Dolphins win, knock off Colts
Fitzpatrick: Winning is ‘so much fun’ after Dolphins escape with a 2nd win
INDIANAPOLIS — Personal pride, and belief in one another is what the Miami Dolphins have used as fuel and motivation following the team’s terrible first month of the NFL season.
Ryan Fitzpatrick has been a steadying presence since replacing Josh Rosen as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback. Miami’s disjointed offensive line, which benefited from Sunday’s return of Daniel Kilgore, the starting center and a team captain, is beginning to stabilize.
Miami’s pass rushing has finally found some bite, and the secondary has started to produce turnovers — three of which helped secure Sunday’s 16-12 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
“It’s so much fun to be in the locker room when you’re winning,” said Fitzpatrick, who finished the game completing 21-of-33 passes for 169 yards with no touchdowns thrown, but one rushing courtesy of his 11-yard scramble in the second quarter. “For what we went through at the beginning of the year, and the attitude everyone has had, it makes it so much sweeter to go in there and celebrate with this group of guys because we all know what we’ve faced all year, and what we’ve worked through.”
Miami won its second game of the season, and got the season’s straight victory by holding on to a late-fourth-quarter lead, which could have had a controversial ending because of the referees decision to have Fitzpatrick tested for a concussion — forcing him to miss a drive that resulted in a field goal — following a brutal hit he suffered when Colts defensive tackle Grover Stewart’s helmet collided with his on the Dolphins’ first scoring drive of the fourth quarter which also resulted in a field goal.
The Dolphins held a lead for all of the game, right up until Darius Leonard’ picked off a Fitzpatrick pass intended for tight end Mike Gesicki. Fitzpatrick’s arm was hit on the throw and the ball was off the mark, ending up in Leonard’s hands and put the Colts in position to score a go-ahead touchdown.
Tight end Jack Doyle wasn’t defended by a single Dolphins player at the goal line and easily caught a touchdown pass that put the Colts ahead, 12-10, after Adam Vinatieri missed the extra point.
The Dolphins had 11:30 left in the fourth quarter to respond, and Chad O’Shea’s offense did just that as kicker Jason Sanders capped a 12-play, 45-yard drive with a 48-yard field goal that allowed the Dolphins (2-7) to regain the lead with 5:45 left in the game.
Brian Hoyer, who was filling in for Colts
injured starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett (knee), then threw an interception that Nik Needham pulled down on a pass intended for Zach Pascal.
Before Fitzpatrick could even throw his first pass on that critical drive he got pulled out the game to take the concussion test, and Miami had Rosen hand the ball off three straight times before Sanders kicked a second 48-yard field goal that boosted the lead to 16-12, with 3:31 left in the game.
The Colts (5-4) had another opportunity to take the lead, and Hoyer drove the offense to the 16-yard line before throwing three straight incompletions, which set up a critical fourth-and-10. Hoyer threw a short pass over the middle to tight end Eric Ebron 2-yard short of the first down marker, turning possession over to the Dolphins with 38 seconds left.
“We were in the huddle screaming plaster, plaster, plaster,” safety Bobby McCain said.
“When the quarterback is scrambling, running around, that’s the way you don’t lose your man. That was a big stop for us. They had to get 10, they got eight. Win! Period!”
Miami would have Fitzpatrick, who returned to the game after passing his concussion test, take a knee to end the game, and deliver coach Brian Flores’ second victory of the season.
It wasn’t a pretty win considering Miami gained only 229 yards, and converted just 6-of-16 third-down opportunities, but the three turnovers kept the Colts from scoring, and set Miami’s offense up with good field position.
Last week, the Dolphins pulled off a 26-18 win over the New York Jets because of a breakout performance from the offense. This week, it was the defense that held a injury-decimated Colts team to 300 total yards.
The win will allow Flores’ team to continue building its momentum heading into next Sunday’s home game against the Buffalo Bills (6-3).