Pats-Dolphins hots and nots and game notes.

Here are the hots and nots and the Patriots' game notes. I'll add the Miami notes at some point if they come to me.


WHO'S HOT

WES WELKER: No one puts more of himself into the effort than the diminutive wide receiver, who caught 10 balls for 167 yards. He looked pretty upset at the end of the game, and can you blame him? He didn't come here to be 7-5 and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the second straight year.

CHRIS HANSON: Give the guy credit. He dropped a punt at the Miami 7 and had it negated by a penalty on Kyle Arrington, but on the second punt, he put it out of bounds at the Miami 3. At least someone is doing the job.

SAMMY MORRIS: Nine carries for 40 yards, two catches for 25 more. He's trying to make himself useful when he gets the call.

SAM AIKEN: I said in training camp that he earned his chance to get more passes thrown his way this year. That was a pretty impressive play he made to pull the ball away from a defender and go 81 yards for a score. But would I send him deep with the game on the line and 1:02 left to get into field goal range? No.

WHO’S NOT

JONATHAN WILHITE/DARIUS BUTLER: The right side of the defensive backfield was vulnerable the whole game. Chad Henne realized it in the second quarter and never let up. He could have thrown for 500 yards if he was a better quarterback.

THE DEFENSE IN GENERAL: Take, for instance, Jerod Mayo. He had 12 tackles, which looks like a lot. But a lot of them were after gains of 5-8 yards. Have we overrated Mayo? And where’s the pass rush? After the first few plays, it disappeared altogether.

VINCE WILFORK: A very dumb personal foul to throw a late block on Henne during an interception runback.

LAURENCE MARONEY: He started the game like a house afire, but what explanation is there for how quickly the Patriots go away from the run? Is it that they have no confidence in Maroney, or are they just too much in love with Brady throwing to his binkies?

BILL BELICHICK: Fourth-and-1 at the 6? Take the three, Bill. And what were you thinking on that last possession, throwing deep to a well-covered Sam Aiken? Remember Super Bowl XXXVI? Smart sideline plays to move into field goal range? Wow.

TOM BRADY: The guy throws for 352 yards and throws it all away in the fourth quarter, with an interception in the end zone and a series of bonehead plays in the final possession, including a moronic deep throw and a take-the-sack-stupid interception while being dragged down. Maybe it’s time for fewer magazine photo layouts and a little more concentration on doing what he did to become Tom Brady.

WHO’S LUKEWARM

TULLY BANTA-CAIN: He was Mr. Pressure in the first quarter, then disappeared thereafter. But he’s a lot better than anyone else out there.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Brady took a few too many hits. I’m wondering if things were better in terms of protection with Sebastian Vollmer at left tackle.

RANDY MOSS: You’d think he might have put a little more effort into knocking the ball out of Vontae Davis’ hands on that pick in the end zone. Either his back is killing him and he can’t leap, or he just gave up on the play.

WHO’S IRRELEVANT

DERRICK BURGESS and ADALIUS THOMAS: Three tackles between them. Why is it that pass-rushing linebackers with big reputations in other cities come here and play like crap?

PATRIOTS GAME NOTES

BRADY REACHES THE 30,000-YARD MILESTONE
QB Tom Brady became the 31st player in NFL history to reach 30,000 passing yards. He entered the Miami game needing 268 yards to reach the milestone and went over the 30,000 mark on an 81-yard touchdown pass to WR Sam Aiken in the third quarter. Brady now has 30,084 yards passing for his career.

BRADY HAS SEVEN 300-YARD GAMES IN 2009
QB Tom Brady had his seventh 300-yard game in 2009 after finishing with 352 against Miami. The seven 300-yard games are second to the team-record eight that Brady had in 2007. The NFL record for most 300-yard games in a single season is 10 by Rich Gannon (2002) and Drew Brees (2008).

BRADY COMPLETES TWO 58-YARD PASSES AND AN 81-YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS
QB Tom Brady completed a 58-yard touchdown to WR Randy Moss in the first quarter, a 58-yard pass to WR Wes Welker in the second quarter and an 81-yard touchdown pass to WR Sam Aiken in the third quarter. It is the first time in his career that he has completed three passes of 50 yards or more in the same game. He has five games with two 50-yard completions, including one this season. Brady had a 63-yard touchdown pass to Moss and a 55-yard completion to Moss at Indianapolis (11/15/09).

