When the Dolphins defeated New England in September while holding the Patriots to 6.89 yards a completion and just 25 yards receiving by Randy Moss, it proved the truth of what Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter said before the game: backup quarterback Matt Cassel wasn't All-Pro Tom Brady.

Perhaps the acceptance of that allows Cassel to do what he has needed to keep an injured team in the playoff race and an overtime loss against the Jets away from the AFC East lead.

''I think Matt Cassel has stepped up each week and I think as a leader on this football team, a lot of guys are looking at him in a different light now and almost putting him in that leading category because of the way he's playing,'' New England nose guard Vince Wilfork said. ``As long as he keeps doing what he's doing and we feed off him, I think we'll be in good shape.''

Said Porter: ``I think he's got a little smarter and he's grown up since then; he's played a lot of football since then. If his read is not there, he's going to take the 3, 6, 7 yards instead of just sitting there and taking no play. He's being a smarter quarterback. If his first read is not open, he's not going to sit back there and take a sack when he can try to make a play out of something that's not there.''

ADJUSTMENTS

Just a year after Brady conducted perhaps the most comprehensive, single-season passing symphony in NFL history, his season-ending injury in Game 1 forced Cassel to find his own game. The surgical 5-to-12-yard cuts that Wes Welker turned into 15-to-30-yard gashes last year once set up deep passes to Randy Moss. Now, they set up more cuts by Welker, Moss and Jabar Gaffney, with deep passes to Moss coming per game like scoops of ice cream per cone.

Welker averages half a catch per game less than in 2007, 6.54 to 7.0, and half a yard less per catch, 10.0 to 10.5. Moss, on the other hand, averages two fewer catches per game, 4.18 to 6.13, and his 13.4 yards per catch would be the third-lowest average of his career. The Patriots famously play to their personnel's strength, and Cassel's isn't firing downfield. But he's firing well enough to pass for 400 yards last week in a comeback from a 24-6 deficit against the Jets, who eventually won 34-31 in overtime. And he's making smart enough decisions to coolly walk out of the pocket and find Moss in the end zone with one second left to force that overtime.

Cassel does have a running ability that Brady doesn't and he has been employing it the past four weeks. Since wavering between decisiveness (18 of 24, three touchdowns) and indecision (taking six sacks) during a 41-7 pasting of Denver, Cassel has run 29 times for 126 yards in four games. Brady, who uses his footwork to create an extra second in the pocket, averages running only 39 times for an entire season.

The Dolphins got a taste of that in the first game. Cassel spun away from defensive end Phillip Merling and ran up the middle for a touchdown. But a quick whistle and an in-the-grasp ruling turned it into a sack. A bad decision on the next play -- Cassel trying to dump the ball off over the middle instead of the middle of the fifth row -- turned into an interception by defensive end Randy Starks. The Dolphins scored on the next drive and the rout began.

`GREAT JUDGMENT'

''He does a real good job of knowing exactly what he's got to get; not only knowing what he's got to get, but exercising great judgment as to how he's going to get it,'' Dolphins defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni said. ``He's beating a lot of people now with his feet. He makes the big play against Buffalo for a touchdown, but there's a bunch of other ones where he's just getting to the sticks and moving the chains and keeps the drive alive which is a problem because you're trying to play coverage on great wide receivers. You're kind of tied down and spread out and then he runs the ball. To be honest, I'm not trying to be facetious or funny, I don't really know other than great hustle what the solution to that problem is having coached Donovan McNabb [at Syracuse] for four years and having enjoyed it.'

Said Dolphins nose guard Jason Ferguson: ``He's throwing the ball better. He's using his athletic ability. He's using what he's got. He's not trying to be another Tom Brady.''

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