Brady was clearly out of sorts in the 38-17 slapdown by the Saints at the Louisiana Superdome. It was one of his worst performances of the season. Now the Pats need him to re-inject some confidence into the team in a place where he has rarely performed in Brady-like fashion.

Brady is just 2-3 in his career at Miami, and has a lower career passer rating (84.4) against the Dolphins than vs. any team in the division and the second-lowest overall against any team he's played at least four times.

Only Denver (81.5) has posed a bigger challenge for him.

The Pats, however, can't afford to fool around. They may have a two-game lead in the loss column on both the Dolphins and Jets in the division. But why allow either of these teams some daylight, especially when you can go for the jugular with one of them?

The Patriots still have an outside shot to gain preferred postseason seeding, and obtain a first-round bye with the No. 2 seed, but that won't be accomplished if they get caught up in the implications of the Saints loss, and fret over their lost status as an elite team.

They certainly can't re-earn respect with more losses. Teams aren't going to fear them again if they fall off the cliff today, and once again fail to win a genuine road game. No one is more aware of that potential trap than Brady, who was able to change his luck the last time he played at Land Shark Stadium, throwing for 354 yards and six touchdowns -- albeit against the then-crumbling regime of one-and-done coach Cam Cameron.

Still, today Brady must stare down and defeat the Dolphins and his personal nemesis, Jason Taylor, whose 10 1/2 career sacks of Brady ranks second only to Bills defensive end Aaron Schobel's 11.

``The goal this week is to beat Miami and to play a better game than we played last week. We're 7-4. ... The season is not lost by any stretch,'' Brady said last week. ``When you don't play good Football, you lose games. I don't think that's a new revelation for any of us. When we don't play well, we lose, and that's happened four times this year. We've also won seven games and we've got five games left. The season isn't decided at all.

``We're still trying to make improvements and there are a lot of things that are going to happen over the next five weeks. There's a lot of Football to be played and we're in a good position in terms of our division. This win this week would do a lot for us, so I think this is a critical game for us.''

Brady did not throw a touchdown pass against the Saints. He threw a pair of interceptions, the first one changing the momentum of the game in the first half, although ultimately, it probably wouldn't have mattered given how Drew Brees and the Saints offense toyed with the Pats defense.

The Saints managed to make both Randy Moss and Wes Welker nonfactors by employing double coverage on both receivers. For Welker, it was the first time he was repeatedly bracketed by both a safety and cornerback in coverage. New Orleans also had an effective pass rush, moving Brady out of the pocket and his comfort throwing zone. Many of his throws were off-target. He knows he has to get back in the groove against Miami.

When the teams met in Foxboro Week 9, Brady feasted on a rookie-laden secondary. First-year players Vontae Davis and Sean Smith will once again be manning the corners today.

``They have some rookies back there that have actually done a really good job for them. It's tough for any rookie at this point in the season because it's such a long year for them and the demands are so different in the pros than they were in college - physically and mentally,'' Brady said. ``But this team is always tough on us. They've got a good veteran group of core players down there and it's a physical team. They run the ball well. I think they're good in all three phases and they're obviously well-coached, winning the division last year. This will be a good week for us.''

And it's an opportunity to again show their resiliency and inner resolve. Brady & Co. did it after the devastating Colts loss, now they're going to have to do it after being creamed by the Saints.

``We can't have a hangover or anything like that,'' Welker said. ``We have to move on and make sure that Miami's at the forefront of it. We have to make sure that we're taking care of business.''

--kguregian@bostonherald.com

THE CHECKLIST

Karen Guregian breaks down today's matchup:

Edge to:

Defense - Patriots

Special teams - Dolphins

Passing - Patriots

Rushing - Dolphins

Coaching - Patriots

The skinny: The Pats haven't been embarrassed too often during the Belichick era. They'll want to get rid of that bad taste in a hurry.

Patriots AT Dolphins

Score: Patriots 27, Dolphins 13

TODAY -- 1 p.m., Land Shark Stadium, Miami

TV/RADIO -- Ch. 4 (Jim Nantz and Phil Simms); WBZ-FM 98.5 (Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti)

THE RECORDS -- The AFC-East-leading Patriots are 7-4, 1 1/2 games head of the Jets and 2 games ahead of the 6-5 Dolphins.

RECORDS VS. SPREAD -- Patriots 6-5, Dolphin 5-6

THE LINE -- Patriots by 3 (over-under: 45 points)

SERIES HISTORY -- The Dolphins lead 49-39, but the Pats have won four of the last five.

HOW THEY RANK IN THE NFL

Patriots OFFENSE - Ranks second overall (averaging 411.5 yards per game), 17th in rushing (114.5 ypg) and second in passing (297.0 ypg). Ranks fourth in scoring (27.9 points per game).

Patriots DEFENSE - Ranks 12th overall (allowing 313.4 ypg), 16th vs. the run (109.7 ypg) and 10th vs. the pass (203.6 ypg). Ranks sixth in points allowed (18.4 ppg).

Dolphins OFFENSE - Ranks 22nd overall (317.9 ypg), third in rushing (156.1 ypg) and 29th in passing (161.8 ypg). Ranks 13th in scoring (23.3 ppg).

DOPHINS DEFENSE - Ranks 19th overall (341.0 ypg), 12th vs. the run (108.0 ypg) and 23rd vs. the pass (233.0 ypg). Ranks 26th in points allowed (25.0 ppg).

INJURY REPORT

Patriots : DOUBTFUL: S Bret Lockett (groin), RB Fred Taylor (ankle); QUESTIONABLE: LB Eric Alexander (groin), TE Chris Baker (shoulder), LB Tully Banta-Cain (shoulder), WR Julian Edelman (forearm), DE Jarvis Green (knee), T Nick Kaczur (ankle), C Dan Koppen (knee), T Matt Light (knee), RB Sammy Morris (knee), G Stephen Neal (ankle), LB Rob Ninkovich (knee), T Sebastian Vollmer (head), DT Ty Warren (ankle), LB Pierre Woods (groin); PROBABLE: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder, finger), CB Shawn Springs (knee), TE Benjamin Watson (knee). Dolphins: DOUBTFUL: C Jake Grove (ankle); QUESTIONABLE: DE Lionel Dotson (ankle), LB Joey Porter (knee); PROBABLE: S Yeremiah Bell (thumb), RB Ricky Williams (chest).