Safe to say late QB move was interesting

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - There are no pollsters to win over in professional football, so what was quarterback Tom Brady doing back in the game one series after he had been taken out during the fourth quarter of the Patriots' 49-28 romp over the Miami Dolphins yesterday at Dolphin Stadium?

Coach Bill Belichick said the answer was because of the score: "We're just trying to win the game. That's all. We're just trying to win the game."

Belichick reinserted Brady with 10:22 left in the fourth after Matt Cassel threw an interception that Miami defensive end Jason Taylor returned for a touchdown, trimming the New England lead to 42-21 with 10:30 remaining. Brady, who completed 21 of 25 passes for 354 yards, responded by returning and throwing his sixth touchdown pass of the game - a franchise record - connecting with Wes Welker on a 16-yard score.

When Belichick was pressed on why he reinserted Brady, who at that point had completed 19 of 23 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns, when he led by 21 points, he responded: "One more turnover there and it's a 14-point game in the middle of the fourth quarter. Yeah, I was at the game."

Belichick said that no lead is safe in the NFL, not if you're a head coach.

"Look, we've all seen games, the Tampa-Indianapolis game a couple of years ago - you know 21 points in four minutes or whatever it was - I mean don't tell me about leads in this league. Until the final gun goes off it's not a win."

Taylor said he had no problem with the way Belichick approached the final quarter. He said he didn't think the Patriots were trying to run up the score.

"That's what you should do," said Taylor. "You shouldn't be conservative and sit back just because you have a lead. They ran their offense, and they took Tommy out for a while and put him back in because of the interception. But that's what the game is. If you don't want people to run the score up then stop them. I have no problem with it."

Taylor's TD was the eighth of his career, breaking the modern record for a defensive lineman he shared with George Martin.

Breaking in slowly

Running back Laurence Maroney, who had missed the previous three games with a groin injury, returned to action, rushing for 31 yards on six carries. With Sammy Morris out, Kevin Faulk started the game and Maroney entered on the second play, picking up a first down with an 8-yard run.

"I felt a little rusty, but it felt good," said Maroney, who last had played in Week 3 against Buffalo. "It felt better than I thought I was going to feel. I had no problems."

Maroney said he knew all week he was going to play after he was scratched last week in Dallas as a game-time decision. Still, the Patriots took it easy on him after they built a big lead. Maroney did not have a carry in the second half and played just seven snaps total. His last carry came with 6:13 left in the second quarter.

Maroney said he could have run more because the groin was not a factor making cuts, but it wasn't needed with the Patriots leading, 42-7, at the half.

"I just felt good out there running, but we went up by so many that they didn't need me to play any more," said Maroney. "There ain't any sense in going out there and risking it and making the situation worse."

First to 30-30

Rodney Harrison is the first and only member of an exclusive NFL club. Harrison's third-quarter sack of Dolphins quarterback Cleo Lemon gave him 30 1/2 for his career, making him the first defensive back in league history to collect at least 30 sacks and at least 30 interceptions (32).

It was an active day for Harrison in the South Florida heat and humidity. In addition to the sack, he registered eight tackles and a quarterback hit. Playing in his third game since returning from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy, Harrison said he feels he's almost all the way back.

"I'm getting there," said Harrison. "The heat was a little bit of a change, being that on Friday we practiced in cold and rain and we come down here and it's 97 degrees. It's definitely a changeup for us. It's just good to be out there playing football, out there making tackles around my teammates and doing what I love to do."

Quick recovery

Asante Samuel injured his right shoulder in the first quarter on the first play of the Dolphins' first scoring drive of the game. He sat out the remainder of the series, missing eight plays, but returned on Miami's next possession. Samuel finished with one tackle and three passes defended.

Quick-strike force

When Donte' Stallworth took a short pass from Brady and spun through two tacklers for a 30-yard touchdown, it extended the Patriots' regular-season streak of scoring on opening drives to seven games. New England has four touchdowns and three field goals. Dating to the playoffs, the Patriots have scored first in 10 straight games.

Brown stopped short

The Patriots ended Miami running back Ronnie Brown's streak of four straight 100-yard rushing games. Brown, who left the game in the third quarter with a right knee injury, ran 17 times for 76 yards. He was injured trying to tackle Randall Gay after Gay intercepted Lemon in the end zone and returned the ball out of the end zone. Miami also lost safety Courtney Brown (quadriceps), tight end Justin Peele (illness), and safety Renaldo Hill, who hurt his knee trying to defend Randy Moss on a 50-yard touchdown reception.

Marginal record

With their 21-point win, the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to win each of its first seven games by 17 points or more. The previous record-holder was the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who won their first six games by 17 points or more and lost their seventh game . . . Matt Gutierrez had his first NFL completion, a 15-yarder to Stallworth with 2:49 left in the game . . . The game was the first time a team that was 6-0 or better squared off against a team that was 0-6 or worse . . . The Dolphins play their next "home" game in London against the New York Giants next week . . . The Patriots' inactives were Morris, tight end Benjamin Watson (left knee), linebacker Eric Alexander (knee), safety Mel Mitchell (groin), defensive lineman Mike Wright (knee), and healthy scratches offensive lineman Wesley Britt and defensive lineman Kareem Brown. For the Dolphins, defensive tackle Vonnie Holliday (ankle) and safety Travares Tillman (knee) were out with injuries . . . As if things weren't bad enough, Dolphins middle linebacker Zach Thomas wrecked his car on the way home. Thomas's vehicle was rear-ended on the Florida Turnpike, but he and his wife were unhurt.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com; material from the Associated Press was used.