 Dolphins end Patriots' winning streak
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-23 07:58  BOSTON: The Miami Dolphins ended New England's run of 21 successive regular season wins when Ronnie Brown rushed for a team-record four touchdowns and threw for another in a shock 38-13 victory over the Patriots on Sunday. Brown scored on runs of two, 15, five and 62 yards and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass for the Dolphins, who won for only the second time in 22 games. "Getting a win like this over a team of this caliber, I think it just builds momentum and hopefully will carry over," Brown told reporters. A spread offense in which the ball was often snapped directly to Brown enabled the fourth-year running back to rush for 113 yards. "We tried to keep them off guard and show them a different formation and get them thinking a little bit," Brown said. "After the first time we ran it, I could see them running around and they weren't used to it." New England (2-1), playing for the second full game without injured MVP quarterback Tom Brady, never led, trailing 28-6 in the third quarter after Brown's scoring pass to Anthony Fasano. "I'm not the best thrower in the world and I was thinking 'run, run, run,' but they did a good job of stopping the run," Brown said. "Fasano was open and I just had to pass him the ball. I'm just glad it wasn't that far." The Patriots' only touchdown came on a five-yard pass from Brady's replacement Matt Cassel to Jabar Gaffney in the third quarter. Stephen Gostkowski added two field goals. "They did everything a lot better than we did," Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters. "They outplayed us. They out-coached us." New England had not lost a regular season game since December 2006. * The Super Bowl champion New York Giants needed overtime to improve to 3-0, beating the Cincinnati Bengals (0-3) 26-23 on John Carney's 22-yard field goal with eight minutes and 39 seconds to play in the extra period. Shayne Graham's 21-yard field goal as time expired in regulation had tied the score for the visiting Bengals. * The Dallas Cowboys (3-0) also remained undefeated, winning 27-16 at Green Bay (2-1) behind a pair of long touchdown plays and Marion Barber's career-high 142 yards rushing. * Unbeaten Buffalo won their third consecutive game when Rian Lindell kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired for a 24-23 home victory over the Oakland Raiders (1-2). Oakland led 23-14 with six minutes to go before Trent Edwards' 14-yard touchdown pass to Roscoe Parrish and Lindell's kick rallied the Bills. * Cortland Finnegan's 99-yard interception return for a touchdown sealed the Tennessee Titans (3-0) 31-12 home win over the Houston Texans. Tennessee's Kerry Collins threw for 189 yards and a touchdown to become the 15th NFL quarterback to pass for 35,000 yards. * The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) rallied to beat the Chicago Bears 27-24 thanks to Matt Bryant's 21-yard overtime field goal. Tampa Bay's Brian Griese passed for 407 yards and two touchdowns against his former team. * Josh Scobee's 51-yard field goal with four seconds to play sent the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) to a 23-21 road triumph over the Indianapolis Colts (1-2). * The Denver Broncos (3-0) held on to beat the New Orleans Saints (1-2) 34-32 behind Jay Cutler's two first-quarter touchdown passes. * Antoine Winfield's 19-yard TD fumble return and Gus Frerotta's 34-yard scoring pass to Visanthe Shiancoe helped the Minnesota Vikings (1-2) to their first win, a 20-10 home victory over the previously unbeaten Carolina Panthers (2-1). * The Washington Redskins beat the Arizona Cardinals 24-17 at home after Carlos Rogers' interception set up the winning touchdown. Both teams are 2-1. * The Atlanta Falcons handed the Kansas City Chiefs their 12th consecutive loss over two seasons, a 38-14 thrashing at Atlanta. Michael Turner ran for three touchdowns for the Falcons (2-1). * Philadelphia's defense sacked Pittsburgh quarterbacks nine times in the 15-6 home win by the Eagles (2-1) over the Steelers (2-1). * The Baltimore Ravens (2-0) scored twice in less than a minute after interceptions en route to a 28-10 home win over the Cleveland Browns (0-3). * The San Francisco 49ers (2-1) cruised to a 31-13 victory over the visiting Detroit Lions (0-3) behind Frank Gore's 130 yards rushing. * T.J. Duckett scored twice and Julius Jones ran for 140 yards to lift the Seattle Seahawks (1-2) to a 37-13 home win over the St Louis Rams (0-3). Agencies (China Daily 09/23/2008 page24) |
