Patriots running Laurence Maroney finds a hole and races 51 yards to end the first quarter yesterday. Maroney finished with 156 yards on just 14 carries, his second consecutive week with more than 100 yards.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

FOXBORO — Laurence Maroney has a tattoo on his left arm that reads, “My tyme to shyne.”

But the Patriots have set the tone this season as one of the best offenses — if not the best — that the NFL has ever seen by throwing the ball first, and running Maroney as an afterthought.

Some running backs might be frustrated by that, but not Maroney.

Yesterday against the Dolphins, he rushed for a career-high 156 yards and a touchdown to help New England defeat Miami, 28-7, and become the first team in NFL history to go 15-0 in the regular season.

“The weather has been good and our passing offense has been great, so like my momma always told me, don’t fix something that ain’t broken,” Maroney said. “As long as they are going to allow us to pass, keep passing. Don’t go away from the pass just because everybody is like, ‘Can you run the ball?’ We’ll stop the pass and then we’ll show you we can run the ball… It’s basically pick your poison.”

It was Maroney’s second consecutive 100 yard game and his third of the season.

It seems like Maroney’s time to “shyne” is here. He knew it would, sooner or later.

“I’m always patient,” Maroney said. “Even when I was [at the University of] Minnesota I had to share the rock, so I’ve always been a patient running back and I always felt like my time is going to come. I never know when, but I know my time is going to come, and all I know is that I’m going to be ready when they do call my number.”

He was certainly ready last night.

Maroney only carried the ball 14 times en route to his 156 yards, and average of 11.1 yards per carry. His career high didn’t end there. In a span of less than five minutes in the first half, Maroney recorded the two longest runs of his career, carries of 51 and 59 yards. “I can’t take credit for those plays because the O-line and Heath Evans did such a good job blocking that anyone could have run through that,” Maroney said. “All I had to do [was] show some speed and make sure not to get caught. I didn’t have to make too many moves or run through anyone because it was that open, so all I had to do was run to the end zone.”

“He’s a tremendous running back,” Patriots receiver Jabar Gaffney said.

The first indication that Maroney was going to have a big game against the NFL’s worst run defense came in the final minute of the first quarter. The Patriots lined up out of the shotgun formation on first-and-10 from their own 21-yard-line.

After getting past the line of scrimmage on a draw play, Maroney sprinted 51 yards behind a lead block from from Randy Moss, helping to set up a one-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Moss.

“He was doing an excellent job of blocking down field,” Maroney said of Moss. “The defender kept backing up, so as long as he’s backing up and Randy kept chasing him, I was just [going to] run behind Randy until he finally committed. It was just a good play by Randy and by the line.”

The next time Maroney’s number was called was on third-and-1 from the Patriots’ 41-yard-line. They lined up with everyone bunched up on the line. The Dolphins also brought everyone to the line to try to stop what was expected to be a short run. But Maroney sprinted through a gaping hole created by Logan Mankins, Wesley Britt, Matt Light and Evans, and went 59-yards untouched into the end zone for a 21-0 lead.

“Maroney hit the hole perfect and it was off to the races,” Mankins said.

“The line did an excellent job today blocking the run, blocking the pass, and Heath [Evans] came through on all of my run plays, picking up the end and picking up the back to spring the play open from the get-go,” Maroney said. “I have to give my credit to them because they did a great job.”

Maroney’s touchdown was the 70th of the season for New England, tying the NFL single-season record. In 1984, the season Dan Marino threw for a then-record 48 touchdowns, Miami also scored 70 TDs. The Patriots would later break that mark on Gaffney’s 48-yard TD catch from Brady.

In addition, Maroney’s 59-yard run gave the Patriots 6,015 net yards on the season, a new franchise record.

The Patriots rushed for a season-high 196 yards yesterday.

How dangerous are the Patriots when they have their running game clicking like that?

“Hey, it can get out of control fast,” Maroney said. “It definitely can.”

roblee@projo.com