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Dolphins 27, Bears 14
CHICAGO — Ryan Tannehill completed his first 14 passes of the game, connecting with Charles Clay and Mike Wallace for touchdowns, and threw for 277 yards as the Miami Dolphins beat the Chicago Bears, 27-14, Sunday to hand the Bears their third consecutive home field defeat.
Tannehill, the league’s 25th-rated passer, finished with 25 completions in 32 attempts and a passer rating of 123.6.
Miami nearly doubled the Bears in first downs, 24-14, and in yardage, 393-224, in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.
The key sequences came in the third quarter when the Bears, who trailed 14-0 at the half and made only two first downs and gained just 54 yards in the first half, drove 80 yards following the second half kickoff for their first touchdown.
A key call on 4th-and-1 from the Miami 45-yard line came when running back Matt Forte ran four yards for a first down. A pair of completions to wide receiver Brandon Marshall got the ball to the Dolphins’ 13-yard line and, a play later, Jay Cutler threw a short pass to Forte, who ran into the end zone untouched to complete a 10-yard touchdown play.
But that provided only momentary relief for Chicago.
On the ensuing possession, the Dolphins produced a successful fourth down gambit of their own. On 4th-and-1 from the Chicago 39-yard line, Tannehill faked a handoff and took off around the right side on an option run, gaining 30 yards to the Bears’ 9-yard line.
Two plays later, running back Lamar Miller ran into the end zone from the 2 to put Miami ahead, 21-7.
It was 24-7 in the fourth quarter when the Dolphins had a chance to turn the game into a blowout after cornerback Cortland Finnegan knocked the ball out of backup tight end Dante Rosario’s hands and Miami recovered the fumble at the Chicago 35-yard line.
The Dolphins got to the nine but their drive stalled and a field goal attempt was blocked. Chicago turned that opportunity into a touchdown with the help of a questionable 39-yard pass interference call. Forte scored from the 1 to make it 24-14.
At halftime, the Dolphins had a 14-2 lead in first downs, a 209-54 edge in yardage and nearly doubled the Bears in time of possession.
But the Miami lead was only 14-0 because the Dolphins missed a pair of scoring opportunities, at least in part because of sacks. One drive resulted in a missed, 50-yard field goal and the other ended just before the half with Miami pushed out of field goal range.
NOTES: Rookie CB Kyle Fuller, who shares the NFL lead with three interceptions, suffered a hip injury in the third quarter and did not return to the game. Fuller also had a nice pass read on a screen pass, making a tackle for a loss, in the first quarter. … The Bears had not lost three straight home games in a season since 2007 and hadn’t lost their first three home games in a season since 2004. … Miami, which was is third in the NFL in rushing yards per carry, averaged five yards per rush over the first three quarters, which is one reason the Dolphins took control of the game. … QB Ryan Tannehill’s 30-yard run was his second-longest of the season. He had a 40-yarder against Green Bay the second longest run by a quarterback in team history. … K Caleb Sturgis, who had made 9 of 10 previous field-goal attempts for the Dolphins, missed twice, from 50 and 37 yards. He made field goals from 33 and 19 yards.
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