While the New England Patriots are playing like the team that won three Super Bowls in a four-year span, the Miami Dolphins appear to be on their way to being grouped with the worst teams in the NFL.

The Patriots (3-1) hope to increase their lead in the AFC East and open 3-0 against the division Sunday when they host the last-place Dolphins (1-3), who could be without starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper.

"There is still a long way to go," said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, whose club leads the East by one game over the New York Jets and Buffalo. "I think that we are still a long way from the team that we need to be."

Brady and New England appeared to take a big step toward becoming that team as they re-established their running game last week. In a 38-13 victory at Cincinnati on Sunday, the Pats rushed for 236 yards on 41 carries, rebounding from a 50-yard, 21-carry effort in a 17-7 defeat to Denver the previous week.

Last week's blowout was New England's first of the season, following a two-point win over Buffalo and a seven-point victory over the New York Jets.

The Patriots outscored the Bengals 17-0 in the fourth quarter.

"This is a statement game for us," safety Rodney Harrison said. "It felt good to come in here and play Patriots football. This is what I'm used to around here."

Even the typically cool Brady felt a sense of relief.

"Kind of like the Patriots you guys were used to seeing," Brady said.

Rookie Laurence Maroney led the ground attack with 125 yards and two touchdowns on 15 attempts, and Corey Dillon added 67 yards on 17 carries and also scored. It was Dillon's return to Cincinnati, where he played from 1997-2003 before his trade to New England.

"We knew coming in that the running game was going to play a major part in the game," said Maroney, who ran for only 18 yards against Denver. "That was No. 1 on our list - get the running game going."

The Pats will look to keep their strong ground attack going against Miami, which benefited from facing New England in the final week of last season and defeated the Pats 28-26.

Brady did not play past the first quarter of that matchup, and Dillon and linebacker Tedy Bruschi were inactive as the Pats focused on keeping players healthy for the playoffs.

That victory ended the Dolphins' four-game losing streak at Foxborough and gave them six straight wins to close the season. Miami, though, has been unable to carry that form into this year.

The Dolphins lost their first two games of 2006, and after eking out a 13-10 win over woeful Tennessee on Sept. 24, returned to their losing ways last week with a 17-15 defeat to previously winless Houston.

A botched pass on a two-point conversion attempt from running back Ronnie Brown, tipped by the Texans' Mario Williams, sealed the defeat for Miami. Culpepper had completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Chambers with 1:39 left, 4:02 after Olindo Mare's 22-yard field goal had cut Miami's deficit to 17-9.

"Whatever anyone thinks is the worst team in the league, that's us," defensive end Jason Taylor said.

Culpepper practiced with a bruised right shoulder Friday, although the Dolphins have not yet decided if he will be ready to play Sunday. If Culpepper cannot play, Joey Harrington will start.

"He wants to play in the game and we have to make a decision whether he's physically capable of doing that," coach Nike Saban said. "He practiced OK today. ... We want to put him in a situation where he can be successful. If we feel like he can do that, he'll be ready to go in the game. If that's not the case, then that's why Joey was brought here."

A rough start by Brown, the second-year back who is coming off a 909-yard effort in his rookie season, hasn't helped. He rushed for 49 yards on 12 carries last week to increase his season total to 239 on 68 attempts with two touchdowns. Brown, who averaged 4.4 yards per carry last year, is at 3.5 this year and has yet to surpass the 100-yard rushing mark after posting two 100-yard performances last season.

Brown faced New England twice last season and ran for 85 yards on 22 carries in those games, which the teams split.

Culpepper has completed 60.4 percent (81-for-134) of his passes this season for 929 yards with two TDs and three interceptions, and threw for 249 yards or more in three games. The Dolphins, though, haven't been able to translate those numbers into wins.

"Execution level is the biggest problem," Culpepper said. "We need to move the ball better on first and second down to put us in short, makable third downs. It's as simple as that."

The Dolphins are tied with Denver for 21st in third-down conversion success rate at 35.7 percent (20-for-56). Miami is 26th in the league with 284.5 yards per game.

"Some things we need to fix," Saban said. "We're going to try to fix it where we can fix it.

"It's only going to change when everybody decides, `I'm going to change.' If somebody doesn't want to change, they're not going to change. And if they don't do it, then we need to play somebody else."

Linebacker Junior Seau will face the Dolphins for the first time since he ended his three-year stint in Miami and signed with New England on Aug. 18, four days after announcing his retirement.