FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick and Dean Pees hadn't seen anything like it all season long. Big play after big play cost their Patriots a chance to knock off the undefeated New Orleans Saints on Monday night. Just two days later, the team that saw more defensive breakdowns in its secondary than in any previous game this season, has officially moved on. "That's the way it is every week," said Belichick after Wednesday's walk-through. "When the game's over, it's over, and we're onto the next one. We've had big wins. We've had tough losses . . . We move past that game, and move onto the next one. That's the most important one." That one, as Belichick referred to it, is Sunday afternoon in Miami, a game that was moved from the Sunday night time slot as a result of NBC's flex schedule. Those big plays, which New England's defense had rarely been on the losing end of, are in the past. And while it's a copy-cat league, as Dolphins coach Tony Sparano put it during Wednesday's conference call, Miami will be without its most dangerous weapon, running back Ronnie Brown. Brown is out for the season after suffering a foot injury the week following the Dolphins' 27-17 loss in New England in Week 9. He was Miami's big-play threat. But now, that title has been given to Ricky Williams, who has four touchdowns (three rushing) in the last two games as the Dolphins' No. 1 running back. Either way, Belichick doesn't see much change with the way Sparano runs his offense. "I think Ricky Williams has really taken Ronnie's spot there," said Belichick. "When they had both players, they were comfortable with either one of them in the game. If there was only one of them, then they were comfortable with that player in the game. So whether they shared the load, or it was all Ronnie or all Ricky, based on the availability of the players, I think their offense is pretty much the same. "It looks to me like about 95 percent of their offense is the same as it was with Ronnie," added Belichick. "It looks like they may have replaced a little bit of that wildcat package with some other things." But while three-straight games with 100-plus yards on the ground may cause most defenses to put the bulls-eye on Williams' big-play ability, the Patriots are making sure that rookie quarterback Pat White doesn't enter Sunday's game as a "secret" weapon. "They had the one wildcat package with Ronnie and Ricky in the game, with the speed sweep and Williams coming across the field," said Belichick. "It looks like that's kind of died out now, and has been replaced with more of a Pat White package . . . They've kind of built off that." Belichick acknowledged that Miami had used the "Pat White package" successfully against the Patriots in Week Nine. White's 45 yards on six rushes in the wildcat offense marks the only time this season in which he's rushed for more than six yards and which he's had more than one rushing attempt. Even so, the Patriots aren't willing to take his skill-set lightly. "We did a lot of work on him at West Virginia," said Belichick. "We know he can throw the ball. He was a good passer, and he is a good passer. "Ronnie's not the passer that Pat is, and Pat's not the runner that Ronnie is, but they both can do elements of both," added Belichick. "That's how they give you problems. That's why they use them the way they have, they're effective. They both can run, they both can throw. They have enough versatility to put a lot of pressure on the defense." The Dolphins have had their fair share of key injuries on the offensive side of the ball this season. From Chad Pennington, to now Brown, Sparano's offense has had to ask for more than he expected out of guys like White and starting quarterback Chad Henne. "We've lost, obviously, some pretty good players," said Sparano. "But nobody's going to take it easy on you. Nobody's going to cry for you, or any of those things, so we don't use it as excuses. Part of what we do here is develop young players, and this just gets them out there and we get a chance to see some of these guys play. "These guys have done a pretty good job for us, and it's teaching us an awful lot about our football team and our future here." What the Dolphins have yet to find out, is if they can finish the season differently than the way they started it. Miami lost its first three games of the regular season, but went on to win five of its next seven, followed up by a 31-14 loss to Buffalo last Sunday, which put them at 5-6 on the year. With the Dolphins' big-play threat now done for the year, all eyes are on Henne, Williams, and according to Belichick, White. "That's one of the hard things about playing Miami, they keep it moving on you," said Belichick. "You work on one thing, and then they're working on something else. Sometimes they come back to it, sometimes they don't. So you have a lot of different bases to cover. "They did a good job of keeping us off-balance [in Week 9]," added Belichick. "They just keep pecking away, and sooner or later, they get you on something that you just don't have the right placement, or technique, or distribution on, and you can be in trouble." http://www.csnne.com/pages/landing?...hins-still-danger=1&blockID=98179&feedID=3946
