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Brown, Dolphins run over Patriots

Sep 21, 2008 - 10:16 PM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- It looks like the New England Patriots miss Tom Brady after all.

Ronnie Brown set a team record with four touchdown runs and added a touchdown pass in the second half to help the Miami Dolphins shock the New England Patriots, 35-13, on Sunday, ending the NFL's longest regular-season winning streak at 21 games.

"It's something to build off of," Brown said. "We were 0-2 going into the bye week. We wanted to get some things to build on. Getting a win like this over a team of this caliber, I think it just builds momentum, and hopefully it will carry over."

New England (2-1) lost a regular-season game for the first time since dropping a 21-0 decision at Miami on December 10, 2006.

"There is not too much to say," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "I thought Miami played a real good football game. They did everything a lot better than we did. They outplayed us. They outcoached us."

The Dolphins (1-2) had won just won of their past 21 games since but rode the magnificent performance of Brown to end an 11-game road losing skid.

Brown rushed for 113 yards 17 carries, including scoring runs of 2, 15, 5 and 62 yards. He also threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Fasano.

New England quarterback Matt Cassel, making his second career start, finished 19-of-31 for 131 yards with one TD and one interception. He also lost a fumble.

"They stopped us today," Cassel said. "We had some opportunities and we didn't take advantage of that. They played physical and they played tough and you just have to give credit to their defense."

Randy Starks picked off Cassel's pass over the middle and set up Miami's first scoring drive. Chad Pennington led the Dolphins 74 yards in eight plays, capped off by Brown's first score, a 2-yard plunge over the right side.

Running from a direct-snap formation throughout, Miami outgained the Patriots, 238-144, in the first half, adding touchdown runs of 15 and 5 yards from Brown as Miami raced out to a 21-6 halftime lead.

"We tried to keep them off guard and show them a different formation and get them thinking a little bit," Brown said. "After the first time we ran it, I could see them running around and they weren't used to it. We just tried to keep them off guard and it worked."

Ricky Williams benefited from the college-type option formation and was just two yards shy of giving Miami two 100-yard rushers on the day.

"We tried to put it in a while ago, but the time just wasn't right," Williams said. "The offensive coaches came to us and said we were going to do it and everyone was excited. We thought it would work, but I don't think we thought it would work this well. It was just a wrinkle and they had a tough time figuring out what we were doing."

New England could never make the adjustments to contain the new-look Miami offense.

"We had trouble with a lot of things," Belichick said. "That was one of them. We had trouble a lot."

Pennington finished 17-of-20 for 226 yards, continually hitting big plays into the middle of New England's defense.

The Patriots could only muster field goals of 37 and 44 yards from Steve Gostkowski.

Brown, on a direct snap, rolled out to the left and connected with Fasano for a 28-6 lead.

"I'm not the best thrower in the world, and I was thinking, run, run run, but they did a good job of stopping the run (on that play)," Brown said. "Fasano was open and I just had to pass him the ball. I'm just glad it wasn't that far."

Ellis Hobbs, who returned the game's opening kickoff 51 yards, returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards, setting up New England's first touchdown, a 5-yard strike from Cassel to Jabar Gaffney to cut the deficit to 28-13.

But Brown's fourth touchdown run, a 62-yard run off right tackle, put the Dolphins ahead, 35-13, with 14:49 to play and set a franchise record for most rushing touchdowns in a game.

"We just flat out got our butts kicked today. It's no excuse," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said "They came out and did some college plays, some halfback-type gadgets and we just couldn't adjust to them and they beat us on it."

Miami linebacker Joey Porter, who predicted victory on Wednesday, recovered a fumble by Cassel on the next drive.

"The big thing is we came out with a win," Porter said. "It's not really about me. I am happy that we went out there and did not give up a big play. I said all week if we don't give up the big play and spot somebody 14 to 17 points, we have a chance to win the game. Give us a chance to fight. That is all we ask for."

Porter led the defensive effort with three sacks on Cassel.

"We came out and dropped the first two games and they want to compare us by saying here comes the same old Miami Dolphins," Porter said. "In our hearts, we knew we were a better team than that. Today, we showed it."