Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss, being tackled by Miami’s Yeremiah Bell, says “the Dolphins really put it to us.”

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The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

FOXBORO — The Dolphins wanted it more.

That’s what the NFL pundits are saying.

It’s easy for the NFL experts to say that, but when a team captain goes on the record and says that Miami wanted to win last Sunday’s game more than New England did, resulting in a 38-13 debacle, it must be true.

And it wasn’t a quiet captain who said that.

It was Randy Moss.

“Seeing the way the Dolphins performed out there, they just wanted it more,” Moss said after the game. “I guess that’s something crazy for me to say, but I was out there and I could really see it. There were a couple plays that we had out there that we really felt could get the offense going and there were a couple plays that could get the defense going. But every time we stepped up they smashed us in the mouth with either a defensive stop or some kind of first down or touchdown.”

It wasn’t easy for Moss to say that, he said, but he felt like the Patriots were embarrassed on Sunday, and the Dolphins’ play proved that they wanted it more.

“Actually, this loss hurt,” Moss said. “Being in the division, the Miami Dolphins really put it to us.”

Were the Patriots taking Miami too lightly?

Moss doesn’t think so, even though the Dolphins had only one win in their previous 21 outings, and the Patriots were on an NFL-record 21-game regular-season winning streak. He, like coach Bill Belichick, said Miami executed its plays better than New England did, resulting in the blowout.

“We definitely don’t live off the past, and this is a new season. But this being our first loss of the season, it definitely hurts,” Moss said. “What makes matters worse is that it was in the division, so that’s really painful. They really came in and handed it to us in our house. As coach [Belichick] said, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. I think we’re going to use this week to try and rest and heal up, but at the same time we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

That was the theme yesterday in the locker room — the Patriots are going to work hard, stay positive and try to put last Sunday’s loss behind them.

“I’m disappointed that we played as bad as we did, but somebody has to win and somebody has to lose, and unfortunately we lost by a lot,” Patriots defensive back Ellis Hobbs said. “It was one of the ugliest defeats I’ve ever been a part of. You live and you learn. It’s Week Three. It sounds bad, but from a player’s perspective, that’s how we have to keep it. We have to continue to move on, learn from what we did, what we did not do, and just keep it moving.”

Running back LaMont Jordon agreed that Miami out-executed New England.

“We are not going to make excuses. We got out-played [Sunday],” Jordan said. “Now the key for us is how are we going to bounce back. We have the bye week and then we have the 49ers.”

New England began its 21-game regular-season winning streak after a 21-0 loss to the Dolphins on Dec. 10, 2006.

The Patriots hope to start another winning streak against San Francisco on Oct. 5.

“We are going to correct what we didn’t do right,” Hobbs predicted.

“It’s very disappointing, but we just have to get better,” Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said after the game. “It’s just one bump in the road, and I tell the guys that we just need to learn from it and come to work tomorrow with a positive attitude.”

Tight end Benjamin Watson said the Patriots are going to “move forward, progress and get better.”

Moss said, “I think everything is staying positive and coming to work every day. I think that with the concept of team around here, this is not the end.”

roblee@projo.com