New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins Match Player Stats On Dec 02, 2012

New England 23, Miami 16: Wes Welker caught 12 passes, including a 7-yard touchdown toss from Tom Brady, and visiting New England won its sixth straight game to clinch the AFC East title for the fourth straight season.

The NFLกฏs highest-scoring team never really got its high-octane offense in gear, but it also never trailed in the game. Stevan Ridley (19 carries, 71 yards) opened the scoring on a 2-yard run on the Patriotsกฏ first possession, and New England used a seven-minute, 16-play drive in the fourth quarter that was capped by Stephen Gostkowskiกฏs third field goal to put the game out of reach.

Brady was 24-of-40 for 238 yards, most of which went to Welker. The wideout finished with 103 yards receiving and tied Jerry Riceกฏs NFL record of 17 games with double-digit catches. Brady surpassed Joe Montana for the most division titles (10) by a quarterback.

Welker dropped a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and the Patriots had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Gostkowski to take a 20-10 lead. Miami answered on its next drive with a 33-yard kick by Dan Carpenter with 8:50 to play, cutting the deficit to 20-13 before the Patriotsกฏ ensuing time-consuming drive sealed things.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill scored on a 2-yard run to get Miami within 17-10 before halftime. He finished 13-of-29 for 186 yards.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Brady now has the longest active streak of passing for at least one touchdown in a game. He has thrown a scoring pass in 44 consecutive games. Drew Breesกฏ record streak of 54 games came to an end on Thursday. กญ Brady threw an interception in the first half, his first since Week 6. กญ Miami LT Jake Long suffered a torn triceps in the first half and is done for the season. กญReggie Bush carried 15 times for 64 yards for the Dolphins.