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| Other Week 12 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at KC | CAR at ATL | CHI at STL | CIN at PIT | GB at NO | HOU at CLE | IND at SD | MIN at JAX |
| NE at MIA | NYG at ARI | NYJ at TEN | OAK at DEN | PHI at BAL | SF at DAL | TB at DET | WAS at SEA |
Week 12 Game Recap: New England Patriots 48, Miami Dolphins 28
What you need to know
| New England Patriots |
Matt Cassel had his second straight 400+ yard game, hooked up with Randy Moss for three touchdowns, and ran one in himself for good measure. He wasn't always perfect, but he limited his mistakes and has a pretty firm grasp on how to use the offensive weapons around him.
Moss, Wes Welker, and Jabar Gaffney all had good days against a normally stingy Dolphins defense. Credit Cassel for spreading the ball around and keeping the secondary off balance.
There was not much of a running game to speak of. Sammy Morris was a reliable option when they needed a short gain for the first down; Kevin Faulk worked mainly as a pass catching back, but also ran untouched to the end zone on a 21 yard run up the middle. BenJarvus Green-Ellis played strictly in garbage time and got a TD for his efforts.
| Miami Dolphins |
Chad Pennington uncharacteristically passed for over 300 yards and three scores, while running one in as well. Despite the big day, he also uncharacteristically threw a costly interception when the Dolphins were only behind by three points that allowed the Patriots to put it out of reach.
Pennington was able to match Cassel step for step most of the way, spreading the ball out equally as well, not only to wide receivers Ted Ginn, Greg Camarillo, and Davone Bess, but also to his tight ends and running backs.
Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams were fairly quiet for most of the game and both finished with unspectacular lines. Williams pulled in a nice catch in the corner of the end zone to pull the Dolphins to within three early in the fourth quarter.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 30 - 43 - 415 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 14 - 1 |
Cassel had a second straight game with over 400 yards passing. He threw three touchdown strikes to Randy Moss and scrambled for another TD himself. His lone interception was the result of an unlucky bounce, and the key to his success was that he really made very few mistakes. He struggled some with the accuracy of his throws, but whey you can hit Moss three times for the score, that kind of flaw gets overlooked by most.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 8 - 53 - 1, Rec: 6 - 52 - 0 (6 targets) |
Faulk ran the ball eight times and was targeted six times as a receiver -- catching all six. His biggest contribution was a surprising (that not a single Dolphin touched him) 21 yard run up the middle for an easy score.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 8 - 35 - 0, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (3 targets) |
Morris was relied on mainly for short yardage plays, and was for the most part effective. The Patriots relied more on the passing game, however, which limited him to a mere eight carries on the ground.
| RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Rush: 7 - 20 - 1 |
Green-Ellis came in once the game was out of reach and scored on a short run.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 8 - 125 - 3 (13 targets) |
Moss was worth the price of admission to this game. He made a number of highlight reel worthy catches while scoring three touchdowns and moving to third on the list of all time reception touchdown leaders. The Dolphins chose to try to cover him with single coverage often and Moss made them pay.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 8 - 120 - 0 (11 targets) |
All of Welker's targets were of the short to medium variety. He caught most of them and turned one into an electric 64 yard gain.
| WR Jabar Gaffney, Rec: 5 - 88 - 0 (8 targets) |
Gaffney had an excellent day, as all five of his catches were of 15 yards or more. He had a big first half and then was only targeted once in the second.
| WR Matt Slater (2 targets) |
Slater got added to the mix, though he did not record a reception. Cassel looked his way despite blanket coverage.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 1 - 16 - 0 (1 targets) |
Watson caught his lone target for an important first down late in the game.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 2 - 2 FG, 6 - 6 XP, 12 points |
Gostkowski was perfect on two short field goals and six for six on PAT attempts.
| NE Rush Defense |
The Patriots did an excellent job of keeping the running game in check.
| NE Pass Defense |
The downside of the good rush defense is that the Dolphins had a great game through the air. Brandon Meriweather had a timely fourth quarter interception to shut down any possible comeback.
| QB Chad Pennington, Pass: 24 - 41 - 341 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 3 - 1 |
Pennington was sharp. He hooked up with seven different receivers on the day. What stood out was his willingness to go for the big play a little more often than usual -- and succeeding a good portion of the time. He also had a gutsy seven yard run for a touchdown.
| RB Ronnie Brown, Rush: 10 - 37 - 0, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Brown did not have much of an impact. He carried the ball a few more times than Ricky Williams, but neither had much success on the ground.
| RB Ricky Williams, Rush: 6 - 21 - 0, Rec: 2 - 19 - 1 (3 targets) |
Williams shared carries with Ronnie Brown, and made a beautiful diving end zone catch late in the game to bring the Dolphins within a field goal.
| RB Patrick Cobbs, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 (1 targets) |
Cobbs was a distant third option in a backfield that was not having a great day to begin with.
| WR Greg Camarillo, Rec: 6 - 75 - 1 (6 targets) |
Camarillo injured his knee in the second half of the game. Prior to the injury, he had scored on a 3 yard TD reception and had been the Dolphins most reliable option. Other than the short touchdown, his other catches all went for first downs.
| WR Ted Ginn, Rec: 5 - 88 - 0 (9 targets) |
Ginn was quite dependable, moving the chains on 5 of his six catches. He was the Dolphins main deep threat and had a couple of long gains (31, 46) on the day. He also hurt the team by trying to do too much on one of his kick returns. Instead of going down around the 15 yard line, his attempt to make something happen resulted in his being tackled at the two yard line.
| WR Davone Bess, Rec: 5 - 87 - 0 (9 targets) |
Bess was a pleasant surprise before and after the Camarillo injury. He showed good speed, agility, and catching ability. He was not afraid to go after the ball over the middle, either.
| TE David Martin, Rec: 4 - 60 - 0 (5 targets) |
Martin had a couple of nice gains (29 and 18 yards) to go with a couple of shorter catches. Pennington looked to him more than the other TE, Anthony Fasano.
| TE Anthony Fasano (2 targets) |
David Martin was the preferred target between the two tight ends.
| PK Dan Carpenter 0 - 0 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Carpenter had no field goal attempts and was a perfect four for four on PAT attempts.
| MIA Rush Defense |
The Dolphins allowed a soft touchdown up the middle to Kevin Faulk, and then in garbage time were unable stop BenJarvus Green-Ellis from reaching the goal line.
| MIA Pass Defense |
The pass rush was impressive, keeping the pressure on Cassel the whole game. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, it wasn't enough to prevent re-runs of The Randy Moss show.
