--OLB Joey Porter, the NFL leader in sacks with 16.5 needs two more to tie the franchise record held by DEs Jason Taylor and Bill Stanfill. Porter was on ESPN-TV this week defending his former Steelers teammate Plaxico Burress for carrying a gun. Said Porter, "Until you've been in a situation where you've been robbed at gunpoint, or you've had a gun waved in your face, or been carjacked, you really don't know what it feels like. ... For a person to carry a gun, you're not carrying a gun to show that, 'Oh, I'm tough. It's nothing but safety.' After the first time you've been robbed or something like that, the first thing that goes in your mind for the next time, for the rest of your life, is I'd rather be caught with (a gun) than without."

--A Dolphins win would give them nine wins and assure them of at least tying the 1992 Colts and '97 Jets for the greatest turnaround in NFL history. All three teams were coming off 1-15 seasons, and the Colts and Jets both finished 9-7. That's why coach Tony Sparano has to be in the conversation for Coach of the Year honors. Said quarterback Chad Pennington, "His passion has been the same from when I met him the night of the Tampa Bay preseason game until now. It hasn't changed; it hasn't wavered. The season is so grueling, sometimes you can see in a coach, the season wearing on him a little bit or whatever and this guy hasn't blinked. He hasn't changed one bit."

--The Dolphins are 3-7 against rookie head coaches such as 49ers interim head coach Mike Singletary, including 1-1 this year. They lost to John Harbaugh's Ravens but beat Tom Cable and the Raiders. Sparano said of Mike Singletary, "You remember his eyes. You remember his intensity. You remember all of those things. More importantly, what has he done for that team right now and what do I see different? I've got to watch what I say here because, certainly, I think an awful lot of Mike Nolan, I really do. What I see is this team playing just very, very inspired right now."

--K Dan Carpenter, who was named AFC Special Teams Player in November, was selected as the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Wednesday for making three of four field goals, including a career-long 50-yarder, in Sunday's 16-3 victory over the Bills. His franchise record of 14 straight field goals ended Sunday, but he set a team mark for rookies, and tied the NFL mark shared by Ali Haji-Sheikh of the Giants in 1983, which happened to be Bill Parcells' rookie season as an NFL head coach.

--The Dolphins haven't given up a touchdown in the last eight quarters against the Bills and Rams. Said DE Vonnie Holliday, "It's crazy because it's one of those things that kind of snuck up on us because you go out there, you fight, you're playing and before you know it, we're sitting here with two weeks in a row without giving up a touchdown. It's starting to pay off; all the hard work, all the attention to detail, all the small things. Guys just continue to be relentless and at this time of the year, guys are starting to play their best football."

--NT Bob Baumhower and DE Doug Betters will be inducted into the Dolphins Honor Roll at halftime Sunday. Playing together from 1978-86, they were part of the 'Killer B's' defense that helped win five AFC East titles and make two Super Bowl appearances (both losses, including one to the 49ers).

BY THE NUMBERS: 12 -- The Dolphins lead the NFL in turnover ratio and their 10 turnovers are also a league best, while the 49ers are last in the NFL with 30.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I thought we were recession proof, TV deals and all. You know it's getting bad when the NFL starts laying off people." -- DE Vonnie Holliday, on the NFL laying off 150 employees this week.