing too good or bad here, just average.

Coaching: A

Well, what did you expect? First game of the season (e.g. the most unpredictable) on the road, against a division rival in hot, oppressive conditions and what happens? Only a few offensive records and a virtual blowout, that’s all. Belichick was right: it wasn’t a Rembrandt, not at all, and with a much better team like San Diego coming in on a short week this Sunday, there is a lot of work to be done. But the game plan couldn’t have been any better on Monday night under the circumstances. No huddle, fast pace on offense to confuse and wear out the Miami D (check) and constantly rotate guys in and out of the defensive front seven to keep them fresh in the heat and humidity of South Florida in early September (check). The last time we saw Belichick in a meaningful game, he was getting his ass handed to him by Rex Ryan of all people. It’s great to see the real Bill back in action.

By Bruce Allen, Patriots Daily Staff

Here’s a quick look at where things stand in the AFC East after week one of the 2011 season.

New England Patriots (1-0, 1-0 in division)

Tom Brady threw for a Patriots franchise and Monday Night Football record 517 yards last night as the Patriots defeated the Dolphins 38-24  in South Florida last night. The Patriots served notice to the rest of the league that their offense is going to force the issue on teams, as it seems there is an emphasis on a fast pace and what has been dubbed a pressure offense.

The Patriots defense is a work in progress, but show some encouraging signs last night with the ability to get pressure on the quarterback in the second half, and with their newly revamped secondary making some plays. Albert Haynesworth made his presence felt in the middle, forcing a couple of costly holding penalties on the Dolphins offensive line.

The Patriots play the San Diego Chargers this weekend in their home opener.

New York Jets (1-0, 0-0 in division)

The Jets won the Ryan Bowl on Sunday night as Rex Ryan’s crew defeated the Dallas Cowboys and their defense led by  coordinator Rob Ryan. The Jets continue to pounce on any mistakes made by the opposition and make them pay dearly. The Cowboys made plenty of mistakes and allowed the Jets to capitalize and come away with a 27-24 win.

TheJetsBlog though, says that this was an ugly win, with plenty of causes for concern.

The Jets host the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday, and should move to 2-0.

Buffalo Bills (1-0, 0-0 in division)

The Bills were one of the surprises of the weekend, going on the road and completely dominating a team that was in the playoffs last year. Buffalo destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 on Sunday, giving head coach Chan Gailey a measure of revenge towards the Chiefs and head coach Todd Haley, who hired Gailey as offensive coordinator in 2009, only to fire him two week prior to the season opener that same year.

Buffalo Rumblings offers some Historical Perspective on this win. The Bills host the Oakland Raiders this Sunday, trying to move to 2-0 on the season.

Miami Dolphins (0-1, 0-1 in division)

The Dolphins had a rough start to the season, but according to the Phinsider, still had plenty of positives to take away from this one, starting with the play of quarterback Chad Henne. Miami came into the season with plenty of questions about their head coach and quarterback, both of whom the team attempted to replace in the offseason. Henne played incredibly well, throwing for 416 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown. The Miami defense was worn out by the Patriots offense, but I suspect they won’t the first this season to have that experience. That unit is solid and should have decent success this season.

The Dolphins look to get in to the win column this Sunday when they host the Houston Texans, a favorite of many in the media to finally break into contender status this season.