Old reliables help Pats outlast Dolphins’ new offense

FOXBOROUGH – Looks like the New England Patriots’ old reliables trumped the Miami Dolphins’ new fad.Behind a day of achievements from Randy Moss and Tom Brady, and more magic from the defense, the Patriots defeated the Dolphins and their wildcat offense, 27-17, at Gillette Stadium Sunday.Moss tied Terrell Owens for second-best in NFL history with his 140th career receiving touchdown. He also moved to sixth-best all-time with his 141st career score.Moss had his 63rd career 100-yard game, second all-time behind Jerry Rice. And he moved to eighth-best on the career receiving list.Brady established a team mark with his 27th career 300-yard passing game.Still, you’ve got to wonder how much different the result would have been had the Dolphins (3-5, 3-1 AFC East) used the wildcat more frequently.”We’re still excited about it and we’re excited about what it brings to our offense,” running back Ronnie Brown said before the game. “It’s just another dimension to our offense.”The Dolphins proved this in the third quarter, when Brown took a direct snap from the Pats’ 1-yard line and threw a pass to Joey Haynos for a game-tying touchdown. Dan Carpenter’s PAT gave the Dolphins a 17-16 lead, their first since the opening quarter.But a few old reliables rescued the Pats (6-2, 2-1 AFC East).First, the Brady-to-Moss connection proved potent once again. Three plays after the wildcat strike for a touchdown, Brady found Moss for a 71-yard score that furthered Moss’ achievements in touchdown catches and touchdowns in general.The second Old Reliable to step in was the Pats’ defense. You’ve got to admire a unit that loses Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Richard Seymoure, Mike Vrabel ? and only gets stronger. Even though he might still be miffed at Bill Belichick, Adalius Thomas showed up to play, such as at the end of the third quarter, when he sacked Dolphins QB Chad Henne for an 11-yard loss.Fans came into the game thinking it would be all about the Miami offense, but instead the Dolphin defense struck first. Vontae Davis picked off Brady on the Pats’ opening drive, setting up a 52-yard Carpenter field goal that made it 3-0.The Brady-Moss connection then teamed up for passes of 12 and 36 yards, mixed in with good running by Laurence Maroney, who capped the drive for a 1-yard TD and the Pats’ first lead, 7-3. Early in the second quarter they moved the lead to 10-3 on a 30-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.Patriots Nation might have wondered whether Bill Parcells would call Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, to report a missing wildcat ? but it finally showed up on a 5-play, 80-yard drive that produced a score in 2:54. Brown took a snap and gave it to Ricky Williams for a 12-yard run. Leigh Bodden drew a pass-interference call that moved the ball to the Pats’ 15 and backup QB Pat White delivered the ball to Williams for the tying score, 10-10.New England went back in front on the foot of Gostkowski, whose 38-yarder split the uprights for a 13-10 lead. The Dolphins defense committed two pass-interference penalties for 30 yards on the Pats’ next drive, helping them reach the Miami 16, from where Gostkowski kicked a 34-yarder for the 16-10 halftime score.Gostkowski added a 40-yard field goal with 1:09 left in the game to close out the scoring.