FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As the final seconds ticked down to what already was a certain victory for the Patriots, the home team's closed-circuit feed to the Gillette Stadium scoreboard focused on a dejected Joey Porter on the Dolphins sideline.

The caption below Porter's name: ``Zero tackles. Zero sacks.''

And one problem with that is it showed zero class because it needlessly ridiculed an already-beaten opponent.

The other problem is Porter allowed the statistics to be accurate in the first place.

The Dolphins sack leader a year ago was as invisible on the field as he was afterward in the locker room, when he bugged out without talking to reporters.

Facing the opportunity to match up much of the game against a backup rookie left tackle making only his third career start, Porter whiffed.

That left tackle, Sebastian Vollmer, grew up in Germany playing soccer. He learned to play football at the University of Houston at the same time he was learning to speak English.

And provided that favorable matchup, neither Porter, nor Jason Taylor, nor anyone else on the Miami roster was able to break through for a sack by beating Vollmer or backup lineman Mark LeVoir, who sometimes helped his teammate on passing downs.

Both of Miami's sacks, from Cameron Wake and Randy Starks, came on the right side.

``I didn't think it was very good,'' Taylor said when asked to evaluate the Dolphins pass rush. ``It was spotty at times. . . . It's disappointing.''

More than disappointing -- it was devastating.

Miami's entire defensive game plan was built on a foundation of hitting New England quarterback Tom Brady. If the Dolphins didn't make Brady uncomfortable in the pocket or quite comfortable lying on the turf, they would have little chance of winning.

``If you hit Brady, he can't throw the ball,'' Dolphins linebacker Reggie Torbor said. ``But you let him stand back there, he will throw the ball.''

BRADY TO MOSS AGAIN

The Dolphins didn't hit Brady nearly enough, so he threw the ball to the tune of 332 yards. But Miami's inability to fell Brady cut deeper than merely letting a great quarterback build statistics.

Because Brady had time, he could wait for receiver Randy Moss to beat man-to-man coverage deep down the field or by crossing from one side of the field to the other.

``I was matched against Moss man-to-man a majority of the time,'' rookie cornerback Vontae Davis said. ``I mean, it's Randy Moss -- he's going to make his plays, and I just tried to limit him the best I could.''

Moss caught six passes for 147 yards. But why did Moss face man-to-man coverage in the first place?

The Dolphins sometimes had to blitz to fabricate the pressure Miami's four-man rush could not generate naturally. And had they double-covered Moss on every play, Wes Welker might have caught 20 passes instead of the nine he caught for 84 yards.

So Moss beat Davis on a 36-yard sideline pass to set up New England's first touchdown. And he beat Davis across the field on a 71-yard score.

Focus on Davis, if you wish, for giving up those plays. But also focus on the fact that Brady could wait to deliver those passes that take so long to develop.

Focus on a coaching staff that exposed Davis, if you wish. But what does it say when that staff liked the rookie's chances of covering Moss better than the defensive front's chances of getting to Brady?

Failing in their mission to hit Brady as often as he threw exposed the entire Dolphins defense. And that is not something they are necessarily unfamiliar with.

MOMENTUM WASTED

Miami's defense has yielded more big plays than any other in the NFL this season. And the Dolphins have a terrible habit of giving up those scores after the offense delivers.

That happened in the third quarter when the offense held the ball for more than 10 minutes and gave the Dolphins a 17-16 lead. One minute later, the Patriots led 24-17 because Brady connected with Moss on the 71-yard score and then on a two-point conversion.

Terrible.

``You can't give up big plays against anyone -- especially not them,'' Torbor said. ``After a

10-minute drive, our goal is to hurry up and get that three-and-out and get their defense right back out there and keep them winded. But, instead, you give the energy back to the stadium when they scored. Their players are energized, and the momentum turns.''

The same happened in losses to Indianapolis, San Diego and New Orleans. It even happened in victories over the Jets.

``We've seen a few of those this year,'' Taylor said. ``It's a problem. It's definitely a problem, and it needs to be fixed. It's not like we're not aware of it. We're very aware of it.

``We talk about it. We work on it. And until you go into the game and make it happen, you're going to keep hearing it.

``I don't know what to tell you. We have to regroup.''

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