Telegraph Sports Reporter Tom KIng.

Even Matt Light was laughing.

And why shouldn’t the newest New England Patriots Hall of Famer have a good chuckle? He’s seen it all before, as he noted during his brief halftime address Sunday to the fans.

He talked about how it was great to be back in Gillette Stadium, and “It’s been great to watch these guys kick some Dolphin —…It never gets old.”

Talk about adding insult to injury.

Amazing, isn’t it? All it takes is the sight of a lousy AFC East opponent, the jittery Miami Dolphins to bring back the good ol’ days for the New England Patriots in the form of a 38-7 win.

And they’ll get even better.

Another bad Indianapolis Colts team (1-3 after losing in OT to Houston) comes to town in four days. Like most Thursday night games, it won’t be pretty, but the Patriots in the blink of an eye will be 3-3 and then we go from there.

The Dolphins were a fraud 3-0, or at least couldn’t have been as good as advertised. Defensively, they helped make Patriots rookie Sony Michel look like Barry Sanders. They tried that clutching and bumping they used in beating New England in Florida last December, but that doesn’t work on the road in almost-October, and the flags were flying. All you need to know is Cordarrelle Patterson caught a 55-yard touchdown, basically all alone after a pick play.

Offensively, Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins, and a foolish game plan (sideways pass on third and-12?) made the Patriots defense look like the Steel Curtain. OK, well, at least above average. When Tannehill was under center, Miami didn’t have more than a five play drive, and didn’t get past its own 45. Perhaps the people running the Dolphins should tell their coach, Adam Gase, to stop looking at the playsheet and start looking at what is going on right before his eyes.

The Patriots say they saw what was going on, were determined to change it, and that change began in practice.

“Starting (last) Monday, everybody had that hungry look in their eyes,” Patriots defensive lineman Deatrich Wise, Jr. said. “It was a focused week, and we came out strong. … We started Monday strong. Started strong, finished strong.”

“There was a sense of urgency from the first day of practice,” running back James White said, “and watching film from the previous week.”

Gase said he indeed saw what was going on and saw his Dolphins get beat up. Which is exactly what the Lions did to the Patriots a week ago, right? Funny how it all turns around.

“Well, we really didn’t anticipate getting out-physicaled like the way we did,” the Miami coach said. “We had been good all year. … We were getting pushed back.”

Wow. You know it wasn’t a very happy time around Gillette all week. The pressure was mounting. The players knew it, and the coaches made sure the players knew it.

“It was what we needed,” a certainly less-than-giddy Bill Belichick said about the win. “good to see our team respond the way they they did today.”

But you sense the Patriots had that “Us against the world” mentality. Defensive lineman Trey Flowers said not only was the talk that playing physical meant beating the guy across from you , but “an attitude as well.”

“We ignore the noise,” he said. “When you’ve been hearing it for so long, we know we’re all we’ve got and we understand the guys in here and how hard we work. So we have confidence in how hard we work and the production we’ll put on the field.”

Sunday was quite a production. Now they turn around and face a bad Indianapolis team, albeit on short rest. And they may not have a fully able Rob Gronkowsi, who apparently aggravated that sore ankle in the second half.

At least it’s the Colts next. And we know the Dolphins always leave most of what heart they have in sunny Florida when they come to New England. It all falls in the Patriots’ favor.

Yes, Sunday was a day that must’ve made Matt Light feel like he never really left.

Tom King can be reached at 594-1251, tking@nashuatelegraph.com., or @Telegraph_TomK.