Dolphins Get 2nd Win! Beat Bengals & Officials

Oct 7, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) throws against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-US PRESSWIRE

The Miami Dolphins played the Cincinnati Bengals this afternoon…and played against a poorly called game by the refs.  In the end, they found a way to finish.  Reshad Jones intercepted Andy Dalton with under two minutes left a short time after Dan Carpenter missed a 51 yard field goal that allowed the Bengals to score and close a 17-6 lead to five points.

The Dolphins found themselves wondering if the referees were going to be their greatest adversary of the day after bad calls continued to put the Dolphins into bad positions.

The first came on a sack of Andy Dalton that was ruled “in the grasp” keeping the Bengals with the ball.  The ensuing punt hit a Dolphins special teams player in the back and was recovered by a member of the Bengals. The replay showed the player attempt to scoop the ball up as he rolled out of bounds.  Although he did not clearly posses the ball and the ball was moving as he touched the sidelines, the refs gave it to the Bengals.

The Dolphins held them to a field goal.

Later, the Dolphins recovered a fumble by A.J. Green but the refs declared that Green had fumbled and then recovered the ball again before his knee hit.  This despite the fact that replay showed the ball moving as he hit the ground.  The Dolphins would hold them.  Late in the game, the Dolphins were pinned at their own three yard line after a punt was tipped back at the edge of the line.  Replay showed the person who tipped the ball back into play was standing on the goal line.

Regardless of the bad calls that went against the Dolphins, Miami found a way to close out the game late.  Stopping the Bengals offense not once but twice under 4 minutes.  The Bengals did themselves no favors by missing a FG of 40 yards on one of those drives.

Dan Carpenter wasn’t called upon to win the game today but still almost lost it.  Carpenter made one FG from 46 yards and put the Phins up 17-6 in the third quarter.  It was his 51 yard miss however that allowed the Bengals to start moving the ball from the 50 yard line, eventually scoring the TD that made the game close and put fans into yet another heart wrenching final few minutes.

Ryan Tannehill did not throw a pick today and the Dolphins managed to keep the strong Dline of the Bengals out of their backfield.  Tannehill was sacked only 3 times by the number one team in that category.

All in all, it was a big win for a franchise heading home after a two game road swing.  The win brings Miami’s season win total to 2 following back-to-back over time losses.  They face the St. Louis Rams next week in Miami.