Brown: ran the Pats ragged

On Sunday night Miami have got New England right where they want them. They're playing them at home, they are playing them when their heads are down after losing to the Jets and just as importantly for Miami, they are playing them without Tom Brady.

Kevin Cadle
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SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
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New England @ Miami
6.00pm, Sun, Sky Sports 2
Carolina @ Atlanta
9.00pm, Sun, Sky Sports 2
New York Giants @ Arizona
1.30am, Mon, Sky Sports 2
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Philadelphia @ Baltimore
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Every Sunday Sky Sports is showing no fewer than FIVE live NFL games. And every week here on skysports.com the one and only Kevin Cadle will preview the three main matches...

New England @ Miami

There's one word that says it all about the Miami Dolphins right now - momentum.

They have won four on the bounce and once you get that behind you, you get confidence and things start to happen.

With this Dolphins side as well, you know they are gonna take nothing for granted.

They didn't taste success for 15 games last year and even this year, have lost two games right at the death, so they know their season can flip in an instant. They have seen both sides and they will know which one they like best.

On Sunday night they have got New England right where they want them. They're playing them at home, they are playing them when their heads are down after losing to the Jets and just as importantly for Miami, they are playing them without Tom Brady.

For those reasons alone, I like them. They did what they had to do, with the 'wildcat' gimmick of snapping straight to Ronnie Brown at running back, to get out of that losing rut and it worked for a while.

Back in the day, you would run a single then double reverse as the freaky move, but we saw Tony Sparano take it to the extreme against New England back in week three.

Ronnie Brown picked up four touchdowns and threw for another, but since then they tried it now and then, and didn't really get close to repeating it that many times.

But, as the wins have built up, they have shifted back towards more conventional offense. Things have picked up at the quarterback position and Chad Pennington is doing a decent job, Ronnie is still running but lately we have seen Ted Ginn Jr starting to assert himself.

Likewise Joey Porter at outside linebacker. He has really fired up that Dolphins defense and right now this is a football team that thinks it can beat anyone - New England included.

The Patriots just can't get it together and the funny thing is the one guy we all had doubts about has been the one to stand head and shoulders above the rest; Matt Cassel.

He still needs to do a better job trying to connect with Randy Moss, but if BenJarvus Green-Ellis and the other backs can stay healthy they are a better side, but can they be productive week in week out?

But whatever they do on offense, New England's problem is still on defense. It's not just guys going down injured, it is guys getting old - and there ain't no treatment for that.

CADLE'S CALL: I like what the Dolphins are doing now and I like them here. With the Jets playing Tennessee as well, there couldn't be a better time to win a football game in the AFC East.

Carolina @ Atlanta

No-one really knows how good this Atlanta Falcons side is.

They got a rookie quarterback in Matt Ryan, who is doing a remarkable job for a freshman in the league, and things were starting to fall into place for them. But last week against Denver that was a tough game for them. They were up at one stage but ended up losing it.

I think the one thing they learned from that game is that their defense has got to do a better job holding on when they do get in the lead.

People had aspirations for them in terms of the play-offs but that is way too premature. For this Atlanta Falcons football team, from where they have come, 8-8 would be a success for them. That would be a marked improvement on and off the field.

They will get another true test this week, because Carolina is a lot like Houston. There's not a lot of flash to them, but they have got guys that work well together in the backfield and they've got of couple of playmakers they can call on.

DeAngelo Williams (pictured) and Jonathan Stewart had big games last week and can do it for them again, and out on the wings, Steve Smith gives them good options.

Muhsin Muhammad is more of a steady player, but I like that, because he is just able to go with the flow. If Jake Delhomme isn't firing and they need to go with the running game they can run, if they have to pass the ball, they can pass the ball.

Delhomme has the right kind of temperament, head coach John Fox has the right temperament and you can see that running throughout this football team, from offense to defense.

CADLE'S CALL: Atlanta is still a little unknown, but looking at what Carolina has going on, on both sides of the ball, I don't see them slipping up at all.

Indianapolis @ San Diego

San Diego cannot be happy with the season they are having.

They are 4-6 when everybody was talking about them and the Superbowl at the start of the season... they ain't even close to that joint!

The bottom for them just keeps cracking and cracking. They lost that controversial game at Pittsburgh by a point which means now four of their losses have come by a total of nine points. All that is saying to me, is make one more play!

Last year they were doing it, but this year it just hasn't been happening. Those one, maybe two, plays would have got them over the hump and we would be talking about a winning record.

Last week their defense did its job, but on offense they came up short. Philip Rivers (pictured) probably had his worst game of the season, they couldn't get LT and the running game going.

But that's San Diego's problem right there. One week it's one thing, they fix that and the next week some other problem pops up. They just haven't been able to get both sides of the football showing up in the same game, at the same time.

The Colts have also been up and down defensively, but mainly because of injuries and depending whether Bob Sanders is in there or not. They have won three in a row though and I do think Peyton Manning is starting to get into that groove. What we are seeing with Peyton is the importance of having a pre-season.

But I do think that the Colts are in a better position of the two, though. OK, they are not gonna catch the Tennessee Titans in the AFC South, but it's all about getting to the play-offs - and once you get there anything can happen.

That is their only focus right now and I do think, with six games to go, they are getting better. If they can win four out of six they're almost there, if they can win five, then they're certainly there.

I don't know if the same applies to San Diego though. They are two games behind Denver, a team they are really superior to, but you just can't depend on the same way, week in week out.

CADLE'S CALL: It has to be Indianapolis. San Diego just don't have that same bite, that same fight about them.