So how did New England’s offensive line respond yesterday?

It went out and silenced Porter, whose name was not uttered once over the Gillette Stadium public address system, much to the delight of the crowd of 68,756. The offensive line helped pave the way for Brady to throw for more than 300 yards for the 27th time in his career and helped the squad rush for 109 yards, including 82 by Laurence Maroney.

“That was our plan,’’ said guard Logan Mankins. “It was to have all five guys do their job and get their guys blocked. And whether it was Nick [Kaczur] or Sebastian [Vollmer] blocking [Porter], they did a pretty good job on him.’’

The only time Porter made his presence felt was in the second quarter when he was credited for a quarterback hurry on Brady, who was flushed from the pocket and forced to throw an incomplete pass on a first-and-20 attempt from the Miami 35. Porter was chirping at Brady, who also appeared to return some fire.

It would be the only time Porter would be heard from in the game, which had to give Brady a great deal of satisfaction. But instead of talking about how poorly Porter played, Brady instead gave kudos to his offensive line, which lost starting center Dan Koppen to a right knee injury on the same series Brady verbally jousted with Porter.

“That’s a really tough group of guys,’’ Brady said of the line, which allowed just two sacks (by defensive end Randy Starks and linebacker Cameron Wake) and seven QB hurries. “They’re coached very well. They play hard. They have high expectations for themselves. It’s a really great group of offensive linemen. They played great today.’’

For the most part, the line managed to neutralize Miami’s pass rush, which entered the game without linebacker Channing Crowder (shoulder) and defensive tackle Jason Ferguson (elbow).

“There weren’t too many pressures or hits or anything like that, so I had a lot of time to sit back there and make the throws,’’ Brady said. “I thought they did a great job as usual and they’ve really played great all year for us.’’

Vollmer, the talented 6-foot-8-inch, 315-pound rookie left tackle, continued to impress by holding his own not only against Porter, but Jason Taylor as well. Taylor, who entered with 12 sacks and 84 tackles in 22 games vs. the Patriots, was also rendered a non-factor as he was held to just three tackles and a QB hurry.

“I don’t know what we ended running for, but it was certainly enough to keep them off-balance where it wasn’t just pass rush every play and you don’t want to let those guys get into that kind of mode,’’ said coach Bill Belichick. “Sebastian and Nick, along with the tight ends and the backs, did a nice job. I thought Tom had good time to throw.’’

There were few, if any, breakdowns, even when Dan Connolly came in for the injured Koppen.

“Connolly coming in for Koppen, it’s not the easiest thing to do when you lose your center,’’ Brady said. “But he stepped in and did a great job. He’s another real tough guy who’s really prepared and took advantage of his opportunity.’’

Said Belichick of Connolly, “He’s probably one of our most improved players. It seems like every time he’s gotten a chance to play, he does a good job, he shows up. I think he’s getting close to battling for some playing time.’’

Connolly recorded the first kickoff return of his career when he snagged a squibbed kick in the first quarter and returned it 16 yards to the Patriots 37. For a moment, though, it appeared Connolly had some daylight. “We were hoping so,’’ Mankins said with a smile.

Massive tackle Mark LeVoir also factored in the line’s neutralization of Miami’s rush, reporting as an eligible receiver at tight end, and using his 6-7, 310-pound frame to help protect the pocket.

LeVoir began the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list (shoulder). Yesterday he was happy to do his part. “Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do and do it to the best of my ability,’’ LeVoir said. “It’s just great to be back out there and help the team win in any way we can.’’

“Our depth on the offensive line, we’ve needed it,’’ Belichick said. “And they’ve come through for us.’’

After the game, Porter sprinted off the field and was not seen or heard from in the locker room. While his incendiary comments might have fired up the Foxborough Faithful, it did little to motivate the Patriots.

“It didn’t impact us because we already knew the importance of this game for our division,’’ Mankins said. “If we won it, we knew it would put us ahead a few games. If we had lost, they would have control of the division at 4-0, so we knew it was a big game from that standpoint and that was all the motivation we needed.’’

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.