Three Things from the Miami Dolphins’ loss to New England

[BAMAPHIN 22]

Three Things to consider from Monday night’s Miami Dolphins’ 38-24 loss to the New England Patriots:Thing 1: So much for peak conditioning, huh? So much for wishing this season opener could have been “1 o’clock hot,” per Tony Sparano’s phrase, rather than starting at 7 p.m. under the lights.Several veterans, including Yeremiah Bell and Cameron Wake, said they had no problems with heat exhaustion, but it was clear the third-year corners (and several others on defense) struggled to keep pace with the Patriots’ quick-tempo offense.“It’s very surprising,” Bell said afterward. “You know what you’re going into. For us to cramp, especially since we practice in this, it’s a little unusual. We’ve been through way hotter days than tonight.”Could be time to shut down the practice bubble.Thing 2: The Dolphins’ secondary depth isn’t quite what they thought when they cut veteran CB Will Allen after the final preseason game. Did you see young Nolan Carroll (second season) and Jimmy Wilson (rookie) getting spun around by Patriots’ receivers in the second half? Did you see veteran slot corner Benny Sapp, who held off Allen for that role and made a nice deflection that led to Jared Odrick’s third-quarter interception, get burned for a 99-yard TD pass to Wes Welker?Thing 3: Everybody take a deep breath. All is not lost (yet).Chad Henne passed for more yards (416) than anyone not named Dan Marino in franchise history. The offensive line did a decent job protecting him (four sacks on 60 dropbacks). There appear to be more than enough weapons on offense, and the Dolphins were a replay review from pulling within seven against the mighty Patriots with just under six minutes to play.This team can still pull together in time to beat the Texans on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Texans looked very good against the Peyton Manning-less Colts on Sunday. And did we mention the Dolphins are 0-5 against the Texans in their brief history?http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sport...onticket+(Season+Ticket+|+Sun+Sentinel+blogs)