The last time the Dolphins met the New England Patriots was week 4. Each team was 2-1 suffering a loss to the New York Jets. At the time it seemed like a pivotal game that would have postseason consequences. The Dolphins went into halftime up 7-6, but it seemed the lead should have been much greater if it wasn’t for a Chad Henne interception here and a missed tackle there. But then the second half started and one could see the differences between the two franchises.

Whereas Miami continued to make mistakes, New England continued to find opportunity. They saw Miami had a stout defense, so they did not try to do much on offense. Instead they scratched and clawed on special teams blocking a punt and a field goal attempt and returning a kickoff for a touchdown. On defense the Patriots bent, but did not break. The Dolphins earned 23 first downs, but scored only 14 points to the Patriots 41. It was an embarrassing loss that led to the immediate firing of Miami’s special teams coach. On a separate note, New England’s All Pro wide receiver, Randy Moss, was held without a catch in the game and, after complaining, was jettisoned from New England.

Since that early October game the Dolphins have wallowed in mediocrity while the Patriots have regained their status as the team to beat. With a 13-2 record, the Patriots have already clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their only goal in this rematch is to avoid injury. Meanwhile the Dolphins have no reason to win, but a loss would give them improved positioning in the 2011 draft. Because of the meaningless nature of this game it would be unsurprising if the Dolphins pull out another road victory, but this game should have mattered.

If you look up and down the Dolphins and Patriots rosters on a position by position basis most general managers would pick Miami’s roster over New England’s. The only exceptions are the two most crucial positions. Coach and quarterback. While Tom Brady and Chad Henne both played college ball at Michigan, that is the only quality the two quarterbacks have in common. When the game is on the line Brady is an expert at clock management, while Henne still has not learned a short pass where the receiver stays in bounds is the fiercest enemy of a comeback.

At the start of the season I believed Tony Sparano to be a fine coach, perhaps not on the same level as New England’s Bill Belichik, but a smart leader who kept his player’s motivated. This year’s abandonment of the run and Sparano’s failure to prepare the team on how to run the two minute offense has many Dolfans thinking otherwise. This will likely be Sparano’s last game as coach of the Dolphins. Hopefully he learns from his many mistakes the last two years, much as his counterpart Belichik did after his first failed stint as a head coach in Cleveland.