With baseball perhaps still on our minds, we were down and depressed but a win in Miami could change all that. Leave it to the guys in silver and blue to make things right.

We all knew the storyline -- no wins for New England in Miami during the months of September or November. The fast, tough Miami defense taking advantage of the Florida heat to dominate in seasons' early goings.

But not on this day against this edition of Patriots who never say never. Instead, it was New England's defense, led by Rodney Harrison's 12 tackles 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery, limiting Ricky Williams to 94 yards on 27 carries and keeping Miami out of the end zone on all but one possession.

Rather than making mistakes as has been the story for the Patriots in recent visits to Miami, Belichick preached going in that his team needed to cause them and that's just what happened early in the game.

On the Dolphins second possession, Asante Samuel tied up with Sam Simmons down the left sideline on a second and 8 play. Samuel got his hand on the ball enough to pop it up in the air for Eugene Wilson to come over from his safety position and make the interception.

But causing mistakes is only half the job – taking advantage of them is the other half and New England's offense could not, having to punt after three plays.

The punt, however, had the Dolphins starting deep in their own end. After Williams ripped off an 18-yard gain, Fiedler connected with Chambers for 11 but in fighting for more yards, the wide receiver had the ball stripped by Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison recovered.

This time, New England did take advantage, albeit for only three points on a 25-yard Vinatieri field goal. On third and 5 from the 10, Brady kept but was 2 yards short of the first down, forcing the field goal.

Mistakes were not only Miami's in the first half. As the second quarter began, New England found itself on its own 7-yard line after a Miami punt. After Faulk gains of 3 and 4 yards, Brady kept with 3 yards for a first down but as he fell forward, he lost control of the ball and Jay Williams of Miami recovered. The Patriots unsuccessfully challenged the call.

That gave Miami the ball on the Patriot 16-yard line. Five plays later, Fiedler hit Chambers from 6 yards out for the score.

New England gave the ball right back on its next possession when Faulk coughed it up on first and 10 from the 36. Derrius Thompson then caught a pass for 17 down to the 23 and Williams had runs of 3, 3 and 9. From there, New England's defense held Miami to a 23-yard field goal and as 10-3 Dolphins lead.

With 5:08 left in the first half, two Miami mistakes cost 3 points while two New England miscues cost 10, not the formula for success the Patriots were looking for to that point.

Take away the two fumbles that gave Miami good field position and the Patriots defense had played well to that point. And when it stopped the Dolphins in their final possession of the half, it gave the New England offense another chance to make good.

Starting at his own 34, Brady brought his squad down to the Miami 37 where a roughing the passer call on third and 2 gave him a big break and a first down at the Dolphins 21. On the next play, Brady hit Troy Brown over the middle down to the 2-yard line. Then, on second down, Brady hit Christian Fauria in the end zone but a flag on the field had Tom Ashworth with a pass interference call and the play was brought back.

Vinatieri came on for a 30-yard field goal that was good.

At the half the score was Miami 10, Patriots 6.

The Patriots opened the second half with a three and out. Ken Walter compounded the problem with a weak 20-yard punt that allowed the Dolphins to set up at midfield. From there, Fiedler worked on a mismatch between tight end Randy McMichael and Roman Phifer for completions of 22 and 15 yards. Once again, however, New England's defense rose to the challenge with Matt Chatham dropping Williams for a 4-yard loss and Ty Warren getting pressure on Fiedler and forcing an incomplete that Chatham nearly picked off.

Olindo Mare came on for the 34-yard attempt that was good.

Unable to find the end zone to that point, the Patriots offense showed it was not time to panic on its next possession. Taking whatever the quick Dolphins defense would allow, Brady orchestrated a 14-play, 76-yard scoring drive that ended with a 24-yard David Givens reception for the touchdown. With short passes and controlled runs, the Patriots ate up 7:57 on the clock. A key play on the drive had Brady falling backwards on third and 6 but somehow finding Deion Branch for a pickup of 11 yards and a first down at the Miami 24.

With the touchdown the score was tied at 13-13 with 1:43 left in the third quarter.

Unlike recent visits to Miami when New England seemed to wilt as the game wore on, in this one the Patriots, particularly the defense, seemed to gain energy. With Ricky Williams at only 46 yards, Miami ran him only twice for 4 yards in the two possessions and nine plays that followed and the Patriots were equally up to the test when Fiedler looked to the air.

At that point, the Patriots were winning the game of field position but the score was still tied at 13. Unable to do anything with a drive that started at its own 46, Walter punted and Miami was at its own 10. With his running game in check by the Patriots, Fiedler looked to the one guy the Patriots didn't seem to have an answer for and found McMichael for completions of 16, 7, 16 and 4. On third and 5, Poole was called for a pass interference on Chambers and the Dolphins were first and 10 on the Patriots 32.

After a Williams run for 1 and an incomplete, Miami played it conservative on third and 9, giving to Williams up the middle from the 31. It looked like the Patriots had him down, but Williams popped up and ran for enough extra yards to gain a first down. Belichick challenged the play, thinking the knee had touched prior to the last spurt. The ruling on the field stood, however, and Williams was awarded his 10-yard gain and the first down.

With 3:58 left in the game, that play could have been a backbreaker, but Miami continued to play conservative ball, giving to Williams despite the Patriots success against him. On third and 7 from the 18, Williams got the call again and was able to get only a yard. Mare came on for the 35-yard field goal and the Dolphins paid for playing not to lose.

Richard Seymour was credited with blocking the attempt and the Patriots took over at their own 35 with 1:52 left in the game.

After Brady hit Branch for 20 yards on the first play, it looked like New England had pass on its mind but two carries by Faulk, one a 7-yard loss, with the clock running down, created no real threat by the Patriots. New England never even went into hurry-up mode, huddling up twice.

Miami won the coin toss (athough the Patriots captains on the scene felt the referee had botched the toss) and had the ball first in overtime.

A huge pass to Thompson picked up 31 yards when the wide receiver made an acrobatic catch over Eugene Wilson. On the play, it may have been possible that Thompson had a foot out of bounds-- or stepped out of bounds before the catch -- a play that would have to be challenged by the upstairs officials since it occured in overtime, but Miami alertly got a play off before any word could be relayed to the field.

From there it was Williams picking up steam down to the 17-yard line with an incensed Patriots defense jawing at any referee in sight on every play. Finally, Mare came on for a 35-yard field goal and incredibly missed the chance to give his team the win, perhaps slipping in the Pro Player infield dirt exposed for the Marlins World Series.

New England brought the ball to midfield on its possession but a false start call on Matt Light and then a sack of Brady on third down forced the punt.

Miami started at the 30 and despite a 17-yard catch by McMichael (8 catches for 102 yards), New England held, ending the drive with a Poole interception on the 18.

Then, the play that all of New England needed -- its football team and its fans – finally happened. On the first play from scrimmage, Brady dropped back, pumped, had time, and found Troy Brown streaking down the field with two defenders in tow. Brady hit the mark and Brown went the distance giving New England its first-ever win in the month of October in Miami.

Numbers on the day had Brady with 24 of 34 passing for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brown led the Patriots receivers with 6 catches for 131 yards. Branch also had 6 receptions, for 62 yards.

Jay Fiedler was 20 of 35 for 230 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions.