A17-game foundation of trust was crumbling after just one performance.

Everything Tony Sparano and his staff had proven over a sparkling first season with the Dolphins was tossed aside, dissed, dismissed as gadgetry and luck after a single poor performance against a talented Falcons team in the first game of the season.

That was, officially, Sparano's welcome to Miami, where memories are short and patience is nonexistent.

Consider Monday night, then, Sparano's response. It was loud. It was clear. It was encouraging -- even in a loss.

In a game that no one assumed the Dolphins would be able to compete -- particularly not after being essentially dominated in Atlanta -- Sparano's Dolphins had more than a bounce-back game. They had a tone-setting game for an entire season.

It was this season's Patriots game -- even if it didn't include the actual win.

A USEFUL PLAY

When the sports world declared the Wildcat dead, Sparano not only stuck to the supposedly gimmicky offense but dominated with it.

When everyone was busy yelling at Jake Long for playing the part of road kill to the Falcons pass rush, Sparano relied on Long and the rest of the offensive line as much as he has since he's been in Miami, piling up 239 rush yards and sticking with it while the game was on the line. And Sparano worked with Long personally during the week, which shouldn't go overlooked.

While everyone was busy looking at the schedule and realizing that it's even more challenging than originally anticipated, what with the Jets and Bills looking more and more like serious competition in this AFC East, Sparano did his best to ease those concerns.

After all, if Peyton Manning and his high-octane offense wasn't enough to deflate the Dolphins, then why should anyone else on the schedule be?

Even with all the glitz and glamour Dolphins owner Stephen Ross created by inviting every celebrity within a 100-mile radius to the game, Manning was still the second biggest star in the building. He was only the second biggest celeb because the biggest of all sports starts, Tiger Woods, was standing on the Colts sideline, an apparent guest of Manning.

It was Manning who had the weapons, with one of the best receivers in the game and one of the best tight ends in the game. It's Manning who might eventually go down as the best quarterback to play the game, when his career ends. And it's Manning who was slapping high-fives with Tiger after his first play from scrimmage resulted in an 80-yard touchdown to Dallas Clark.

But it was Sparano's Dolphins making life frustrating for Manning and his Colts.

After that initial shock to the system -- an 80-yard play that was the very definition of buzz kill -- the Dolphins responded not with panic or desperation, but with a game plan. A game plan that was Ronnie Brown-heavy -- one week after Sparano was criticized for only giving his lead back 10 carries against the Falcons.

BROWN BACK IN THE PLAN

In that opening drive, Brown carried five times for 42 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown run.

And as the Miami defense found ways to at least slow that Colts offense, the Dolphins continued to pound away, dominating time of possession and frustrate a Colts team that barely got past the Jaguars in Week One.

It was, for almost four full quarters, proof that scheme and coaching can in fact nullify a talent mismatch.

It was a fact Sparano and the Dolphins taught the football world last season. But one that was apparently forgotten after last week.

The final few minutes of Monday's game will make you forget it again. When the Dolphins' play-calling got conservative, you could already feel the poisonous darts flying toward Sparano. When the Dolphins settled for a field goal with 3:50 remaining, leaving Manning enough time to score four more times if necessary, it threatened to ruin all the positive feelings Sparano and the Dolphins had regained through most of the contest.

Then, the awful time management and timeout usage in the game's final minutes officially crushed those feelings, replacing them with even more venom than was there when last week's game ended.

But the fact is, this 0-2 feels a lot better than last season's 0-2. And we all know how that season turned out.

Manning and the Colts stunned the Fins. And the Dolphins officially shot themselves in the foot at the end.

But the foundation remains strong -- no matter how much anger will be directed Sparano's way for another week.