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Patriots Notebook

Team record comes to pass for Brady

By Monique Walker
Globe Staff / November 9, 2009

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FOXBOROUGH - Another franchise record belongs to Tom Brady.

The Patriots quarterback recorded his 27th 300-yard passing game in yesterday’s 27-17 win against Miami, moving ahead of Drew Bledsoe on the team’s all-time list.

Brady also threw for 300 yards for the third consecutive game, something he has only achieved once before in his 10-year career. The first time was in 2007 when he tossed for 388 yards against Dallas, 354 against Miami, and 306 against Washington.

Brady has won 20 straight starts at home since 2006. Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker have never lost while playing together at Gillette Stadium, going 16-0, including playoffs.

Against Miami yesterday, Brady completed 25 of 37 passes for 332 yards with one touchdown and one interception. All is not perfect with the offense as red zone troubles plagued the team (1 of 4) and it converted 6 of 13 chances on third down. Brady also was sacked twice.

But with each week, Brady continues to see his team get better.

“I think we’ve made a lot of improvements from early on and we’ve got to continue to make improvements,’’ said Brady, whose 6-2 team faces a big task Sunday night in Indianapolis. “Some weeks we play better than others just because obviously the execution is better. This is really when it counts. This is really when things get started.’’

Brady took responsibility for the lack of time management in the final seconds of the first half. The Patriots held a 13-10 lead when they took over on their 14-yard line with 1:43 left.

The Patriots inched into Miami territory and with 30 seconds left reached the 12. After BenJarvus Green-Ellis dropped a pass in the end zone, Brady was sacked, losing 4 yards. Without any timeouts, the Patriots were unable to stop the clock. Brady dropped back and launched a pass to Moss that fell incomplete, stopping the clock with one second left.

“Yeah, I probably cut it too close,’’ Brady said. “That was probably not the smartest play in the world. We got fortunate that there was one second.’’

Stephen Gostkowski booted the 34-yard field goal to boost the lead to 16-10.

Lots of leg work
Gostkowski didn’t give Dolphins kick returner Ted Ginn many chances to add to his highlight reel. A week after returning two kickoffs for touchdowns against the Jets, Ginn returned four kicks for 97 yards. His longest return was 37 yards before Gostkowski pushed him out of bounds.

Gostkowski also had two touchbacks and at one point kicked into the end zone on back-to-back attempts after he was forced to re-kick because of a penalty.

“It was pretty cool,’’ Gostkowski said. “I was pretty upset that that one got called back, but then everyone was like, ‘Just do it again,’ and I said, ‘All right, I’ll try.’ ’’

As Gostkowski left the field after the play, Moss was one of the first to give him a high-five and others followed.

Gostkowski added four field goals (30, 38, 34, and 40) in the win, tying a career high.

Catcher on the fly
Welker caught nine passes for 84 yards, the kind of strong performance that has become routine. He leads the Patriots with 55 receptions, providing Brady with a consistent target. Going back to the London game, Welker has caught 19 of the last 20 balls thrown his way.

Welker was asked about having caught more than 50 passes in all three of his seasons with the Patriots. “It’s actually the fourth,’’ Welker said, adding on the year before he came to New England. “But who’s counting?’’ Welker chuckled and continued, “It’s definitely humbling. But at the same time, you just go out there and do your job on a daily basis.’’

Brady said, “I’m glad he’s on our team and not the Dolphins anymore.’’

Red zone blues
Recalling a problem from before their blowouts of the Titans and Buccaneers, the Patriots yesterday bogged down in the red zone. They scored just one touchdown in four trips.

The Patriots ran six plays inside the 20 over three trips. On those plays, they lost 4 yards. They scored a touchdown on one of them, but only after a 1-yard plunge by Laurence Maroney was set up by 36-yard pass to Moss.

“It comes down to execution,’’ Brady said. “You’ve got to get the ball in the end zone. If you do, you don’t kick those field goals and it’s a much different game in the end.’’

Nose for the job
Nose tackle Vince Wilfork showed his versatility, playing defensive end much of the game for the first time since his high school days in Florida.

“Vince is a competitor,’’ defensive lineman Ty Warren said. “Whatever challenge you put in front of him, he’s looking to try to master it.’’

The 6-foot-2-inch, 325-pound Wilfork was matched up against Jake Long, who is listed at 6-7, 317 pounds. In preparation for the Dolphins, Warren said he and Wilfork talked about tricks to the position.

“We talked all week about little techniques and stuff like that,’’ Warren said.

The Patriots were without defensive end Jarvis Green, who had arthroscopic surgery on his knee during the bye week.

The distance between positions may not be far, but the responsibilities vary, Warren said.

“The nose, things happen a lot quicker than it does on the ends,’’ Warren said. “I played a little nose against Tampa [two weeks ago], it just happens a lot quicker, and you’re probably subject to get cut a little more than you would on the end, on the backside, and on a fumble is a little dirtier.’’

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Wilfork embraced the move and “it looked like he did a pretty good job on Long.’’

Coach’s decision
When Moss scored a touchdown to put the Patriots ahead, 22-17, in the third quarter, Belichick had what he called “one of the toughest’’ decisions of the day. He chose to go for 2, which the Patriots converted when Brady hit Moss. “It was a tough one that could have gone either way,’’ Belichick said. “We just felt like we were moving the ball pretty well. We felt like we had a good play.’’ . . . Cornerback Kyle Arrington was active for the first time this season. He was signed from the practice squad after offensive lineman Kendall Simmons was released Friday . . . Safety Brandon McGowan had a team-high eight tackles and one forced fumble that rolled out of bounds in the first quarter . . . Rookie Pat Chung picked up his second sack . . . Linebacker Junior Seau was active but did not play . . . Inactives yesterday included cornerback Jonathan Wilhite, who missed practice all week because of an illness. Linebacker Eric Alexander, lineman Rich Ohrnberger, receiver Julian Edelman, running backs Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris, tackle Matt Light, and Green all were inactive.

Adam Kilgore of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.

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