Dolphins talking points: CBs Sean Smith, Vontae Davis growing up

If you’re a Dolfan, you’ve got to love the way rookie cornerback Vontae Davis played to the crowd after making his fourth-quarter interception in the Miami end zone Sunday. You’ve also got to love how he held his own against Randy Moss, at least after giving up a 58-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game. That’s where we begin our Dolphins talking points for Monday: 1. Rookie corners Vontae Davis and Sean Smith continue to grow up on the job. Both Davis and Smith had their bad moments Sunday, Davis getting burnt by Moss early – safety Gibril Wilson arrived late on what should have been double coverage on the play – and Smith giving up an 81-yard bomb to Sam Aiken in the third quarter. But both redeemed themselves late, Davis with his huge interception and Smith in breaking up a medium-range pass to Aiken in the final minute that would have helped the Patriots get into field-goal range. Davis finished with three tackles, Smith two and both had one pass defensed. New England largely beat Miami last month in Foxborough because of Moss’ success against Davis. This time Moss had only two catches, none after the first quarter. 2. Nose tackle Paul Soliai might have made his biggest play as a Dolphin Sunday. New England had scored touchdowns on two of its first three drives when it got the ball at its own 23 late in the second quarter, and after a 53-yard hookup between Brady and Wes Welker, faced a fourth-and-1 at the Miami 6 at the two-minute warning.

Soliai, who has struggled to replace the injured Jason Ferguson, knifed underneath the pile and slowed Sammy Morris before Joey Porter arrived to finish the play and hold him short of the first down. When Miami went down and kicked a field goal, it narrowed the Pats’ halftime lead to 14-10. Had Morris made the first down and then closed out the half with a score, it could have been 21-7, a much steeper uphill climb for Miami. The Patriots had their way running the ball in the first half, but got only 31 yards on nine carries in the second, an average of less than 3.5 yards per carry, and the play of Soliai and his linemates were a big reason why. 3. Jacksonville offers another tough test next week. The Jaguars were dismissed as an also-ran after an 0-2 start, but have rebounded to win seven of their last 10 – including four of five – and would be a wild-card entrant if the season ended today. QB David Garrard, who is both a running and passing threat, completed 14-of-28 for 238 yards and two scores in Sunday’s 23-18 win over Houston that dealt a serious blow to the Texans’ wild-card hopes. Miami is only 1-3 all-time against the Jags. And those with long memories will recall Jacksonville ended both the coaching career of Jimmy Johnson and the playing career of Dan Marino with a 62-7 spanking in a first-round playoff game following the 1999 season.

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Dolphins talking points: CBs Sean Smith, Vontae Davis growing up

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