Dolphins 17, Bengals 13
CINCINNATI - The Miami Dolphins gave Joe Philbin his first road win as a head coach Sunday, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 17-13 at Paul Brown Stadium.
It was the third straight game Miami had held a halftime lead but this time the Dolphins made that advantage hold up. They had lost in overtime the previous two weeks against the Jets and Cardinals.
Miami improved to 2-3 on the season, while Cincinnati fell to 3-2. The Bengals had won three games in a row since an opening loss at Baltimore.
Rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 17 of 26 passes for 223 yards and Miami's beleaguered pass defense limited Cincinnati's Andy Dalton to 26 of 43 passing and 234 yards. The Dolphins intercepted Dalton twice, including a game-sealing pick by cornerback Reshad Jones with less than two minutes to play, and didn't allow the Bengals to attack with any downfield passes.
Miami scored 17 unanswered points after Cincinnati had taken a 6-0 lead in the second quarter.
Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. Green caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season and had nine receptions overall but those catches amounted to just 65 yards.
Miami's pass defense entered the game ranked 30th in the league, allowing an average of 298 yards per game.
Mike Nugent's 42-yard field goal gave the Bengals a 3-0 lead with 10:35 left in the first quarter. The score came after Cincinnati rookie linebacker Vontaz Burfict recovered a punt that glanced off the backside of Miami's Jones at the Dolphins' 26.
Nugent added a 24-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in the first quarter to put Cincinnati up 6-0. The Bengals had a first-and-goal at the Miami 4 but the Dolphins held an opponent without a touchdown for the 11th time in 17 red zone possessions.
Miami took a 7-6 lead into halftime on a 1-yard touchdown run by Daniel Thomas with 6:54 left in the second quarter.
Cincinnati had the ball to open the third quarter but Miami defensive lineman Randy Starks intercepted a Dalton pass at the line of scrimmage and returned it to the Cincinnati 36. Three plays later, running back Reggie Bush scored on a 13-yard run around the left side to increase Miami's lead to 14-6.
Dan Carpenter made a 46-yard field goal for Miami's final points of the game with 8:35 remaining in the third quarter.
NOTES: The teams combined to convert just 6 of 27 third down attempts. Cincinnati made just two of its 14 attempts... The Bengals had their second straight sellout of the season with a crowd of 61,162. It was their third straight sellout overall after not having a sellout in 10 of the previous 11 home games... Cincinnati kicker Mike Nugent missed 41-yard field goal attempt with 3:00 left in regulation. It was his first miss of the season after nine consecutive made attempts.
