Welcome, sports fans, to life without Tom Brady.And while we’re contemplating life as a team at peril even against the worst the NFL has to offer (the Miami Dolphins), we can also ask the following question: Just how bad are the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs?Somewhere in a parallel universe, the Patriots were supposed to be 3-0 today, heading into a bye week. Two weeks ago, when Brady went down with a torn ACL, we looked at the schedule and figured if we could just get by the Jets – somehow – we’d be 3-0 heading into the week off, because there was no way ? NO WAY ? they could lose to the Dolphins, at home, even with Mickey Mouse calling signals back there.We all know what happens when you assume, however.Maybe now, people who had it in their heads that Cassel-for-Brady was a minor adjustment in the grand scheme of things, and that 12-4 and 11-5 were possible, even with the backup in there, will get it (and yes, that would include me). Life in the NFL without one of the best, and most clutch, quarterbacks in the history of the league is not going to be a cakewalk ? and every game, from here on out, is going to be up for grabs.What else can you think? It would be one thing if the Pittsburgh Steelers came into Foxborough and spanked the Patriots this way. But it was the Dolphins, a team that won only once in 2007 and looked absolutely terrible last week against the Arizona Cardinals. If this is what we’re in for, then fasten your seatbelts.This wasn’t a fluke. As coach Bill Belichick said afterward, “They outplayed us, they outcoached us. They certainly dominated us on offense and defense.”Not much left, is there?Not only did the Patriots lose yesterday, they made a prophet out of the type of bigmouth – Joey Porter, who just about guaranteed a Dolphins win – they generally dismiss with a good kick in the chops. It all went bad early ? and it stayed bad.Pick a way to lose, and the Patriots lost. Chad Pennington outpassed Cassel by almost 100 yards. Ronnie Brown had 113 yards and Ricky Williams 98 for Miami. New England’s leading rusher was Sammy Morris, with 27.Cassel threw one touchdown pass – and so did Brown, and he’s not even a quarterback.And that may be the unkindest cut of them all. The Dolphins went up and down the field as if the Patriots weren’t even there. They could have scored any way they wanted, but instead used the same gadget play on three of their five scores (Brown lining up for the direct snap). The Patriots could do nothing. That’s how bad they were yesterday.”We had trouble with their old stuff and we had trouble with their new stuff,” said Belichick. “We had trouble a lot.”The loss didn’t just snap a regular-season winning streak that extended back to 2006, it could be the worst home defeat since Gillette Stadium opened (especially considering the opponent was the Dolphins and not a team like Indianapolis). This is about as low as it goes.How well the Patriots do the rest of the way depends on many factors, but the biggest one is this: They will have to get used to the idea that their opponents will not have the same fear and respect for them as they did when Tom Brady was back there. And that is huge.For if it’s not Tom Brady back there, it might as well be Mickey Mouse.Steve Krause is sports editor of The Item.