ESPN

Sometimes when evaluating players, no matter the sport, praise becomes faint because of the circumstances. Sure, Tim Lincecum pitched well, but he was facing the Padres. LeBron James dropped 50 points on someone, but it was on the Knicks, so big deal. Everyone was fully aware the Indianapolis Colts' defense was missing key cog Bob Sanders on Monday night, and the Miami Dolphins controlled the clock in an embarrassing way. But is it fair to remove the credit for what Ronnie Brown did?

My first impression while watching what was a one-sided game on the field, but not on the scoreboard -- the Colts did win the game, after all -- was how reliant the Colts' defense seems to be on one defender. Maybe I just didn't notice it as much last season. Sanders is a special, impact safety who was good enough to be named the league's Defensive Player of the Year after the 2007 season. The Colts ably defended the run that year. Since then, with Sanders out much of the time, not so much. And on Monday night, Sanders' absence was painfully obvious.

Brown and the Dolphins took advantage of this, and hey, good for them. Brown ran wild for 136 yards on 24 carries, an average of 5.7 yards per rush, and certainly enjoyed his time in the Wildcat formation taking direct snaps and finding his own holes to run in. His longest run was only 19 yards, which shows how steady his gains were. Ricky Williams had a 15-yarder and 69 yards rushing. Even Patrick Cobbs broke off a 19-yarder. The Dolphins ran for 239 yards and became the third team in Week 2 to top 200 yards rushing and still lose. Call it an aberration; last season, NFL teams were 36-2 when rushing for 200 yards.

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