FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Dolphins have pretty much mastered the art of the collapse against the Patriots, each meltdown more vexing than the last.

There was the gruesome special teams collapse on a Monday night last season. The unspeakably awful defensive collapse in the season opener this year.

And on Saturday, there was a total collapse on both sides of the ball after intermission, erasing a 17-point Dolphins lead and resulting in a 27-24 loss that ensured Miami of double-digit defeats for the first time since 2007.

“Frustrating, but this whole season is frustrating,” Brandon Marshall said. “Immaturity. Stupid mistakes. Lack of execution. You can’t do that against this Patriots team.”

The Dolphins’ stunning 17-0 halftime cushion proved flimsy and fleeting, with Tom Brady and the Patriots needing less than 13 third-quarter minutes to tie the score. They went ahead for good on Stephen Gostkowski’s 42-yard field goal with nine minutes left in the game, then used a clock-draining drive to push the margin to 10.

Matt Moore’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 left trimmed the Patriots’ lead to 27-24.

With three timeouts left, the Dolphins opted to kick deep, because interim coach Todd Bowles said the Patriots would have been close to field goal range if they had recovered an onside kick. But on third and five, Wes Welker caught a game-clinching first down.

“They wanted it more in the second half than we did,” Bowles said. “We didn’t play smart.”

The Patriots, who didn’t score on any of their seven first-half possessions, scored on their first five of the second half.

The Dolphins flustered and flummoxed Brady in the first half, holding him to a season-low 87 yards on 7 for 19 passing. But in the second half, Brady was 20 for 27 for 217 yards, finishing with 304 yards.

“They had guys running all over the place,” cornerback Will Allen said. “We didn’t have any blown assignments. They just made good plays.”

A Dolphins defense that generated three sacks in the first half produced only one (and not enough pressure) in the second. A defense that held NFL leading receiver Wes Welker to just two first half receptions (for 20 yards) allowed him to run free for 10 catches and 118 yards after intermission. Miami’s pass coverage and tackling also weren’t nearly as sharp after halftime.

“The only thing they did differently in the second half was using a little more no-huddle,” Yeremiah Bell said. “We didn’t have time to set our pressure package.”

But Bowles said, “We prepared for the no-huddle all week. It didn’t catch us off guard. They were throwing the ball underneath a little more.”

Safety Tyrone Culver said there was another issue: “They switched up a lot of things with their routes and a lot of things they have not really done and shown before.”

As the Patriots rallied, the Dolphins’ offense went dormant.

Moore had a very good first half – 10 for 19, 179 yards and two touchdown passes. But he fumbled twice after halftime - losing one of them - threw an interception and passed for just 35 yards in the first 27 minutes of the second half, before his late touchdown drive.

“We stalled in the second half,” said Moore, who was sacked three times and harassed several other times in the second half, and sacked five times overall. At least one of the sacks was allowed by John Jerry, who replaced Jake Long when Long left in the first half with an arm injury.