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Dolphins edge Cowboys on late Sanders field goal, beat a contender and punch ticket to postseason

david furones, south florida sun-sentinel
·7 min read
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MIAMI GARDENS — In the “prove you can beat a contender” bowl, the Miami Dolphins finally got one of those wins.

Behind a late game-winning drive and five field goals from kicker Jason Sanders — three from long range — the Dolphins took down the Cowboys, who came in with a similar narrative of coming up short against winning teams, 22-20, on a Christmas Eve Sunday evening at Hard Rock Stadium.

Sanders’ final boot from 29 yards with no time remaining was the difference.

“These kind of games, in December, that’s how they go,” said quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was 24 of 37 for 293 yards and a touchdown and orchestrated the final drive. “Whoever has the ball last.”

Miami (11-4) clinched a playoff berth with the victory. It’s the first time since the 2001 season the team has qualified for consecutive playoffs.

“I felt like I’ve been waiting for that moment since the Jets game last year,” said Sanders, who also kicked the Dolphins into the postseason in 2022. “It just feels that much better that it was against a quality opponent.”

The hard-fought victory helps negate the narrative that these Dolphins can’t beat winning teams — in a week that started with coach Mike McDaniel telling anyone bringing up that outside talk to “F off.”

“I think it’s really hard to ignore the noise, so to speak, or not hear it,” McDaniel said after Sunday’s win. “I think you’re going to hear it. And so it’s impossible for people not to know all the things that we’re not capable of doing.

“I’m proud for this team because, regardless of what people say, you have to get to a mode where you’re solely worried about doing your job and being responsible for that with your teammates. And anything else, you get distracted and lose focus on what actually matters.”

The Dolphins are now one win away from clinching the AFC East, and they would take over No. 1 in the AFC with a Baltimore Ravens loss on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers — a playoff position that will be decided in next week’s showdown in Baltimore anyway. Miami can also clinch the division over the Buffalo Bills before their meeting in Miami Gardens in the finale with a win over the Ravens on Dec. 31.

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Sunday’s win can catapult the Dolphins into the final two regular-season games and the postseason with confidence, but Tagovailoa refutes that idea, stating the confidence is already within the team.

“I don’t think anyone is necessarily worried about what anyone else is saying outside of the guys in the building,” Tagovailoa said. “The confidence, I mean, everyone has confidence in each other and themselves. I don’t think winning these games do anything more or anything less.”

The Cowboys (10-5) fall in back-to-back weeks to the top teams in the AFC East after losing to Buffalo last week. Quarterback Dak Prescott battled through four sacks and 12 quarterback hits, often evading pressure to get passes off under duress, and finished 20 of 32 for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

The two teams’ top receivers dueled. The Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill went for 99 yards on nine receptions, and Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb amassed 118 yards and a touchdown on six catches — but 93 of them were in the first quarter.

The final drive went 12 plays for 64 yards before Sanders’ short field goal, which was a chip shot compared to the 50-yarders he made earlier.

Facing third-and-3 from the Dallas 33-yard line, a quick screen from Tagovailoa to Hill after the two-minute warning kept the Dolphins going deeper into Dallas territory. Running back Jeff Wilson Jr. then took the next three carries, the third being a powerful 6-yard plunge that picked up a first down on third-and-2 and allowed Miami to run out the clock for Sanders’ game-winner. A facemask penalty on Cowboys linebacker Damone Clark was instrumental in getting the Dolphins up the field quickly.

“I feel like every guy on the team knew what was at stake,” said Hill of the late drive that saw him pick up 10 yards on the big third-and-3. “Coach (McDaniel) was like, ‘Look, I’m coming to you no matter what.’ And the rest of the guys were, ‘All right, ‘Reek, we’re going to block for you. Just make sure you get 3 yards right here.’ And it was a thing of beauty.”

Trailing throughout much of the second half, the Cowboys took a 20-19 lead when Prescott threw a touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks in the corner of the end zone that Cooks came down with against cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Kader Kohou.

The score came after Miami nearly had a fourth-down stop, but safety DeShon Elliott was called for pass interference that set Dallas up inside Miami’s 1-yard line. The Cowboys immediately made the touchdown more difficult with Prescott taking a sack on first down as Dallas opted against pounding it in.

The Dolphins went into halftime with a 13-7 lead thanks to running back Raheem Mostert’s one-handed touchdown catch by the goal line with no one around him. Mostert missed significant time in the first half with an undisclosed injury, but he was always seen on the sideline near the line of scrimmage and re-entered late in the second quarter with Miami 4 yards away from scoring.

Early in the second half, Sanders expanded the lead with his third field goal make from 50-plus. His 54-yarder gave Miami a 16-7 lead. By the middle of the third period, Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey made a 43-yard field goal to get Dallas back within one possession, 16-10. That drive could’ve gone for more had it not been for an illegal shift penalty that negated a big Prescott scramble in the red zone.

Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio opted not to have Ramsey, his elite cornerback who shut down the Jets’ Garrett Wilson last week, shadow Lamb. And Lamb made Miami pay early.

In the first quarter, he had four receptions for 93 yards and a 49-yard touchdown in which he ran free on a slant across the middle of the Miami defense. Lamb, though, did not have his next catch until the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys’ opening drive went 15 plays and 73 yards, and consumed 7:43, getting down to the Miami 1-yard line, but Dallas came up empty. Prescott and Hunter Luepke had a fumbled exchange on a goal-line carry, and safety Brandon Jones recovered the football.

Taking over deep in their own territory, the Dolphins missed an opportunity to score a long touchdown as a deep pass from Tagovailoa to Hill, open beyond Dallas cornerback DaRon Bland along the left sideline, was dropped.

Tagovailoa, however, followed with a deep pass to Jaylen Waddle down the opposite sideline that went for 50 yards. It turned out to be Waddle’s only catch, as he missed time with eye and shin injuries. It also advanced Miami to set up Sanders’ first field goal, a career-long 57-yard make.

“It’s just Christmas. Christmas is here,” Sanders said, laughing, about what got into him for the three deep kicks. “I treat every game the same.”

In the second quarter, after Lamb’s long touchdown, the Dolphins drove down as deep as the Dallas 3-yard line before ending up in a fourth-and-goal at the 5-yard line. McDaniel opted to go for it instead of taking the 3 points, and Tagovailoa’s fade route to Cedrick Wilson Jr. in the end zone was not caught inbounds.

Later in the second period, Sanders connected on his second 50-yarder, from 52 yards out.

Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and Bradley Chubb each had 1 1/2 sacks, and defensive tackle Zach Sieler had another.

The Dolphins next travel to Baltimore for a New Year’s Eve showdown with the Ravens before a home regular-season finale against the Bills.