Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 10:25 a.m.
All-time series -- Miami leads, 7-3.
Last time -- The Dolphins won, 16-13, in Miami in 1999.
Notable -- This one involves the league's Nos. 3 (Miami) and 5 (Philly) scoring defenses ... since that opening-week debacle at home against Houston, an embarrassing 21-20 defeat, the 'Fins have allowed more than 17 points to foes in Miami only once in five games. The Eagles have yielded more than 17 only once in six road games ... the Dolphins are 13-17 in regular-season December games since 1996, and South Beach is already bubbling about replacements for coach Dave Wannstedt ... Miami RB Ricky Williams has run against Philly one time, rambling for 103 yards and no touchdowns ... Philly QB Donovan McNabb has never played against the Dolphins, but he has thrown for nine TDs and only had one pass picked off in his last six games ... AND the Eagles are riding an eight-game winning streak. Make that nine.
Prediction (7-7) -- Philadelphia 17, Miami 16.
-- Arizona RB Emmitt Smith, on little things making big things happen to turn an organization around.
New England safety Rodney Harrison beamed as he caught his first glimpse of the Gillette Stadium fans tossing snow into the air Sunday in unison with the crescendo of the instrumental rock song that's overplayed in every arena.
"That was pretty neat," he told the Boston Globe. "It reminded me of the fountain at Bellagio in Las Vegas, spouting off that water. That really gave us extra incentive."
In the first quarter, "Let it Snow" blared over the stadium speakers. By the fourth, it was a winter wonderland. After Tedy Bruschi picked off a Jay Fiedler pass and galloped 4 yards for the game's only touchdown, tens of thousands of fans threw snow.
Bruschi was amazed that he could trigger such a reaction.
"I don't know if you (could) tell, but I was smiling through my facemask," he said. "That put me in the holiday spirit. I was ready to go home and sit in front of my Christmas tree lights."
Kicker Adam Vinatieri said it was one of the coolest special effects he had ever seen, which was quickly agreed upon by a consensus of his teammates.
According to linebacker Ted Johnson, if any season ticket-holder did not attend the festive 12-0 pasting of the Miami Dolphins on a day that capped a 30-inch weekend snowfall, it was his fault he missed such glory.
Well, not really.
Seems there were plenty of well-intentioned Beantown football fans who were either chagrined by the massive gridlock outside Gillette or were not able to enter the stadium until well into the second half, because of those traffic problems.
Many others probably stayed home, salivating over their lobster chowder at the possibility of Alex Rodriguez joining a revamped Sox lineup that now includes Curt Schilling.
Because of the incredible, off-and-on snowfall, a third of the stadium and many independent parking lots did not open. That contributed to the awful driving conditions and delays.
The traffic jams were, predictably, horrible, reminiscent of the opening of Foxboro Stadium in 1971. Route 1 was not built with football in mind.
At a cost of only $7 million, Foxboro opened its doors in 1971 to -- guess what? -- a flood of traffic problems, to say nothing of the inadequate plumbing that led to other, ahem, problems.
When patrons finally entered Gillette on Sunday, many found piles of snow around their seating areas, if they could even spot seats under the snow buildup. Again, it was humanly impossible for all of the snow to be removed from the stadium.
Several snow plow drivers went more than 48 hours without sleep. Somehow, local officials estimated that 225 tons of snow had to be removed from the Gillette Stadium field.
Understandably, there were long lines of ticked-off fans who pay exorbitant prices to see the NFL in New England.
Others took it in stride.
"You just have to grin and bear it," 20-year season ticket-holder Jim Gingras told the Globe. "There's nothing you can do ... I've never seen anything like this."
On the positive side, for all those legions of fuming Patriots fans, no other NFL team has benefited more from the white stuff in recent years:
At the appropriate time, he veered behind the Patriots' line-of-scrimmage, clearing a space for John Smith to boot a 43-yarder to win the game.
Dolphins coach Don Shula went berserk, but officials weren't going to scoop snow back onto the area. Minutes earlier, Patriots coach Ron Meyer went bananas -- when he first spotted Henderson and his vehicle, then frantically waved both to the field.
Afterward, Meyer feigned ignorance, saying he was as surprised as everyone about his team's dumb luck, that a snow plow driver would happen to be right there at that moment.
At least 4 inches of snow covered the ground as Vinatieri and teammates barely made a suitable kicking area before the dramatic attempt. Then, in overtime, Vinatieri vaulted the Patriots into the AFC title game with a game-winning 23-yarder.
