01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, December 21, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

MIAMI -- Tom Brady did last night what Tom Brady never does -- made a boneheaded play that lost the New England Patriots a football game. Brady -- in a deathgrip applied by Miami's Jason Taylor, flung a pass that was intercepted by Miami's Brendon Ayanbadejo at the New England 21 with 1:45 left.

Four plays later, A.J. Feeley hit Derrius Thompson on fourth-and-10 from 21 yards away (over the head of Troy Brown) to make it 29-28.

And that's how it ended as the Patriots' last-gasp drive ended when Brady threw his fourth pick of the night to Arturo Freeman.

The loss -- and the interceptioon -- likely cost New England more than just the game. It likely cost the 12-2 Patriots a chance at securing home field advantage in the AFC playoffs since the 13-1 Steelers not only have the edge in record but also in head-to-head competition with just two games left.

"It comes back to my decision-making. I made a terrible decision," Brady lamented. "You can't expect anything good to happen from that. Especially losing an 11-point lead there. It's just not what our football team is all about."

For Brady, a player who's made his reputation in the NFL by being its most prudent decision-maker under center, his throw was stunningly out of character. And the Dolphins made him pay.

"Tonight, we found a way to win. Two touchdowns in the last four minutes . . . just a tremendous, tremendous effort," said Miami coach Jim Bates.

The Patriots still had a chance to escape Brady's blunder, to save him as he's saved them many times, but Feeley simply exploited the height mismatch between Thompson and Brown.

"We wanted to get some matchups on Troy," said Bates. "It's tough to go over there and play defensive back, but Derrius made a great catch."

Said Brown: "I didn't make the play. I just didn't make the play. The guy scored, and I didn't do what I was supposed to do, which is stop him from catching it. I didn't do my job. I felt like I had great position, but I just didn't finish the play and he made a great catch. He was a better player than I was at that time."

The Patriots had won six straight and appeared on their way to winning their 28th in 29 games until it all came undone.

The Patriots were up 28-17 after Brady hit Daniel Graham with a 2-yard toss with 4:06 left.

But a frenetic Miami drive closed the gap to 28-23 (the two-point conversion failed) with 2:13 left.

"I thought scoring that touchdown with four minutes left was a big drive for us," said Brady. "But they scored the touchdown there, we turned it over and they scored another touchdown. Just some bad plays. And it starts with me and I'll go out there and do my best to correct it."

All the Pats really needed from there was get one first down. But not only did they not get it, they gave the ball to Miami deep in their end.

The Dolphins, now 3-11, had long since entered "playing for pride" mode, but they said last week that this game was an opportunity to save face in an ugly season.

They did that.

The Patriots came out of halftime leading 14-10 and looked to get some separation after rookie Vince Wilfork recovered a Dolphins fumble near midfield on a botched double-reverse. But after moving crisply inside the Miami 30, Brady, under pressure from Miami's Morlon Greenwood, short-armed a throw to Patrick Pass. The pass went right to Miami's Sammy Knight, who returned the ball to the Dolphins' 42. A penalty on Matt Light for unnecessary roughness put the ball at the Patriots' 43 and turned the tide.

Miami got into the end zone on a 1-yard Morris run that punctuated a nine-play drive.

The Patriots fired back quickly, moving downfield in 10 plays that covered 71 yards. Brady faked into the line on third-and-goal from the 2, surveyed the field for a seeming eternity, then whipped it to Corey Dillon, who backed into the end zone to give the Pats the lead back.

The night didn't start out looking so complicated for New England. The Patriots scored on their opening drive for the 19th straight regular-season game. The touchdown came just five minutes in as Brady (8 for 14 for 82 yards, 1 touchdown and one pick in the first half) found Kevin Faulk running down the seam behind linebacker Derrick Pope, who was playing for the injured Zach Thomas. Faulk made a great adjustment on the softly thrown pass and scored from 31 yards out.

After a couple of three-and-outs, New England punted to Welker, who gathered the ball at the Miami 27 and burst from the pack down the sideline. Je'Rod Cherry saved the touchdown for the Patriots, forcing his blocker into Welker at the Patriots' 2, but Morris scored on the next play to tie it.

The Patriots were forced to punt on their next two possessions, but did a nice job winning the field position battle by holding down Miami's non-existent running game (7 carries 12 yards in the first half). They took over at midfield with a minute gone in the second quarter and moved methodically downfield until Dillon busted in on a counter play from the Dolphins' 3 to make it 14-7. Guard Stephen Neal threw a devastating seal block on the play to allow Dillon to virtually walk in.

A 30-yard field goal by Olindo Mare just after the two-minute warning made it 14-10 but it also gave New England the ball back in a spot it excels - the two minute offense.

But this time, Brady was off. He threw incomplete on first and second down then got picked off by Knight on a deep throw to David Patten. Miami did nothing with that however and the half ended with the Pats holding a 14-10 lead.