FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- He's 38 years old and not the quarterback he once was. But when it comes to taking hits -- even if his own coach is doing the pounding -- Dan Marino can still shake them off.

Drew Bledsoe is 11 years younger and might one day amass numbers rivaling Marino's. He's also been smacked around, mostly by defenses that sacked him seven times the past two games, and treats the pain as a minor nuisance.

They'll play on the same field Sunday in one of their sport's biggest rivalries: the Miami Dolphins against the New England Patriots with first-place in the AFC East at stake.

But their game won't even be the biggest rivalry in the state that day.

Thirty miles away, baseball's defending champions, the New York Yankees, add another encounter to their rich history with the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the AL championship series.

That will get more attention.

"That's because it's the pinnacle of their season," Patriots strong safety Lawyer Milloy said. "Two or three months down the road, it'll be our turn. We should be there. We should be in the situation they're in right now."

Not if the Dolphins can help it.

They have the same goal as the Patriots -- to win the Super Bowl, something Marino never has done -- and Sunday's game is a critical early test of who has a better chance. New England and Buffalo are 4-1, Miami 3-1.

"This is probably the best division in the league," Marino said. "It's going to be a long haul within the AFC East."

It might have been unbearable for Marino had he not responded from poor outings against Arizona and Buffalo and severe public criticism from coach Jimmy Johnson to lead Miami to a 34-31 win at Indianapolis last Sunday. The Dolphins won with one of Marino's typical last-minute flourishes.

His 2-yard touchdown pass to Oronde Gadsden with 27 seconds left was the climax to a game in which Marino completed 25 of 38 passes for 393 yards.

"He responded like a true champion," Miami tight end Troy Drayton said. "He just let all the stuff that was said about him roll off his back. Actions speak, and he went out and played a great game."

"Dan has been a great player and as he showed against Indianapolis he can still do some outstanding things," Johnson said. "But you win a championship with a team."

Marino's winning pass to Gadsden left him seven yards short of 60,000 for his career and climaxed his 35th successful fourth-quarter comeback.

"We have a chance when we fall behind because of who he is and what he does," Dolphins guard Mark Dixon said. "Any other team, you're playing with fire if you do that."

As the Patriots discovered last Sunday in Kansas City.

They had won their first three games by a combined seven points, and Adam Vinatieri won two of them with last-minute field goals. But he missed a 32-yarder with four seconds left in the Chiefs' 16-14 victory.

"How we do with adversity is extremely important," New England coach Pete Carroll said. "I can't imagine we'll have any problem at all. It's divisional. It's home. It's first place. It's all of those things.

"These are the kind of games that you have to be mentally ready to deal with regardless of what happened" the previous week.

That means Bledsoe, the AFC's top-rated passer, better prepare himself for another beating from an aggressive, blitzing defense.

"I think they're the best defense we've played to date," Carroll said.

Bledsoe broke his right index finger when he hit a Miami player's helmet last Nov. 23. Still, he stayed in the game and led the Patriots to the winning touchdown with 29 seconds remaining.

"He's proven himself. He's a big-time quarterback," Marino said.

The Patriots lead the AFC in passing offense and are second in total offense, but might be even better with a productive running game to keep defenses off-guard. But second-round draft choice Kevin Faulk has been injured and unproductive, while Terry Allen has carried the load.

"We're making progress toward the running game," rookie center Damien Woody said. "We've got so many new people and the chemistry is not there yet."

The rivalry is.

The Dolphins once dominated the Patriots, going 12-1 from 1989 through the first of their two meetings in 1995. Since then, the Patriots are 6-2 against the Dolphins.

"The Patriots have given us more problems than anybody in the division since I've been in the division," Johnson said. "It's always been very physical."

It probably will be again Sunday.

But more people will be paying attention to another rivalry being played out in Fenway Park, not Foxboro Stadium.

"If they want to steal the show, that's fine," Milloy said.

As long as Marino doesn't.

MIAMI Season schedule and results

NEW ENGLAND Season schedule and results

September 13 @Denver W 38-21 September 19 Arizona W 19-16 October 4 Buffalo L 18-23 October 10 @Indianapolis W 34-31 October 17 @New England 1:00pm ET October 24 Philadelphia 1:00pm ET October 31 @Oakland 4:05pm ET November 7 Tennessee 8:20pm ET November 14 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET November 21 New England 1:00pm ET November 25 @Dallas 4:15pm ET December 5 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 12 @NY Jets 4:05pm ET December 19 San Diego 1:00pm ET December 27 NY Jets 9:00pm ET January 2 @Washington 4:15pm ET

September 12 @NY Jets W 30-28 September 19 Indianapolis W 31-28 September 26 NY Giants W 16-14 October 3 @Cleveland W 19-7 October 10 @Kansas City L 14-16 October 17 Miami 1:00pm ET October 24 Denver 1:00pm ET October 31 @Arizona 4:05pm ET November 15 NY Jets 9:00pm ET November 21 @Miami 1:00pm ET November 28 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET December 5 Dallas 8:20pm ET December 12 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 19 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET December 26 Buffalo 1:00pm ET January 2 Baltimore 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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