(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

It was a little bit sloppy, but most games against Miami are. The CBS telecast put up a number during the game that still has me in awe. Since 2002, the Patriots have lost ten games inside the AFC East, five of those have come at the hands of the Dolphins. For whatever reason they always seem to play tough against the Pats. Luckily, we had enough to take home the victory, but the Pats are going to have to play better if they want a win going into Indy next week. Here are my quick hit reactions to this weeks game.

We need Laurence Maroney to run hard – When he is grinding out yards and running effectively, the performance of the offense is ten fold. Maroney is such a strong runner, it amazes me how he hasn’t become a premier back in the NFL. He runs hard, and he destroys every person who tries to tackle him. You will never see Maroney run out of bounds or try to avoid contact like Reggie Bush just did in the NO/CAR game. In some sick way he enjoys contact and wants to punish people for trying to take him down. The consensus around the NFL is that you need to blitz the Patriots to beat them. One of the best defenses against the blitz is a strong running game and having Maroney average four yards a carry is a huge step towards getting us back to the Superbowl and is going to be very important throughout this brutal stretch of games.

Randy Moss is dirty – Yes, this is stating the obvious, but I feel the need to repeat it. That one handed catch he made down the right sideline was just unreal. The coverage was solid on the play, but the ball was put in a spot where only that right hand would be able to catch it. There wasn’t even a bobble, the ball just stuck to his hand as if there was glue all over it. And anyone who has questioned he speed this season just needs to take a look at the crossing pattern he ran and scored a 70 yard TD on. He gave Davis Mr. Stiffy and turned on the jets out running a secondary full of first and second year players. Oh yea, he can still burn.

Stephen Gostkowski is this weeks unsung hero – But because he is a kicker, its unlikely anyone will even talk about him. The guy was four for four in field goals and held Ted Ginn Jr. to only four returns for 97 yards with two touchbacks, one kicking it out of the end zone from his own 25 yard line. The Dolphins kick return is one of their best weapons, and the Patriots special teams really stepped it up after having a sub par first half on kick coverage.

Pat Chung is slowly becoming a force in the secondary – You didn’t hear his name much early on, but he has been slowly developing into a solid all around player. Strictly a special teams player to start the year, he has been worked into nickle and dime looks as of late. A couple of weeks ago he recorded his first interception and this week he showed his skills as a pass rusher. Twice he blitzed and got to the quarterback, both times he left a lasting impression on Chad Henne. The first was a clean, hard, sack; the second a roughing the passer call due to a fierce helmet to helmet that will all but certainly land him a hefty fine from the commissioner.

Dan Coppen – Coppen left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury, the extent of which is unknown. However, Belichick seemed in good spirits when it was brought up in the post game press conference. “I just got off the field after the game. All that stuff, it’s 24-48 hours anyway before you really know,” Belichick said, smiling. “He’s a quick healer. He’s pretty tough.”

Joey Porter was shut up – For all of the shit Porter has talked in the years, he usually puts in a performance on the field that backs it up. For the first time since he balked back in the AFC Championship games with the Steelers, he was unable to back it up this afternoon. This made me happier than anything else that happened in the game. Porter didn’t record a single tackle in the game and was man handled by Sebastian Volmer the entire game. Surprisingly, he was not available for comment after the game, maybe the first time he has been quiet in his career. The always classy Jason Taylor did comment on the big man, and he had nothing but kind words “He’ll be fine, he’s a big kid, a big guy,” Taylor said of Vollmer. “I didn’t get a whole lot of look at him, but from what I’ve seen on tape and in person, he’ll be just fine.”

Brady owned the blitz – As previously mentioned, the rest of the league feels that blitzing Brady is the best approach to beating the Patriots. According to Mike Reiss from ESPNBoston.com, the Dolphins applied added pressure 44% of the time Sunday, during those plays Brady totaled 278 total yards. This is a huge improvement from when they played the Jets and Brady looked hopeless against the extra pressure. Also of note, today Tom Brady passed Drew Bledsoe as the franchise leader in 300 yard games all while winning his 20th straight at home.

Wes Welker – The most consistent player this season, Welker racked up another nine catches Sunday and became the 6th player in franchise history with 50+ catches in three straight season (Ben Coates, Irving Fryar, Marv Cook, Terry Glenn, & Troy Brown were the others). It really is a treat watching Welker and Moss operate in the same offense. It really is impossible to cover the two of them. You can take Moss out of the play, but that clears out the field underneath for Wes. If you stack the box, then there is one on one coverage down field for Moss to take advantage of. Truly amazing to watch.

Defense – Overall, the defensive play was average at best. Miami isn’t a great offensive team so I wasn’t all that impressed by keeping their offense in check. They really only had two good drives on the day, both of which they ran primarily out of the wild cat offense. Pat White threw a few new wrinkles running a couple of decent option plays around the edge. Brandon Meriweather made him think twice the next time he plans on running up the middle as he clocked him on his last play of the game. The Patriots defense didn’t force a turnover breaking a streak of fifteen straight weeks doing so. They are going to need to step up big time next week against the Colts, especially generating pressure from the front four. Peyton Manning will break apart a secondary if you don’t have enough guys back in coverage.

Stars of the game

Randy Moss – Six receptions, 147 yards, 1 touchdown, and one mean stiff arm. Typical Randy Moss this week showing all his skills; speed, strength, and hands.

Laurence Maroney – 20 rushes, 82 yards, 1 touchdown. He ran hard this week looking to punish anyone who got in his way. If he continues to run like this, we are in for a good second half.

Sebastian Vollmer – dominated Joey Porter, straight up man handled him. Nothing made me happier than seeing him shutdown.

Duds of the game

The defensive line – they are going to need to get more pressure from the front four next week against Indy if we are going to have a chance of winning, it is simple as that. They were O.K. against the Dolphins with two sacks and seven QB hits, but a lot of the pressure came with the blitz. They won’t be able to blitz as much against Manning, or he may tear the defense apart.

Brandon Meriweather – after a breakout game with two interceptions and a touchdown against the Bucs two weeks ago, Meriweather only managed four tackles today and looked foolish trying to contain Anthony Fasano on a quick pass in the first quarter.

- Chris