The New England Patriots fully expect the Miami Dolphins -- especially their still-tough defensive unit -- to put up a fight tonight.

01:00 AM EST on Monday, December 20, 2004

TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- For the Patriots, tonight's game is about protecting their position in the AFC playoff race, fine-tuning their defense and testing their offense against one of the NFL's better defenses.

For the Miami Dolphins, it's all about preserving their dignity.

But sometimes dignity preservation is a powerful thing and that's why the 2-11 Dolphins must be taken seriously by the 12-1 Pats.

Asked last week what his Dolphins could possibly do to salvage their direly disappointing season, Miami defensive end Jason Taylor said, "Well, we could beat New England on Monday night. That will take some of the sour taste out of our mouths."

This is not lip service from a player who has already punched out mentally on 2004. Veterans like Taylor and the rest of the well-regarded Miami defense know these games will say as much about them -- perhaps more -- than the ones they played with much more on the line.

"We have such a high-character group that it has not been hard (to keep motivation up)," said Dolphins interim coach Jim Bates. "The last four weeks we have played as hard as we possibly can play and it's a group that takes a lot of pride [in what it does]. There hasn't been any give-up in our football team."

Determination is all well and good

but any team that is all try and no talent has little chance. The Dolphins may not be without talent, but they don't have much of it, especially on offense.

They've scored more than 20 points four times all year. They've managed just 22 offensive touchdowns, compared to 34 against. While their defense limited the Patriots to 24 points on Oct. 10, their offense managed just 10. But since Bates took over for Dave Wannstedt, Miami has been more adventurous offensively.

"Offensively, it's a much better team than we saw in the first game," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick insisted. "Their point production is much higher. They're moving the ball much better and they're more consistent in the running game. They don't have as many negative plays."

But quarterback A.J. Feeley and company are ill-suited to make the Patriots' defense even break a sweat tonight, especially given the consistent approach of New England, which takes every offense seriously, even one like Miami's that is bad.

The Dolphins defense, on the other hand, will catch the Pats' attention.

"We didn't throw the ball very well at all against Miami as a team," said Belichick, referring to Tom Brady's 76-yard day in October. "We didn't have people open. We only completed seven, eight passes, whatever it was -- it wasn't very many -- for 70 yards. We were fortunate to get some of those yards. A couple of them were on screens and scramble plays and the other one was kind of a loose play. Look, Miami is one of the best teams in the league in pass defense. They are every year. They're up there again this year. They're the best team on third down this year by far [holding opponents to only a 28.3-percent success rate]. They do a great job on pass defense. They're well coached. They've got good players. They really know what they're doing and they're tough."

And they take every game seriously even when -- technically -- they don't matter too much.

"I just love the game," said Taylor. "I love to win. I hate to lose. Every week there's an opportunity to go out there and compete and play the greatest game on earth. That is a blessing to me and I'd be cheating the game and everyone that came before me and did what they've done to make this league the best sports league in the world if didn't go out there and lay it on the line."

With three games remaining (including tonight's), the Patriots have a tremendous shot at winning 15 games and forcing the once-beaten Steelers to win the rest of their games to protect their home-field advantage.

The Patriots won't consider that now.

"There are three regular-season games left," said Belichick. "That is a lot of football. There are a lot of different matchups and things that could happen. The only thing we can concern ourselves with is the Miami Dolphins. That is all we can do anything about. Whatever else happens, they will let us know."