FOXBORO — The New England Patriots weren’t as crisp on offense as they’d been in recent games, and defensively they didn’t do as good a job against the Dolphins’ Wildcat offense as they would have liked.

But once the final seconds of the game clock had ticked off, New England had earned a 27-17 victory against its AFC East foes from Miami, a key win in the divisional race for the title it has on six times in this decade.

The Patriots are now 3-1 in the East and 6-2 overall, while the Dolphins took their first loss in four division games but fell to 3-5 on the season.

After missing out on both the East title and a chance at the playoffs last season on a tiebreaker, New England now finds itself in the driver’s seat, but players were quick to note after the game that there are still eight games left on the schedule.

“Coach (Bill Belichick) emphasized how this would help us down the road and with tiebreakers,” defensive lineman Mike Wright said. “Since we did lose to the Jets, this was big. Everyone came to play today.”

New England has a two-game lead in the standings on the idle Jets, who have lost four of their last five games since starting the year 3-0 and got a whopping six days off from coach Rex Ryan during their bye week. Buffalo joins Miami at 3-5.

“That was a typical AFC East game — a tough game that came right down to the wire,” Belichick said. “I’m proud of our players. I thought they had a good week of preparation. I thought they went out there and played hard today. Miami made a few plays, (but) we made a few more.”

The Patriots needed the extra preparation to get ready for the unpredictable Wildcat scheme Miami runs. Since debuting in at Gillette Stadium last September, the Dolphins have continually added wrinkles to their plays.

On Sunday, that wrinkle was using rookie quarterback Pat White in the option. New England was expecting such a look, but early on was missing assignments on defense and had to regroup.

“We worked on it and then it happened probably a little faster than we practiced it. Once we got adjusted, I thought they did a good job,” Belichick said.

White first entered the game in the second quarter, on a second-and-8 play from the Dolphins’ 22-yard line. He took the snap, tucked the ball and took off, zigging and zagging his way to a 33-yard gain. The second-round pick stayed on for another play, picking up four more yards, before starting quarterback Chad Henne came back onto the field for two plays.

On first-and-10 from the Pats’ 15, White was back under center and pitched the ball to Ricky Williams, who had a big hole on the right side of the field and rumbled into the end zone for Miami’s first touchdown. The 80-yard drive, aided by a pass-interference call against Leigh Bodden, took just five plays.

The defense had to recover from having a couple of big plays called back in the game. On Miami’s first possession, Tully Banta-Cain wrapped up Henne, smacking his arm and jarring the ball from his hand. Adalius Thomas scooped up the loose ball and took off for the end zone. But his touchdown was taken off the board when referee Mike Carey overturned the call after a challenge by Dolphins coach Tony Sparano. Carey determined that it was an incomplete pass.

Thomas, who has faced his share of questions and criticism after being benched against Tennessee, said he was “heartbroken” to have the touchdown overruled. He finished the game with four tackles, an 11-yard sack at the end of the third quarter to kill a Miami drive and a batted pass.

Bodden had an interception wiped out by a roughing the passer call in the third quarter.

Offensively, Tom Brady’s second pass attempt of the brilliant November afternoon, a deep ball for Randy Moss, was intercepted by Miami rookie corner Vontae Davis, who made a great catch for his second pick of the year.

But things turned around, no more so than after Miami’s 10-minute, 16-play touchdown drive in the third. Starting on their 20, the Pats picked up nine yards on first and second down, and then on third-and-short, Brady and Moss went long. Moss caught the ball in stride across the middle and then turned on the burners, using a great stiff-arm to the face of Davis to clear his path to paydirt.

“They were in man coverage and we ran some crossing routes and he caught it and took it the distance,” Brady said. “It’s always nice for a quarterback when you see the back of ‘81’ sprinting down the field once he gets by (the defense).”

The Pats struggled in the red zone, however, converting just two of four chances, something Belichick made note of in his post-game news conference.

Moss had 147 yards on just five catches, passing Henry Ellard and former teammate Cris Carter on the all-time receiving yardage list. Moss now has 13,913 yards, good for seventh place. He also tied Terrell Owens for second-place all-time in receiving touchdowns, with 140.

New England was able to keep the Miami defense honest with the run, as Laurence Maroney got off to a strong start, totaling 36 yards on six first-quarter carries.

He finished the day with 82 yards on 20 chances, plus a touchdown.

Their annual showdown with Indianapolis is on the horizon, but for the night at least, the Patriots were savoring their win against the Dolphins.

“This is a big month for us, as everybody knows,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “It was definitely good to get a win to start off the month.”