MIAMI — The Patriots hold a 14-10 lead on the Dolphins at halftime here at Land Shark Stadium. Here are a few quick notes:

•Stat standouts for the first half for the Patriots include Tom Brady, who was 13-for-14 for 196 passing yards and a touchdown, as well as Wes Welker (six catches, 103 yards) and Randy Moss (two catches, 66 yards, one touchdown). On the other side of the ball, Miami quarterback Chad Henne was 18-for-25 for 186 yards and one touchdown, while Davone Bess had eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

•Offensively, the Patriots have dominated. With the exception of their drive at the end of the first half that ended when they couldn’t convert a fourth-down at the Miami six-yard line, New England moved the ball as well as could be expected against the Dolphins’ defense. Defensively, the Patriots struggled to contain the Miami passing game, as Bess has pretty much had his way through the first and second quarters.

•Many New England defenders had a subpar first half, getting beaten in pass coverage on a handful of occasions and flat-out missing tackles that allowed Miami to gain extra yardage. Darius Butler simply blew a tackle on Miami’s touchdown when Bess scooted right past him on a 13-yard scoring strike. Jerod Mayo and Jonathan Wilhite also missed tackles that led to gains for the Dolphins. (Leigh Bodden had a nice tackle on Ricky Williams at the end of the first half.) Wilhite also stood and did nothing on a Henne to Ted Ginn pass play along the sideline late in the first half. Had a good view of the 19-yard gain that allowed Miami to pick up a field goal at the end of the first half, though.

•It was an eventful first half for Brady — a 58-yard pass play to Moss with 11:38 left in the first quarter made it 7-0 New England, a truly impressive connection that’ll rank up there with one of the best completions the two will ever have. However, on the play, Brady took a savage hit from Joey Porter and Randy Starks that sent him to the locker room. The Patriots announced that he had an arm injury, and his return was questionable. The quarterback was out there on the next series, and did not appear rattled through the rest of the first half.

•Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather gratefully accepted a gift of an overthrown pass from Henne late in the first half when he stepped up and picked off a ball intended for Bess. Meriweather did a nice job of surprising Henne — he started floating back in Bess’ direction when Henne let the ball fly. However, the Patriots couldn’t convert at the other end, as New England got down to the Miami six, but couldn’t convert on a 4th and inches.