Remember the controversial fumble by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the one that wasn't ruled a fumble -- The Tuck Rule will forever be linked to Brady -- by referee Walt Coleman?
(It was poetic payback, 25 years after referee Ben Dreith called a third-and-18 roughing penalty on nose tackle Ray Hamilton, against Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, allowing Stabler to dive in from the 1 for a playoff game-winning touchdown five plays later.)
New England defeated Pittsburgh, then won Super Bowl XXXVI against St. Louis in New Orleans.
New England was 4-0 in snow games at Foxboro. It's now 1-0 in similar elements at Gillette, which opened for the 2002 season.
Moreover, the Patriots have a quarterback, Brady, who has the highest winning percentage (31-12, .721) of anyone besides Roger Staubach (.746). Joe Montana's was .713.
Brady is 22-4 in games after Nov. 1, 13-1 in games decided by seven or fewer points and 7-0 in overtime.
When it comes to winning football games when it matters, the Patriots and Brady are snow joke.
(Sorry.)
New York lost that game, 27-7, to Atlanta, slipping to 4-5. Since then, Shockey hasn't played and the Giants haven't won, dropping to 4-9 after Sunday's 20-7 loss to Washington.
The brain trust inside the Giants' headquarters in East Rutherford, N.J., is ogling Eli Manning, the Ole Miss quarterback who will be the prize for one of the NFL's bottom feeders come draft day.
Two weeks after sustaining the injury, Shockey tried to rush his return. Frustrated that coach Jim Fassel put him on the inactive list before that Monday night game against Tampa Bay, Shockey warmed up in high gear.
He did not wear a knee brace, and he aggravated the injury. The earliest he might now return is supposedly Dec. 20 at Dallas.
"Several coaches around the NFL have told me that we miss his personality maybe as much or more than we miss his plays," Giants tight ends coach Mike Pope told the Newark Star-Ledger. "All of those things are hard to replace.
"He was kind of our zest a little bit and the personality of our offense."
Vegas knows the feeling. We were certain The Kid would pop into town, at least once or twice, during his rehab. Heck, he was here 36 hours before one kickoff this season. Alas, neither us nor a variety of spotters have seen him about town.
"It feels like I've been out so long," Shockey told the Star-Ledger. "How many weeks has it been?"
Too long, Kid. Too long.
Bowerman, an ace martial artist, has helped the Broncos with physical training, primarily for their road games, for years. Science teacher Stephen Grisanti was bummed that the two famous former Broncos didn't make it around to his room.
Next time.
That record is owned by ... Vick, who averaged 17.3 yards a run when he accumulated 173 yards on his 10 scampers in Atlanta's 30-24 overtime victory in Minnesota on Dec. 1, 2002.
The second-highest average had stood for more than 52 years, as Marion Motley of Cleveland averaged 17.09 yards (11 runs for 188 yards) against Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 1950. Bill Grimes of Green Bay (16.7 average against the New York Yanks) had only held the record for 21 days.
Who was recently recalled as governor of California? A) Al Davis. B) Baron Davis. C) Betty Davis. D) Gray Davis. E). Sammy Davis.
How many yards does it take to make a first down? A) 5. B) 10. C) 15. D) 20. E) 30. (E -- after factoring in the 20 yards you've already been penalized for holding and intentional grounding.)
What issue most concerns you in the upcoming presidential election? A) Education. B) Right-to-work laws. C) Prescription drugs for seniors. D) Tax cuts. E) War on terrorism. (C -- it's the issue that hits closest to home for most of these guys.)
Division hits
NFC: West -- The Cardinals have lost five in a row by an average score of 36-13. South -- An informal Atlanta poll tabs someone "completely new," Jimmy Johnson and LSU coach Nick Saban, in that order, as the Falcons' top coaching prospects. North -- Back-to-back road games against teams that are currently 3-10 (San Diego, then Oakland) give Green Bay optimism. East -- Washington QB Tim Hasselbeck, who won his first start last week, gets the NFL's top passing defense (Dallas) this week.
AFC: West -- Denver was a steamroller against Kansas City and its resident loudmouth, receiver Eddie Kennison, netting six touchdowns and a field goal on its first eight possessions. South -- Jacksonville WR Jimmy Smith has caught 19 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns over the last three weeks. North -- Cincinnati T Willie Anderson guaranteed that the Bengals would get into the playoffs, which would be their first postseason since 1990. East -- Miami P Matt Turk booted a team-record 11 times in New England.
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