MIAMI – In the days leading up to the game, in the moments before kickoff, there wasn’t a lot to be said.

The New England Patriots’ veteran players didn’t have to gather everyone around and announce what was at stake – their standing in the AFC East, their pride after a September beatdown at the hands of the Dolphins, quieting the endless motormouth that is Joey Porter – because everyone knew.

And in true Patriots style, when it was all said and done, they did their talking on the field.

New England remained in the thick of the playoff race with a 48-28 drubbing of Miami on Sunday, grabbing control of the game with 31 second-half points.

“You can talk all you want, but we came to play and it showed,” Vince Wilfork said. “There was a lot of emotion out there (and) we poured it on. We poured it on. They didn’t look back when they came and beat the crap out of us.”

With the Jets upending the previously undefeated Titans, New York strengthened its grasp on the top spot in the division at 8-3. But New England is now 7-4, and 3-2 against divisional opponents, while Miami slipped to 6-5 and 2-2 against the AFC East – with road games against Buffalo and the Jets remaining.

As Wilfork noted, the Pats certainly didn’t go easy on their rivals. But earlier in the afternoon, it looked more like the team that got the ball last would be the one to come away victorious.

New England got inside the red zone on its opening possession, and like so many drives before it, saw it stall and watched as Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 30-yard field goal. Miami went three-and-out on its first try, but got a measure of momentum on a heads-up play by its defense.

On second-and-10, Matt Cassel threw a pass, a bit high, for Randy Moss. Moss got his hands on it, but it was popped up Jason Allen and then plucked out of the air by Renaldo Hill, the first interception for Cassel since the fourth quarter of the Pats’ game in Indianapolis three weeks ago.

Given a short field – the drive started on the New England 42 – Chad Pennington found a wide-open David Martin for a 29-yard gain on first down. A nine-yard gain on second down for Ronnie Brown out of the Wildcat formation, coupled with a dicey unnecessary roughness call against Tedy Bruschi, gave the Dolphins first-and-goal at the 3. A touchdown pass to Greg Camarillo gave Miami the lead.

New England answered back with a 12-play drive, reclaiming the lead on the play that has become Cassel’s signature. On first down from the 8, the quarterback dropped back a couple of steps, a path opened between Dan Koppen and Logan Mankins, and he took off for the goal line.

Each team would get into the end zone again before halftime, with New England leading 17-14 at the break.

The Dolphins got the ball to start the third quarter, and would march 82 yards in seven plays to reclaim the lead.

But it would be the last time they had the advantage on the scoreboard.

A perfect touchdown lob to Randy Moss, a 21-yard scoring draw for Kevin Faulk and a beautiful 29-yard strike to Moss put the Pats up 38-28 with 8:52 left in the game.

And on the very next play from scrimmage, Brandon Meriweather effectively slammed the door on a Miami comeback, grabbing his team-leading fourth interception of the year when Pennington looked deep for Anthony Fasano.

Cassel strung together another gem of a game, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes for 415 yards. Both Moss and Wes Welker recorded 100-yard games, and the defense – while once again bearing its Achilles heel, third down – kept the Wildcat in check, as the Dolphins gained just 62 yards rushing, averaging a paltry 3.3 yards per.

Miami first-year head coach Tony Sparano, who despite the loss has made his team relevant again, said the team’s miscues late were the errors of a young team.

“If anything, it looked like a lack of poise. We were going back and forth, back and forth, and really I thought at one point it would come down to one stop, really. And then we did the things that young, immature teams do,” he said. “We got penalties, we got caught up in that whole mess out there, and that’s how you end up losing a game against a good team like that.”

The Dolphins were flagged for two offensive-holding calls on one third-quarter drive, effectively killing their chances of scoring on the possession. There was another holding call in the fourth quarter, and two penalties on Porter, one for unnecessary roughness and the other for unsportsmanlike conduct, on the Pats’ last possession, gave New England first-and-goal from the eight.

The man who claimed New England ran up the score last year put the Patriots eight yards from paydirt. The Patriots gave the ball to BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and he banged it in from a yard out. On fourth down.

After talking so much before the game, and, according to Wilfork, during, Porter declined to comment after the loss. Apparently he told reporters on Friday that he was done talking for the year.

Porter may have claimed he was out of things to say, but in the place where he could have made the most noise – on the field – he was pretty quiet, with one tackle, one fairly meaningless sack, and two needless penalties.