It’s the same story of the past decade as New England defeats outplayed, outcoached and outclassed Miami

FOXBORO, Mass. — That’s why they’re the Patriots. “We had to make adjustments at half, the way they were running up the middle and making quick throws on us,” Patriots defensive end (scratch Willie McGinest) Rob Ninkovich said. “We did, and you saw the result.”

And that’s why they’re the Dolphins. “We didn’t make stops, we gave the ball away, we didn’t protect our quarterback and we [got] a field goal blocked,” Dolphins coach (scratch Dave Wannstedt) Joe Philbin said after a (edit: 27-17) loss.

There was a first half Sunday when the Dolphins gave the hope they always seem to against the Patriots, when they were

leading (edit 17-3), when you were tricked into thinking they might have enough answers to beat a great quarterback and great coach.

Only that’s all you ever get from the Dolphins in yet another year.

You get a few hopes, a few plays, a few moments when you actually see the team they always talk about becoming.

Outscored (edit: 24-0) in the second half. Outplayed with the game on the line. Outcoached yet again by Bill Belichick. Outclassed again and again by the crème of the AFC East.

And understand something: The Dolphins got beat by the Patriots “C” game on Sunday.

They got beat when the Patriots started slow, when their top (edit: three) defensive players were out and when quarterback Tom Brady played with (edit: an injured hand).

“We’re obviously not doing a great job in a lot of areas on offense, so we’re trying to get it right,” said Brady, who had just (edit: 116 yards passing) on Sunday. “We’re 6-2, and we’ve got a whole season ahead of us.”

And so the Dolphins are in free-fall with a (edit: four-) game losing streak.

Their season is on the line with the next game against (edit: Cincinnati). And every future is once again on the line if this floor keeps dropping.

When you get outscored like that in the second half, when every facet of the game plays as poorly as previous weeks, it’s an across-the-board verdict on big issues far beyond just one Sunday.

Coaching? Belichick adjusted the Patriots’ defense at half to include more (edit: blitzes), and the Dolphins were lost.

On the play of the game, a New England (edit: blitz wasn’t picked up, Ryan Tannehill was hit and fumbled) and the Patriots tied up the game on the ensuing possession.

Quarterback? Brady found a way to win. (Scratch Jay Fiedler) Tannehill couldn’t lift his team. He floated a ball down the sideline in the fourth quarter that was intercepted. He held onto the ball too long and was sacked six times in the second half.

This wasn’t a good game for General Manager (scratch Rick Spielman) Jeff Ireland, either. It went beyond the obvious of Belichick taking advantage of so many changes in the offensive line.

There was (scratch: Larry Izzo) Ninkovich in the Patriots locker room, too. (Scratch: Wannstedt) Tony Sparano couldn’t find a use for Ninkovich in 2009.

They tried him at inside linebacker, where he had never played.

“Ireland said, ‘We’re looking for a Larry Izzotype,’ when they cut me,” Ninkovich said. “I said, ‘I’m 6-3. I’m not Larry Izzo.’ But things work out for the best.”

Maybe in New England they do. They keep working out in a different way for the Dolphins. That was summed up by (scratch Jason Taylor) Brian Hartline sitting at his locker after the loss, wondering how far they are from the king of the division.

“We stopped scoring points, then they started scoring points,” Hartline said. “There really isn’t an explanation. I would like to think if we knew what the explanation was, we would have corrected it.”

That’s still why they’re the Dolphins.

“We’re 6-2, but we can get better and we’re excited about that,” New England receiver (scratch Troy Brown) Danny Amendola said.

And that’s still why they’re the Patriots.