Randy Moss caught five passes for 111 yards and scored one touchdown to lead the New England Patriots to a 30-21 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5 action.

Matt Cassel was 22-of-32 passing for 259 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Patriots (3-1), who improved to 11-9 following a bye week and avenged their Week 3 loss to the Dolphins in New England that erased the team's 21-game regular season home win streak. Kevin Faulk had seven carries for 32 yards and a pair of scores in the win. Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals.

J.T. O'Sullivan registered 130 yards, three touchdowns and three picks on 14- of-29 passing for the 49ers (2-3), who have dropped two straight contests on the heels of a two-game win streak. Frank Gore gained 54 yards on 12 touches and hauled in four passes for 24 yards and a score. Isaac Bruce had three catches for 49 yards with two going for TDs in defeat.

New England was forced to punt on its first drive of the third quarter, but Rodney Harrison picked off O'Sullivan on San Fran's second play to give the Pats a first down on the 49ers' 24.

"To win is all about having more points than the other team," said San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan. "It gets down to staying on the field offensively on third down and getting off on defense, and a lot of other things but it's never one area."

The Patriots moved the ball until the team faced a 4th-and-goal from the two- yard line. The team found paydirt as Faulk took a direct snap and hammered his way up the middle and across the goal line for a 24-14 New England lead with 5:25 left in the third stanza.

Gostkowski split the uprights on a 40-yard field goal to make it 27-14 with just seven seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

The 'Niners took over at their own 20 and O'Sullivan orchestrated an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that brought San Francisco within 27-21 with 10:22 left in the game. Bruce hauled in the five-yard TD pass at the back of the end zone to put the finishing touches on the trek.

Gostkowski made it a two-possession game, 30-21, on New England's next series as he capped a 10-play, 41-yard drive with a 49-yard field goal. The kick improved Gostkowski to 10-for-10 on field goal attempts this season.

The Pats seemingly put the game away on San Fran's next possession, as on 4th-and-16 O'Sullivan threw an interception to Deltha O'Neal with just under three minutes left. However, the 'Niners held the visitors to a three-and-out series.

O'Sullivan and company took over with a 1st-and-10 at their own 28. The team moved to the 45 as Josh Morgan hauled in a 17-yard catch. A few plays later, San Fran was faced with a 4th-and-11 but as O'Sullivan dropped back to pass he couldn't find an open receiver. The quarterback scrambled to the right and unleashed a wild toss that came down incomplete.

New England took over on downs and was able to run out the clock.

"We just went out today flat. We went out flat as a team," said Gore. "We just have to go out there and stick together and play hard. We can't give up. We just have to keep playing hard."

Gore capped a four-play, 30-yard drive as he hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass which gave the 'Niners a 7-0 lead with 8:57 left in the first.

The Patriots, though, answered quick as Cassel hit Moss on a 66-yard TD strike down the middle of the field to tie it up 82 seconds later.

"For our off week, we emphasized getting open, beating man coverage and being spaced in our offensive passing game," Moss said. "Being able to connect on that deep ball, I think it was good from an offensive standpoint because that's something that we've been missing in our repertoire the past couple weeks. It was a good thing."

O'Sullivan hit Bruce for a six-yard touchdown on San Fran's next possession, which gave the 49ers a 14-7 advantage with 5:25 left in the opening stanza.

Gostkowski nailed a 35-yard field goal with just under 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half to make it a 14-10 differential.

The Pats held the 'Niners to a three-and-out on their ensuing possession, and New England got the ball back on its own 20.

"Three-and-outs are just not good enough," said O'Sullivan.

Cassel drove his team down inside the red zone and, facing a 3rd-and-six from San Fran's 10 with 20 seconds left, was sacked for a loss of three yards. However, a personal foul call on the 'Niners gave the Pats a new set of downs and two plays later Faulk punched it in from two yards out to make it 17-14 heading into the break.

Game Notes

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@