(Bad) blood in the water

Friendly Dolphins? Not to the opposing side

In a role reversal, Miami TE David Martin tries to bring down safety Brandon Meriweather. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

MIAMI GARDENS - Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter was right. The Dolphins don't like the Patriots - and the feeling is mutual.

The dual disdain manifested itself in some chippy plays, the most notable of which came following Stephen Gostkowski's 30-yard field goal with 7:08 remaining that gave New England a 41-28 lead yesterday. Patriots left tackle Matt Light was locked up with Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder on the attempt, and the wrestling match became a boxing bout, as both players threw punches.

Both Light and Crowder were penalized and ejected. Afterward, Patriots left guard Logan Mankins was asked if there was bad blood between the teams.

"Did you see any?" Mankins said with a smile. "I saw a lot, so I think there is a lot of bad blood."

Mankins actually lauded Light for standing up for himself and to Miami.

"Yeah, he was doing a good job. He was drilling him right in the head, so kudos to Matt," said Mankins.

But there won't be anything funny if the Patriots lose Light to a suspension.

"He could be [suspended], but I doubt it," said Mankins. "A few weeks ago, Cincinnati-Jacksonville, guys were throwing punches and if they don't get suspended, he shouldn't. If he does, that would be a problem."

Mankins pointed the finger for the contentious play at the mouthy Porter, who in a span of three plays in the fourth quarter was flagged for unnecessary roughness and then unsportsmanlike conduct on the Patriots' final possession as frustration set in for Miami.

Mankins said Porter got the penalties for mouthing off to the Patriots after officials had warned him not to do so.

"Any time you have a team with the guy [No.] 55, he just won't shut up the entire game, and I think some of the other guys are starting to play the way he does," said Mankins. "So, I think it just gets tempers flaring."

Tempers flared throughout as Stephen Neal and Miami's Yeremiah Bell were whistled for off-setting personal fouls on Renaldo Hill's first-quarter interception, which led to Chad Pennington's 3-yard touchdown pass to Greg Camarillo.

"We lost our cool at the end of the game when we were still in the game. Those things are on us," said Bell.

Faulk is grooving

Running back Kevin Faulk finished with a team-high 53 yards on eight carries, including a 21-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that gave the Patriots a 31-21 lead.

With the Patriots spreading the field for much of the game with three and four receivers, that meant Faulk once again received extended playing time. He added six receptions for 52 yards.

"Whatever is working is what you want to keep going at to just win the game," Faulk said. "It was two teams fighting to win a football game and luckily it came out our way."

Faulk became just the sixth player this decade to total 2,000 rushing yards and 3,000 receiving yards, joining Tiki Barber, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, and Michael Pittman. He now has 2,717 yards rushing and 3,004 yards receiving since 2000.

Sanders & Sanders

Cornerback Lewis Sanders was active for the first time since the Patriots' 41-7 victory over the Broncos. Sanders aggravated a hamstring injury in that game.

The Patriots used Sanders as a safety yesterday, subbing him in for James Sanders in some passing situations.

"Yeah, [to] try to throw in wrinkles," said cornerback Ellis Hobbs. "We also knew their receivers. We thought we could match up pretty well, try to stay in their face all day and play press [coverage] . . . just keep trying to keep them off-balance where we wanted to look like we were Cover 2 and shade things. Disguising here, man, sometimes man blitz. [We played] a lot of man today, knowing that we had to do that, we changed the personnel for them."

James Sanders was injured late in the fourth quarter while breaking up a pass intended for Miami receiver Davone Bess, but he was in the locker room afterward.

The Patriots went with just four cornerbacks yesterday - Sanders, Jonathan Wilhite, and starters Hobbs and Deltha O'Neal.

Cornerback Jason Webster was a healthy scratch and fellow corner Mike Richardson already had been declared out because of a concussion.

It's in the bag

Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel broke a nine-game sackless streak when he got Pennington on the final play of the first half. The sack was Vrabel's third of the season, but his first since the season opener against the Chiefs, when he recorded a pair . . . Running back Sammy Morris was injured on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter. He did not carry the ball again. After the game Morris said he was all right . . . The Patriots entered yesterday's game as the least penalized team in the NFL with just 31 accepted penalties through the first 10 games. But New England had five accepted penalties for 33 yards in the first half alone and finished with six for 38 yards . . . The other New England injury inactives were running back LaMont Jordan (right calf) and linebacker Adalius Thomas (broken right arm). Reserve tackle Wesley Britt, reserved guard/center Billy Yates, and tight end Tyson DeVree were ruled inactive. Matt Gutierrez was the third quarterback . . . Outside linebacker Vince Redd, who was promoted from the practice squad Saturday, was active . . . Since 2003, the Patriots are now 17-1 in games following a loss . . . The NFL has taken the Patriots' Dec. 7 game at Seattle out of its night-time spot and has moved it to 4:05 p.m. EST . . . Team president Jonathan Kraft missed his first Patriots game in recent memory. He was helping to coach the Brookline/Jamaica Plain C team, which won the 11-year-old state championship yesterday, 38-6. The team plays in the regional final next week, with the winner traveling to Disney World for the championship game.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com; Mike Reiss of the Globe staff contributed to this report.