FOXBORO -- Miami first-year coach Tony Sparano couldn't hold back the tears in the locker room during his postgame speech with the Dolphins after they dismantled the Patriots, 38-13.

"I'm happy for the guys in that room," a teary-eyed Sparano said afterward. "You probably don't know it. I know how hard they work and they deserve this, they do. They deserve for good things to happen. I'm proud for them, proud for our owners; I'm proud for everybody in that organization.

"They deserved that. But most importantly, [I'm proud of] the players. I love what they did. Their effort was tremendous today. It really was. I thought they flew around the entire day. ... They executed the game plan on both sides of the ball to perfection."

Miami linebacker Joey Porter said the Dolphins wanted to win for Sparano.

"He's been working us to death since we got here, and it's always good to see when hard work pays off," Porter said. "Nobody ever believed in us. He did from Day One. He always believed in us and it's always good to return the favor. We gave him his first victory and gave him the game ball."