Patriots no longer shocked by Dolphins' wildcat

(AP) — FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Vince Wilfork had a quick reaction when he first lined up against Miami's strange formation: Huh?

"It was shocking," New England's nose tackle said. "We really didn't know what they were doing."

The Dolphins were doing the wildcat, unpacking it for the first time when they visited Foxborough in the third game last season. It worked very well: four touchdowns in six plays in a 38-13 win that ended the Patriots' NFL record 21-game regular-season winning streak.

On Sunday, running back Ronnie Brown returns to the scene of the unveiling, the field where he ran for three touchdowns and threw for another from that alignment against a coach, Bill Belichick, who prides himself on preparing his players for whatever they may encounter.

But Brown isn't indulging in nostalgia.

"It's not about New England versus the wildcat," he said. "It's about the Miami Dolphins versus the New England Patriots and how can we get a win. Whatever it takes-running the ball, throwing the ball, however we get a win, I don't care."

The Patriots (5-2) are coming off a bye week that followed wins of 59-0 over the Tennessee Titans and 35-7 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both winless at the time.

The Dolphins (3-4) are 3-1 since Chad Henne took over at quarterback after a shoulder injury ended Chad Pennington's season. The offense gained only 104 yards in last Sunday's 30-25 win at the New York Jets. But Ted Ginn Jr. scored on kickoff returns of 100 and 101 yards, the only player in NFL history with two touchdowns of at least 100 yards in the same game.

"That can definitely be a big momentum swinger," Patriots kickoff returner Matthew Slater said. "We just have to focus on us and our job and being disciplined and being able to go down and cover him as a unit."

Ginn's plays were critical as the Dolphins struggled in the wildcat for the second straight game and Henne absorbed five sacks.

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