NFL EXHIBITION : Miami Beats Denver in Germany

Scott Mitchell threw two touchdown passes within 88 seconds in the third quarter as the Miami Dolphins beat the Denver Broncos 31-27 Saturday in an NFL exhibition game.

The contest featured 10 turnovers and frequent penalties, with starting quarterbacks Dan Marino of Miami and John Elway of Denver plagued by mistakes.

Mitchell threw touchdown passes to James Saxon and Tony Martin. Marino passed to Mark Clayton for a touchdown, and Aaron Craver added a scoring run for the Dolphins.

Pete Stoyanovich added a field goal for Miami (2-1).

Denver got a pair of scoring passes from rookie Tommy Maddox -- to Barry Johnson and Cedric Tillman -- and a TD pass from Shawn Moore to Jeff Alexander.

Tracy Bennett and David Treadwell added field goals for the Broncos (1-2).

The 60,813 fans who paid up to $86 per ticket may have spent the opening quarter wondering if they’d stumbled upon a game between two amateur German teams.

Marino was intercepted on the first play of the game. Three snaps later, the teams combined for an amazing four penalties on the same play -- Denver for an ineligible receiver downfield and for Elway passing from beyond the line of scrimmage, Miami for offside and pass interference.

Bennett then kicked his 35-yard field goal to give Denver a 3-0 lead, but chaos soon returned.

Saxon went in motion the wrong way on one play and was shoved back in the other direction by Marino. Another Dolphins rusher, former Bronco Bobby Humphrey, let a pass go through his hands and departed shortly thereafter with bruised ribs.

Marino also was intercepted twice more by the midway point of the second quarter.

There was a brief flurry of decent football in the final few minutes of the half.

Alexander caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Moore to give Denver a 10-0 lead with just over five minutes left. Then Marino finally had some success, capping a 70-yard drive with a 38-yard scoring toss to Clayton with just under two minutes left.

With 20 seconds remaining, Treadwell kicked a 20-yard field goal following a 56-yard pass to Derek Russell, giving Denver a 13-7 halftime lead.

The first half also featured several fights and 60 yards in penalties, but not all the problems were restricted to the field. The clock operator continually forgot to stop the clock on dead balls and the stadium lights were out of commission for most of the second quarter.

The Dolphins scored three touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. Craver scored on a 10-yard run to give Miami a 14-13 lead, and then the Dolphins took advantage of two Bronco turnovers to add two more touchdowns. Both came on Mitchell passes, the first an 17-yarder to Saxon, and the second a 28-yarder to Martin.

Denver pulled to 28-20 on a 9-yard scoring pass from Maddox to Johnson, but Stoyanovich added a 26-yard field goal in the final minute of the quarter to give Miami a 31-20 lead. The field goal was set up on a 69-yard kickoff return by Mike Williams.

In the fourth quarter, Maddox threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Tillman.