Reactions are extreme following the Miami Dolphins' 38-13 dismantling of the Patriots in Foxborough Sunday.
Here's how the *Miami Herald *described its hometown team's stunning upset.
"A generation ago an underdog Dolphins team stunned a Super Bowl bound Chicago juggernaut in a fateful Monday night game fathers still tell their kids stories about. But that Miami team was coming off a Super Bowl appearance. That Miami team had Dan Marino at quarterback. That Miami team had Don Shula on the sideline.
"These Dolphins have no player they deem worthy of putting on a South Florida billboard. These Dolphins were playing a team that hadn't lost at home since 2006. And about two dozen of these Dolphins were around only a year ago when New England outscored them a combined 70-7 in the first half of two games.
And it came thanks to Ronnie Brown. The Dolphins running back, coming off a season-ending knee injury last year against New England, ran for four TDs and threw for another out of a college-type formation that Miami's coaches drew up this week.
His performance was praised, while the Pats' defense's was panned, in this *Providence Journal *column, which reads in part:
"It was a Brown-out in New England on Sunday afternoon -- one that left the Patriots red-faced.
"In a rarity for a [Bill] Belichick-coached team, the Pats looked totally and woefully unprepared for Brown's unanticipated antics."
But now New England has a bye week, the earliest it can come in the NFL. What they do with all that time to think about this loss and prepare for the remaining 13 games is the subject of much speculation.
The *Boston Herald *is concerned about the chemistry between backup QB-turned-starter Matt Casseland All-Pro wide receiver Randy Moss.
"With the Pats entering a bye week," the Herald column reads, "there will be an ongoing debate over Cassel’s ability to work with veteran wideout Randy Moss, who suggested the Dolphins won because they wanted it more.
'I don't know if I agree with (that),' said Cassel. 'But if that is what Randy said, then that's how he felt . . . I know that we wanted it as a team and we wanted to win.'"
Some writers are hoping the game was just a fluke for the Patriots, as you'll see in this *Boston Globe *piece.
"The Patriots don't need two weeks to get ready for the San Francisco 49ers," it says. "They don't need two weeks to think about 38-13 against Miami ... They need to get back into a game and show us that yesterday was an aberration."
QUICK HITS
The *Hartford Courant *examines why the Patriots took such a beating at the hands of Dolphins head coach and New England native Tony Sparano.
The *Worcester Telegram & Gazette *focused on reaction from the Patriots locker room following the loss.
A *Cape Cod Times *writer, however, isn't sold on Miami's performance.
"You go figure the NFL. I can't," he wrote. "One thing I know, that’s enough Dolphin talk. They will still be lucky to win more than five games."
And on the national scene, a *Sporting News *feature suggests that the Pats' defense is more of a conern today than the play of Cassel.
