Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Boy, do we Miami fans sure know the meaning of that quote today don't we?

For a team coming off a 1-15 disaster of a season, and that had only won once in its last 21 contests, few outcomes could have been more satisfying than the 38-13 drubbing that the Dolphins laid on the highly superior New England Patriots.

Of course, you wouldn't know the Patriots were the better team from watching this game. And that's the beauty of it. In almost every phase of the game (with the exception of kick coverages) Miami outplayed and outcoached the Goliath-Patriots.

And I don't care that New England was without its star Tom Brady. Even without him, that is still a very dangerous Patriots team - one that this ragtag Miami bunch arguably had no business beating in the manner in which they did.

When initial expectations are low, outcomes like this are made all the sweeter.

This win instantly gives credibility to the job that Tony Sparano, Jeff Ireland, and Bill Parcells are undertaking. The players now have tangible evidence to help them buy into the program if they hadn't already. The team doesn't have to play in fear every week like it did last season as it tried to avoid infamy. No, this team is past infamy. Now it can work towards respectability.

I'd say this win goes a long way towards garnering some respect. Keep earning it boys.

=====

Other quick thoughts on this game:

• It felt great to finally send another team's fans heading en masse toward the exit gates with almost a whole quarter left to play in the ballgame.
• Ronnie Brown, kudos to you. You deserve it.
• Joey Porter - you certainly got that flywheel going pretty smoothly. I'm lovin' it.
  
• And let's not forget the offensive line. Great job both opening those holes and protecting Pennington.
  
• To the coaching staff - brillaint, absolutely brillaint.