The Miami Dolphins couldn’t have started their season any worse when they lost their first seven games. The Buffalo Bills couldn’t have started any better when they were sitting atop the AFC East. It all changed on Sunday. The Dolphins laid a beat down on the reeling Bills 35-8 to win their third straight game, handing Buffalo their third loss in a row.

The turnaround for the Dolphins, who are now 3-7, was been due to their improved defensive play. ”You can see how good we can be,” said safety Yeremiah Bell. “This is where we expected to be at the beginning of the season. It just took us a while.”

The Dolphins were able to turn two interceptions into touchdowns, along with a blocked punt, which was recovered for a touchdown. The defense also made a goal line stand midway through the second half. The Bills were stuffed four times in a row after having first down at the Dolphins second yard line.

On the other side of the ball, Matt Moore torched the Bills’ defense. He finished the day 14 of 20 for 160 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 133.3. The Dolphins punched it in on their first three possessions and Moore wasn’t called upon to throw much after that. ”Guys around me are making big plays and making it easy for the quarterback,” Moore said. “It’s such a good feeling.”

The Bills didn’t have any good feelings in this game. With their once-promising season in a tailspin, the Bills have been outscored 106-26 during their losing streak, a far cry from the team that was scoring 30 points a game earlier this season. ”We’re baffled as to what has happened,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said.

“For the past three weeks, it has not been fun to play, and I’m sure it has not been fun to watch.” They have only managed two touchdowns in the past three weeks. One of those touchdowns was during the end of the game. To add to their problems, the Bills lost three of their key players. Wide receiver Donald Jones and cornerback Terrence McGee were both carted off the field in the second quarter.

The NFL’s leading rusher, running back Fred Jackson, left in the third quarter with a bruised right calf. Since signing his big, six-year, $59 million contract, Fitzpatrick has failed to win a game and has turned the ball over 12 times in the past six games. On Sunday, he was 20 of 39 for 209 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. His passer rating was a mere 45.8.

Fred Jackson was held to 17 yards on seven carries. The Bills fumbled the ball four times (though all were recovered), and went zero for 14 on third and fourth down. ”I don’t know if I’ve ever been through that before, ever,” coach Chan Gailey said. “When you’re that bad, you’re having a pitiful day.”

The Bills try to bounce back and save their season as they head to MetLife Stadium to face the struggling New York Jets in a must-win for both teams if they wish to make the playoffs. The Dolphins have a short week as they look to continue their recent success and continue to play spoiler as they travel to Jerry World to face the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

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The New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs have connections with each other. From the GM of the Chiefs, Scott Pioli, to the currently injured quarterback of Kansas City, Matt Cassel, to the defensive coordinator for Kansas City, Romeo Crennel. The one thing they don’t share is success on the football field.

The Patriots are coming off a crucial road win against the Jets to gain sole possession of first place in the AFC East and sweeping the season series with New York. The Chiefs have dropped two straight after winning four in a row, but without their starting quarterback, they will have to turn to Tyler Palko to keep them in the hunt for the AFC West.

For the Chiefs, they might not be getting Cassel back anytime soon. Coach Todd Haley said Cassel suffered a “significant” hand injury against the Broncos last Sunday and potentially could miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on Monday. Palko has only thrown 13 passes in the NFL and will be leading the Chiefs for now.

“Tyler is the next in line, and he’s done a terrific job, like I said, of keeping himself ready,” Haley said. “That’s what the No. 2 quarterback has to do, because you don’t know. At a moment’s notice, you could be in there playing, just like any other position.” The Patriots, on the other hand, are sitting pretty atop the AFC East after responding well against the Jets behind Brady’s 329 yards and three touchdowns.

Brady will look to continue that against a defense ranked 22^nd overall giving up 364.3 yards per game. ”No matter what happened last week, whether we won, lost, at home or on the road or in London, it doesn’t matter. Once that game is over, we have to put it behind us,” Belichick said.

“Now it’s about preparing for Kansas City, what they do, what their schemes are, what their players are, what their tendencies are in certain coaching decision situations that we’ll have to make.” Brady has not faced the Chiefs since the season opener in 2008 in which he was knocked out for the year, which led to Cassel starting for the Patriots and eventually getting traded to Kansas City.

“In order to make plays, you have to run good routes, you have to make good throws, you have to pass protect against one of the best pass rushers that we face in (Tamba) Hali,” Brady said. Hali has 6 of the Chiefs 9 total sacks, but even with pressure from him Brady should be able to find his tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

The Patriots offense has never been the problem; the problem lies with the defense that played very well against the Jets. Defensive end Andre Carter had four sacks against the Jets and, if he can keep that going, the battered Patriots secondary could have an easier time.

Cornerback Devin McCourty who suffered a shoulder injury in the game against New York will likely be out for a few weeks and safety Patrick Chung is questionable this week. Without those players, the Patriots may not be able to match up against wide receiver Dwayne Bowe who has 19 touchdowns since 2010.

Coach Bill Belichick isn’t counting on a significant drop off from Cassel to Palko. “I think that Palko can do everything that he needs to do from what Matt has done,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect them to deviate too far from what they like to do.” This is a must win for both teams.

