A stunner: Dolphins win 2nd straight, top Ravens

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Xavien Howard forced a fumble and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown, Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench and capped his night with a 1-yard sneak for a score with 2:19 left and the Miami Dolphins stunned the Baltimore Ravens 22-10 on Thursday night.

The Dolphins (3-7) got three field goals from Jason Sanders and got their second win in five days.

Tagovailoa — who couldn’t start because of a fractured finger on his left, or throwing, hand — threw for 158 yards in relief of Jacoby Brissett, who passed for 156 yards before needing to depart in the third quarter with an injured right knee.

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— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 12, 2021

Baltimore’s streak of 51 regular-season games with at least 14 points — the second-longest such streak in NFL history behind a 63-game run by New England from 2009 through 2013 — came to an end.

An emphatic end, at that.

Miami’s defense carried an offense that had one quarterback get hurt, have an injured one take his place, and saw its only trip to the end zone in the first 57 minutes come from an offensive lineman who reached just far enough on a back flip to get the ball over the goal line — only to have it not count because he wasn’t an eligible receiver.

64 YARDS. Tua Tagovailoa to Albert Wilson for a clutch big gain. #FinsUp

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— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2021

Didn’t matter. The offense did enough, and the defense did more than enough.

Lamar Jackson completed 26 of 43 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown for Baltimore (6-3). Mark Andrews had the scoring grab for the Ravens, who had dominated Miami in the teams’ most recent three meetings going into Thursday — winning by a combined 137-16 score.

Not this time. Not even close.

Brissett had a 52-yard completion to Isaiah Ford late in the half on what appeared to be a busted play that turned into Miami’s longest gain of the season — to that point, anyway. Sanders connected on a chip shot, the Dolphins took a 6-3 lead into the break and, somehow, had the lead for good.

The Ravens' 10 points tonight were their fewest in any of Lamar Jackson's 46 career regular season starts.

Only one team has punted more in a game this season than the Ravens did tonight. pic.twitter.com/rrQLKlkO4M

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 12, 2021

Andrews’ scoring catch got Baltimore ton 15-10, just close enough for it to seem that Miami was on the ropes. Tagovailoa found Albert Wilson for a 64-yard gain — Miami’s longest play of the season and the longest pass of Tagovailoa’s NFL career — with about three minutes left, and then the QB muscled in from the 1 to seal the win.

The closest either offense came to the end zone for the game’s first 55 minutes was a play midway through the third quarter, when Tagovailoa completed a pass to right guard Robert Hunt. The lineman rumbled toward the goal line, got flipped over and appeared to reach the ball over the plane.

It wouldn’t have counted anyway. Hunt wasn’t an eligible receiver, the Dolphins settled for a field goal and a 9-3 lead. Howard stripped the ball from Ravens receiver Sammy Watkins after a catch on the ensuing Baltimore possession, picked up the fumble and scored for a 15-3 lead.