Mike Petraglia catches Bill Belichick gushing over his team's record-setting performance by allowing them to enjoy the win for a few minutes.
"Football opening night, a lot of energy, the place was lit up tonight and I thought our guys did a real good job of coming down, being focused, doing their job and trying to block out of a lot of distractions," Belichick said. "Miami played well, They’ve got a good football team. I just thought our guys made a few more plays. I’m proud of the way they played."
"We’ve got a quick turnaround now. Getting ready for San Diego. We’ll enjoy this for a few minutes but we have to get back to work on those Chargers. Obviously, a lot of big plays in the game."
Mike Reiss notes Tom Brady was understated as he reflected on a record night.
“It was a good night. I thought we executed pretty well at times,” the understated Brady said after going 32 of 48 with four touchdowns and one interception. “It’s a team sport, man. Those guys were catching the ball and making some great plays.”
“When I saw [Wes Welker] break away it was awesome,” Brady said. “You never know when it’s going to go. It was man to man and Wes ran a great route. I only threw it 25 yards, it’s not like I threw it 99 yards. Wes did all the work, I just had to put it out there for him.”
“It’s a fine line between putting pressure on a defense and playing out of control,” Brady said. “I thought at times we did both and you never really want to play out of control on offense. It was a good pace at times but other times they adjusted to it.”
Chris Forsberg notes Aaron Hernandez opened his sophomore season by catching 103 yards and a TD.
"We've got a great quarterback who puts the ball on the right spot at all times and it’s easy to make the catch," said Hernandez. "Tight ends are a big part of the offense and he knows how to get us the ball."
"I guess that’s why they drafted us," he said. "Rob takes a lot of off me. He’s so dynamic that a lot of people have to worry about him, and forget about me. Sometimes they forget about him and have to worry about me, so it’s a great combination."
TEAM TALK
- Post Game Notes: Patriots at Dolphins. Team and player milestones reached, records set and more.
- Erik Scalavino offers his analysis of the Patriots-Dolphins game, and the defensive experiment that passed a critical test.
- Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick (4.54 min. video), Tom Brady (5.11 min. video) and Wes Welker (5.10 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Player thoughts after season-opening win (3.23 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Ian Rapoport recaps Tom Brady's career performance in Miami for an opening night win.
- Shalise Manza Young credits Tom Brady's efficiency running the no-huddle, even in the south Florida high humidity, to his Madden-like numbers.
- Tom E. Curran describes the record night for Tom Brady that leaves Miami gasping for air, and left in the dust.
- Mark Farinella reports on the record night for Tom Brady and the Patriots, including a productive performance from the tight ends.
- Chris Perkins notes Gronkowski and Hernandez made Miami defenders ill.
- Bob Ryan officially declares there is nothing to worry about with Tom Brady being 'off his game,' as some speculated in the preseason.
- Karen Guregian says the Patriots defense hasn't done enough yet to convince us that its much improved.
- Greg A. Bedard says the new defense for the Patriots looked like the same old one.
- Ron Borges focuses on Bill Belichick's change in defensive philosophy and why it had to happen.
- Jeff Howe looks at how Leigh Bodden helped the Patriots execute a significant game plan to stop Davone Bess.
- Chris Forsberg reports Albert Haynesworth was content to be back contributing on the football field.
- Kirk Minihane shares his running Patriots-Dolphins diary: Cramping, S-bombs and a vintage Tom Brady.
- Mike Reiss & Chris Forsberg focus on Nate Solder in his first starting assignment and conclude he put in a solid performance.
- Christopher Price tells us his ten things we learned Monday: Tom Brady never ceases to amaze.
- Mike Reiss lists his three up and three down look at player performances last night.
- Karen Guregian gives us the best and the worst from Patriots-Dolphins.
- Mark Farinella presents his list of Hots and Nots, including Wes Welker who reminded the Dolphins once again how stupid they were to let him go.
- Mary Paoletti offers her Best & Worst from Monday night.
- WEEI points out what went right and what went wrong in last night's win in Miami.
- ESPN Stats & Information puts the stats in focus: How Brady, Pats did it.
- Mike Reiss tallies the snaps played by offensive skill players in last night's win and analyzes what they might mean.
- Mike Reiss takes a look at and analyzes the positional groupings utilized by the Patriots and finds that the TEs clearly dictate play.
- Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Dan Koppen broke his ankle but he could return later this season; Wes Welker had a terrific night (160 yards, 2TDs); Nate Solder more than held his own against pass-rusher Cameron Wake and new Patriot G Brian Waters should see serious playing time; Chad Ochocinco had a slow start.
- ESPNBoston grades the Patriots with their Week 1 report card.
NATIONAL NEWS
- NFL Game Center - New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins: Recap, analysis, stats, and those nifty highlight videos.
- Alex Marvez (Fox Sports) Brady melts Miami with career night.
- Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Hey Tom, give the secondary a chance.
- James Walker (ESPN) Rapid Reaction: Patriots 38, Dolphins 24.
- Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) Brady's performance praiseworthy - just not from Patriots.
- Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Nothing ugly about Brady's 517-yard night.
- Kerry J. Byrne (Cold Hard Football Facts) Sizing up Brady's most prolific games.
- Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) Patriots players of the week.
- Gregg Rosenthal (ProFootballTalk) Improved tight ends make Patriots offense more dangerous.
- Gregg Rosenthal (ProFootballTalk) Ron Jaworski gets a little too comfortable on air. "S---, that was pretty funny."
VIEW FROM MIAMI
- Armando Salguero (Miami Herald) How could anyone throw for 517 yards vs. Dolphins?
- Dave Hyde (Sun Sentinel) Tom Brady carves up Dolphins' defense.
- Jeff Darlington (Miami Herald) Miami Dolphins lose season opener to New England Patriots.
- Andrew Carter (Sun-Sentinel) Brady, Pats' high-powered offense overwhelm Dolphins 38-24.
- Dave George (Palm Beach Post) As usual, Tom Brady and Patriots have answer for Dolphins in 38-24 win over Miami.
- Tom D'Angelo (Palm Beach Post) Typically, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick reserved about Brady's record night.