FanHouse Afc East

If the Dolphins had been able to march into Foxborough Sunday and find a way to beat the vaunted New England Patriots Sunday, the AFC East would have been quite the muddled division. Even the Buffalo Bills would have been within striking distance, while the Jets and Dolphins would have trailed the Pats by a single game with eight to play.

After a Ronnie Brown touchdown pass -- which was surely a flashback to last year's Wildcat-fest in New England -- the Patriots found themselves facing a 17-16 deficit with 4:51 left in the third quarter, and the Dolphins appeared on the verge of the critical road upset.

But Tom Brady, Randy Moss and company weren't having that.

After entering the National Football League in 1996 as a third-round selection, Terrell Owens has put up some big-time numbers in his 14-year career.

He's the NFL's active touchdown leader with 142 scores. He's second among active receivers to Isaac Bruce with 14,364 career receiving yards. He's also been a six-time Pro-Bowler. But, when asked what his goal for 2009 entailed, Owens didn't shoot for the moon like you would expect a player with his accolades to do. In fact, all Owens wants to do is outperform Dallas wide receiver Roy Williams.

Marion Barber, on his own blog, stated that he was well rested after Dallas' bye week and that his strained left quadriceps is "no longer a problem". Meanwhile, Felix Jones, who hasn't played since Week 3, is back at practice this week -- he's wearing a brace to protect his left knee, but he's still practicing.

With Barber and Jones back, why is it that Tashard Choice is going to get even more carries this week against Atlanta? The simple answer -- because Jerry Jones said so.

On his weekly radio show, Jerry Jones said that even though Barber was as healthy as he's been in two weeks, Choice would see more playing time. "Tashard certainly earned and is going to get a big part of the load."

On Wednesday, Miami Dolphins linebacker Matt Roth returned to practice for the first time since failing a conditioning test on the first day of training camp -- thus ending a strange roller-coaster ride of mysterious illnesses and phantom injuries that lasted almost three months. At least we thought the ride was over.

Roth apparently suffered an ankle injury in his first practice back and will miss Miami's game against New Orleans this Sunday.

Back in August, Roth failed his conditioning test. He failed even though he had signed a statement that every player signs, saying that he was not injured in any way, shape or form.

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The suddenly reeling New York Jets are going to have to try and get back on track without their immense nose tackle Kris Jenkins. Jenkins tore the ACL in his left knee during the Jets' dispiriting 16-13 overtime loss to the Bills on Sunday and he was placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon which ends his 2009 season.

"It comes with the game," Jenkins said. "My feelings are hurt that I won't be able to be out there fighting with my teammates."

His teammates might be finding it a lot harder to win their future fights without Jenkins occupying the middle of the line. They'll have to figure something out, though, because there's not much chance of swinging a deal before Tuesday's trade deadline.

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After beginning the game uncharacteristically hot -- hitting on his first five passes for 43 yards -- Bills starting quarterback Trent Edwards has left the game with an apparent knee head injury (see update). Edwards was hobbled after being sacked by Calvin Pace and David Harris of the Jets. After milling around the sidelines for a bit and discussing things with Bills' trainers, Edwards went to the locker room.

In his stead, Ryan Fitzpatrick is taking snaps. Considering the weather (mid-40s, almost 20 MPH winds) and the opponent (the Jets are eighth against the pass), things aren't going to be easy for Fitzpatrick. He's only 4-10-1 in his 15 career starts and sports a sorry 66.9 rating.

Monday Night Football returns to Miami for the second time in four weeks, as the Dolphins host the New York Jets in an AFC East throw down.

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez looks to rebound from the worst start of his young career, the Dolphins look to build off their first win of the season, and Jon Gruden is already drooling at the thought of Miami running the wildcat all night. We'll be chatting about all of this, and more, in our weekly Monday night live chat, so please join us at 8:30 PM ET for all of the fun.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston, New England Patriots No. 1 running back Fred Taylor is going to undergo surgery to repair his injured right ankle. The 33-year-old running back hurt his ankle on his seventh and final carry against the Ravens this past Sunday. No real timetable has been set for Taylor's return following this procedure, except that Reiss reports that it won't cost him the season unless there are complications.

Taylor, an offseason free agent acquisition, leads the Pats' backfield committee in carries (45), yards (201), yards per carry (4.5) and touchdowns (2). Expect Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk to all receive an increased workload with Taylor sidelined.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the injury suffered by Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington in Sunday's game against the Chargers will end his 2009 season. The initial diagnosis on Pennington's shoulder says he has torn a capsule in his right shoulder. He will seek a second opinion from world-renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews this week. Andrews has already performed two surgeries on Pennington's right shoulder. (Update, Sept. 28: The Sun-Sentinel confirmed Mortensen's report.)

If this report turns out to be correct, it's a big blow for the defending AFC East champion Dolphins, who have already dug themselves a hole -- Miami is 0-3 after Sunday's loss in San Diego. Second-year quarterback Chad Henne would be the de facto starter, and he looked less than impressive Sunday against San Diego.

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The New England Patriots slipped back into the pack Sunday.

Yes, the Pats are a good team. No, they are no longer a dominant one. Their 16-9 loss to the Jets is more indicative that their dominance has ended than last season, when they missed the playoffs.

That was a "good'' miss -- they were 11-5 and could attribute their "failure'' to Tom Brady's absence. Now their failures are the result of the inevitable aging of their defense and an offense that, with injuries, had to rely Sunday on 37-year-old Joey Galloway and Julian Edelman, a rookie who played quarterback in college, to supplement Randy Moss at receiver.

It was, in fact, a day of change in the NFL.

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