BRADY’S 81-YD TD PASS IS HIS THIRD OF 80 OR MORE YARDS AND THIRD LONGEST OF CAREER
Brady’s 81-yard touchdown pass to Aiken is his third touchdown pass of 80 or more yards and the third longest of his career, behind his 91-yard touchdown pass to WR David Patten at Indianapolis (10/21/01) and a 82-yard touchdown pass to WR Troy Brown at Miami (10/19/03).

MOSS REACHES 1,000 RECEIVING YARDS
WR Randy Moss reached 1,000 receiving yards to join Jerry Rice (14 seasons) as the only players in NFL history with 10 seasons with 1,000 yards. He entered the Miami game with 992 receiving yards and went over 1,000 yards on a 58-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. Moss now has 1,058 receiving yards for the year.

MOSS AND WELKER GO OVER 1,000 YARDS FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON
WR Wes Welker gained 167 yards receiving against Miami to go over 1,000 yards for the season with 1,053 receiving yards. Last season, Moss and Welker became the first Patriots players to have back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and have now stretched that to three straight 1,000-yard seasons. Moss had a team-record 1,493 yards in 2007 and 1,008 in 2008. Welker had 1,175 yards in 2007 and 1,165 yards in 2008.

MOSS GOES LONG
Moss took over sole possession of second place on the NFL’s list for most 50-yard touchdowns from scrimmage (rushing or receiving) with 28 on his 58-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. Jerry Rice, who scored 36 such touchdowns in his career is the all-time leader.
Jerry Rice 36
Randy Moss 28
Lance Alworth 27
Terrell Owens 26

WELKER HAS NINTH 10-PLUS RECEPTION GAME AND FIFTH OF THE 2009 SEASON
Welker finished with 10 receptions for 167 yards. Welker had his ninth 10-plus reception game of the 2009 season and his fifth of the 2009 season. The NFL record for most 10-plus reception games in a season is seven, set by Houston’s Andre Johnson in 2008.

WELKER KEEPS IT UP
Wes Welker now has 10 straight games with six or more receptions after finishing with 10 receptions against Miami. The record for most consecutive games with 6+ receptions is 16 by Marvin Harrison from 2002-03. Welker has caught six or more passes in 24 of his last 26 regular-season games.

WELKER GOES OVER 100 YARDS.
Welker went over 100 yards for the fourth time in 2009 when he finished with 10 receptions for 167 yards. The four 100-yard games match the total he had in 2007 and 2008. It is his 11th 100-yard game of his career. Welker’s 167 yards are second to the career-high 192 receiving yards he had vs. the New York Jets (11/22/09).

WELKER GOES OVER 100 YARDS IN THE FIRST HALF FOR THE THIRD TIME IN 2009
Welker had six catches for 103 yards at halftime. It is the third time in 2009 that he has gone over 100 yards in the first half. He was 8-139 vs. NY Jets (11/22) and 7-116 vs. Tennessee (10/18) in the first half.

WR SAM AIKEN SCORES FIRST NFL TOUCHDOWN ON AMERICAN SOIL
WR Sam Aiken scored on a career-high 81-yard touchdown pass from QB Tom Brady in the third quarter. It marked his second NFL touchdown and first on American soil. Aiken’s other NFL touchdown came on a 54-yard reception from Brady in the Patriots win over Tampa Bay in a game that was played in London.

FAULK MOVES INTO FIFTH PLACE ON THE PATRIOTS ALL-TIME RUSHING LIST
Kevin Faulk (3,399) moved past Don Calhoun (3,391) into fifth place on New England’s all-time rushing list with a nine-yard run in the first quarter. Curtis Martin is in fourth place with 3,799 career rushing yards as a member of the Patriots.

BRADY’S 81-YARD COMPLETION TO AIKEN IS THE LONGEST PLAY FROM SCRIMMAGE IN 2009
Brady’s 81-yard touchdown pass to WR Sam Aiken in the third quarter is the longest play from scrimmage in 2009 for the Patriots, besting the 71-yard touchdown pass from Brady to WR Randy Moss in the win vs. Miami on November 8, 2009.

BANTA-CAIN TIES CAREER-HIGH MARK IN SACKS
LB Tully Banta-Cain tied a career-high when he combined on a sack with LB Jerod Mayo in the first quarter to push his 2009 total to 5.5 sacks. He also had 5.5 sacks in 2006.

MERIWEATHER MATCHES CAREER HIGH WITH HIS FOURTH INTERCEPTION OF THE SEASON
S Brandon Meriweather matched a career-high with his fourth interception of the season. He also had four interceptions last season.

PATRIOTS ARE GOOD AT GOING LONG
The Patriots entered the Miami game with an NFL best 29 drives of 10 plays or more and increased that number to 30 with a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter.