MIAMI -- For nearly 20 minutes late Sunday afternoon, with a phalanx of microphones and mini-cams and tape recorders thrust under his nose, Jim Bates stood polishing his glasses against the sweaty golf-style coaching shirt he had worn during a 23-17 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

There were times the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator rubbed so hard and so tediously, it seemed Bates might actually grind up the lenses with his bare hands, and perhaps be left clutching only a pair of thin, wire rims as he left Pro Player Stadium following a truly significant triumph.

The polishing act, of course, was just nervous habit. And after suffocating the potent Oakland offense in a game that made a statement on the balance of power in the AFC, it was a tad ironic as well.

After all, in preparing a game plan that thwarted the Raiders and quarterback Rich Gannon for most of the afternoon, Bates' vision was a perfect 20/20.

"That's a great (Oakland) offense," said Miami star middle linebacker Zach Thomas of the NFL's statistically highest-rated attack. "Just look at the numbers. Their quarterback is an MVP (candidate) and they have a couple Hall of Fame receivers, a versatile running game. But to be honest, I don't think they see a defense like ours most weeks, OK?

"We felt like we came in here with an excellent game plan. And the results were pretty much what we had hoped for."

Indeed, in limiting Oakland to 14 first downs, 224 yards and one touchdown, the Dolphins performed at a level few NFL defenses can match. And part of the reason for holding the Raiders to season lows in most categories is that few defenses have the pedigree of cornerbacks that the Dolphins put on the field every week.

Through the week of preparation, Bates and head coach Dave Wannstedt put the cornerback trio of Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison and Jamar Fletcher on notice that they would be afforded little help from secondary mates versus an Oakland passing game that likes to spread the field. Just as they did last season, when the Miami secondary limited the Oakland wide-receiver duet of Jerry Rice and Tim Brown to four catches for just 24 yards, they readily accepted the challenge.

And then some.

Brown, who, by frequently moping, seemed miffed the ball wasn't coming his way more often, had as many drops (three) as receptions in posting 30 yards and fumbled away a punt in the fourth quarter.

Rice didn't catch a pass until 3:30 remained in the third quarter, and ended the day with three grabs for 30 yards, all in one offensive series.

Gannon, on pace to shatter most of Dan Marino's major one-season passing marks, completed 17 of 31 passes for 204 yards. His final attempt of the day, a long effort deep up the left seam that was intended for Rice, was intercepted by Surtain on a one-handed grab.

Surly and barely conversant, Brown refused to concede the Miami corners had essentially determined the outcome, referring to their effort as "nothing special." You would think a player with over 1,000 career receptions and 15 years in the NFL would have been more candid, and more gracious too. But neither Brown nor Rice like to ever concede old age is catching up to them.

The Miami cornerbacks continued to demonstrate a healthy respect for the walking Hall of Fame wideouts, but these are guys who thrive on "press coverage," and balk at playing "off-man" in the secondary. They didn't have too much worry about backing off from the line of scrimmage, as Bates and his secondary coaches called for plenty of "press" looks. Only when the Raiders went with their "bunch" formations did the Dolphins rely on zone looks in the back end.

"You watch film of their games and everybody zones up against them," said Surtain, who seems to have now surpassed Madison as the Dolphins' premier one-on-one defender. "That's the last thing you want to do. Their game is to hit all those little slants, the quick passes, then get yards after the catch. We don't (concede) anything to them. We're up on top of them man. Look, we know they're all-time great players, but we keep proving they're human."

By unofficial count, the Dolphins played their "base" 4-3 defense for only eight of 48 snaps.

One of the few occasions Bates decided to use a "base" look and was burned came on Gannon's 20-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Porter in the fourth quarter. It was also a play Bates second-guessed himself on afterwards.

	“	That's a great (Oakland) offense. Just look at the numbers. Their quarterback is an MVP (candidate) and they have a couple Hall of Fame receivers, a versatile running game. But to be honest, I don't think they see a defense like ours most weeks, OK? ”
		— Zach Thomas, Dolphins linebacker

For the most part, Bates' use of "Cover 1" schemes was brilliant, and Gannon often looked addled and out of synch. In many situations, Bates used "dime" looks to crowd the middle of the field, making things difficult between the hashes, but still played man-to-man on the outside.

Oakland doesn't rely on as many crossing routes as it did under former coach Jon Gruden, and has gone vertical more often in the first season of Bill Callahan's tenure, but Bates took away a lot of the picks and screens by compressing the center of the secondary.

"Nobody else plays them quite like we do," Bates allowed. "Our guys just like getting up in their faces. They like to be on top of them."

It didn't hurt the Miami cause, either, that star defensive end Jason Taylor performed like a man possessed. He had sacks, and forced fumbles, on two of the first three plays. Although the Raiders recovered both of the fumbles, Taylor personally accounted for a minus-19 yards, and Oakland managed an anemic minus-seven yards over its first three possessions.

Resuscitating his bid for defensive player of the year honors, Taylor finished with three sacks, and now has a league-best 17 quarterback kills. Raiders left tackle Barry Sims was relegated to blatantly holding Taylor for much of the day and, finally, the Oakland coaches were forced to use a fullback or tight end to "chip" block on him.

In addition to being sacked five times -- beyond the Taylor "hat trick," Jay Williams and Adewale Ogunleye each had one, both using their speed to whip the slower Oakland offensive line -- Gannon was hit on at least nine other occasions. By unofficial count, the Raiders quarterback was flushed from the pocket on 21 of 36 "dropbacks."

But even while the front four provided a tremendous complement, and kept Bates from calling more than a handful of blitzes, it was the secondary that made the biggest difference. The cornerbacks had just four passes defensed, but the coverage was so tight that Gannon looked more scatter-armed than any other time this season.

Even if he fails to rub all that grime off his eyeglasses, Bates will be able to scrutinize the videotape Monday, and award high grades to his standout trio of coverage players.

"A blind man," said Fletcher, "could see we played our (butts) off. You play guys like Rice and Brown, they're going to draw your attention, but you just can't be awed by them.

"Next time, maybe they'll give us our 'props,' huh?"

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.