Dolphins 23
Raiders 17
MIAMI – December has been the cruelest month for the Dolphins, but with two weeks to go, they’re sticking to the AFC East lead like rubber cement in the mitts of Cris Carter and Patrick Surtain.
Miami was so good in so many ways yesterday in holding off an Oakland team that linebacker Zach Thomas is sure he will see again in January, fingering a mere two reasons for this victory would be unfair. Still, five on a hand on each side of the ball were a good place to start and finish.
Carter one-handed an over-the-middle-threading from Jay Fielder to put Miami up 10-3 in the first quarter and Surtain had his left arm at his side when he snatched a 22-yard Rich Gannon throw away from Jerry Rice to foil the final drive at the Miami 18. Such was the long and short of Oakland’s 23-17 demise, even if the game largely was won by the Dolphins’ success in going long on the Raiders’ battered secondary while forcing Gannon to go short.
Of course, Surtain and Sam Madison had considerable help in holding Rice and Tim Brown to three catches and 30 yards each, but it was the Dolphins’ basic trust in their two fine corners that allowed them to use the man-to-man defense nobody else dares against loaded Oakland.
“When teams zone them, Gannon can wait and go to [running back Charlie] Garner,” said Thomas, “And that guy has more shakes than Elvis. But in a ‘man’ we cover him.”
Gannon, who has ten 300-yard games this season, settled for 204. Electronic problems shut down his headset audio for about half the plays and Miami DE Jason Taylor short-circuited the other half.
On the game’s first series, Taylor crashed past the overmatched Barry Sims three times, causing two Gannon fumbles. The Raiders fell on both, but punted.
And on the Dolphins’ first play, Fiedler went up top to Chris Chambers over Terrance Shaw, who proved as poor replacement for the injured Charles Woodson as Clarence Love was for the injured Tory James.
The 40-yard completion set up Olindo Mare’s 25-yard field goal, then another catch of 29 by Chambers led to Carter’s 5-yard touchdown. A 97-yard drive, fueled by Ricky Williams’ seventh straight 110-yard game, made it 17-3 before Gannon began taking shorter drops to counter the outside rush and Rice made three catches on an 80-yard touchdown drive. But Brown fumbled away a fourth-quarter punt and Surtain’s interception sealed the deal.
“They had momentum, it was time to make a play,” said Surtain. And making plays, to Thomas, is why this December is so far going better than others, his emphasis being on the “so far.”
“This doesn’t mean anything,” Thomas said. “We have two games left [at Minnesota and New England] and will see [the Raiders] again [in the playoffs]. It would just be nice if it were here for a change, after a bye. We’ve never had that before.”
That’s largely because they haven’t had a Williams taking minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter, limiting opportunities from quarterbacks like Gannon and making the long season finally work in Miami’s favor.
