"I don't know how the whole team felt, but I thought for myself it was a must-win if we wanted to get into the playoffs because a loss was going to put us [back] in the division with only five games to go," said left guard Logan Mankins. "Miami is a good team. They're going to win a bunch more games this year, and New York is on a roll. So, I thought it was a very important game."
The Patriots came out with a spread attack and put the ball - and the game - in the hands of Matt Cassel, who did his best Dan Marino impression in the House that Marino Built.
Cassel recorded his second straight 400-yard passing game (30 of 43 for 415 yards and three touchdowns with one interception), becoming the fifth player in league history to have back-to-back 400-yard passing games. He now has one more 400-yard foray than one Tom Brady.
Randy Moss enjoyed his biggest game of season, hauling in eight passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns, the last of which put the Patriots on top for good (38-28) with 8:52 remaining.
The prolific Patriots scored on all five possessions in the second half and eight of their 11 overall, punting just once. They racked up 530 yards of total offense and 30 first downs. If it weren't for the two turnovers (Cassel INT, Sammy Morris fumble) Miami came up with in the first half that led to touchdowns, Cassel and his receivers would have been playing catch all afternoon.
"I don't think they could have stopped us today," said Mankins. "We stopped ourself. On the drives that they didn't get a turnover, we had penalties."
It appeared the Patriots, who led, 17-14, at the half thanks to a 25-yard catch-and-run by Moss, would need every last point in the see-saw second half.
Chad Pennington was on his game and kept Miami in the game, going 24 of 41 for 341 yards and three touchdowns, while running for another, a 7-yarder in the first half following a Morris fumble that put Miami ahead, 14-10. That allowed Miami to makeup for the impotency of the Wildcat, which the Patriots turned into the Mildcat, as Miami used it nine times, rushing eight times for 25 yards and drawing a holding penalty the other time.