The Chiefs are looking to keep pace in the crowded race for the West and the Patriots look to increase their lead over the Jets, who lost on Thursday to Denver, and stay a game ahead of Buffalo who right now owns the tiebreaker having beat the Patriots back in Week 3.

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No change at the very top this week with the Packers remaining undefeated and the 49ers remaining a 1 loss team, but after that there were some shakeups. The Steelers moved into first with the best record in the AFC as they beat Cincinnati. The Saints and Bears break into the top 5 with solid wins over divisional rivals. The big winners for the week were the Patriots, Cowboys, Titans, and Broncos.

The Patriots took control of the AFC East with a win over the Jets and moved from 13^th up to 8^th. The Cowboys beat up on the Bills and moved to 12^th from 15^th and look to continue moving up with an easy schedule ahead of them.

The Titans saw Chris Johnson finally break out and with Matt Schaub potentially out for the season they look to make a run at the AFC South title. The Broncos are now at 19 after being 23 the week before as they notched another win against Kansas City which puts them right in the race for the AFC West title.

Other notable winners are the Cardinals who jumped from 29^th to 22^nd and the Seahawks who moved from 28^th to 24^th. The big losers this week are the Ravens, Lions, Eagles, and Redskins. The Ravens fell from 3^rd to 7^th with a bad loss to the Seahawks, but with a season sweep of the Steelers they’re still in the thick of it.

The Lions fall from 4^th to 10^th  got pummeled by the Bears who got 2 defensive touchdowns and a Devin Hester punt return, while injuring quarterback Matt Stafford. The Eagles nightmare season continues as they fall from 18^th to 23^rd after losing to the Cardinals. The Redskins fall from 22^nd to 26^th with a fifth straight loss, this one at the hands of the Dolphins, and no answer for their quarterback problem.

Another notable loser is the Panthers who fell from 26^th to 30^th. Bringing up the rear yet again this week is the Colts who fell to 0-10 after losing to the Jaguars and their bye week couldn’t have come any sooner for a team in need of a lot of help.

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There is no secret about the game plan when facing a Denver Broncos team led by Tim Tebow. There will be a lot of options and running the ball and virtually no throwing. While it may seem easy to defend, Tebow is 3-1 since taking over the starting job in Denver.

The Jets are coming off a disappointing loss at home to the Patriots that all but killed any chance of them winning the AFC East, and looking to bounce back on a short week when they face the Broncos, who are suddenly back in the race for the AFC West, on Thursday night.

The Jets had a golden opportunity to take control of their playoff destiny and the AFC East, but lost 37-16 to the Patriots and snapped a three game winning streak. The game was characterized by sloppy play, including a missed 24 yard field goal, a muffed punt that the Jets failed to recover three times, a pick six, and a stupid timeout.

Sanchez didn’t show up to play, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked five times. The timeout he called before the half prompted coach Rex Ryan to tell NBC at halftime that it was the “stupidest play in NFL history.” ”There’s plenty of football left to play,” center Nick Mangold said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to get out there Thursday night and, you know, right the wrongs.”

The Jets are facing the polar opposite this week as the Patriots featured a lot of spread offenses while the Broncos are strictly a running team. This might pose some problems for the Jets defense that statistically is better against the pass with their talented cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. The Jets rank 8^th against the pass giving up 210.8 yards per game.

On Sunday Denver rushed the ball 55 times in its win over Kansas City and had 244 yards on the ground. Tebow only attempted 8 passes all game completing 2, though one of the completions was a 56 yard touchdown to Eric Decker. The Jets faced a season-high 39 pass attempts Sunday against the Patriots holding them to 60 yards on 28 carries.

The Jets are still only rank 15^th against the run giving up 116.0 yards per contest. The Broncos have the 2^nd best rushing attack in football averaging 158.2 yards per game, but have been averaging 246.0 yards in their past three games. ”I think it’s just one more thing for people to prepare for,” Tebow said of Denver’s unique offense.

“It’s not like we went out there and did a lot (Sunday) but it’s something you have to scheme for, you have to prepare for and you have to be sound.” There might be some changes for the Broncos in the backfield, though it likely won’t change how the team runs the ball. On Sunday starter Willis McGahee left the game with a hamstring injury and is listed as Questionable.

Backup Knowshon Moreno also was hurt Sunday suffering a torn ACL which will end his season. Sunday they had to turn to third string tailback Lance Ball who was effective rushing for 96 yards on 30 carries, with Tebow adding 43 and a score on 9 carries. They will turn to Ball and second year back Jeremiah Johnson if McGahee can’t go.

The Jets also look to run the ball, though not to the extreme that the Broncos do. They’re averaging 125.5 yards on the ground in their last four games with Shonn Greene averaging 80.8. LaDanian Tomlinson who was hurt late in the game Sunday will not play this week and the Jets have activated rookie Bilal Powel from the practice squad.

The last meeting between the teams was last year and the Jets won 24-20 with a late touchdown from Tomlinson to seal the win. Tebow was only used as a runner in that game carrying the ball 6 times for 23 yards.

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