Dolphin Defense Shows That It Has a Nose for the Football

In this strange NFL season, consistency wins--and nothing is more consistent than the Miami defense.

That was evident Sunday as the Dolphins beat the Patriots, 27-17, intercepting five Drew Bledsoe passes and sacking him five times.

Miami remained in a tie with Indianapolis atop the AFC East at 8-2. The victory also opened up ground on the Patriots (6-4) and Buffalo, which dropped to 7-4 with a loss to the New York Jets (4-6) Sunday.

The Dolphins gained only 229 yards against the Patriots and didn’t have a first down for game’s first 17 minutes. Quarterback Damon Huard, who threw two short touchdown passes to Oronde Gadsden, left late in the third quarter with a broken nose.

But the defense set up 13 points, stopped two late New England threats with interceptions and basically dominated.

A 68-yard touchdown pass play from Drew Bledsoe to Shawn Jefferson got the Patriots back in the game late in the third quarter--just 29 seconds after Miami had opened a 14-point lead. But Dolphin defensive end Jason Taylor got his first career interception to set up an Olindo Mare field goal that put Miami’s lead back to 10 with about three minutes left in the game.

“In this division you have no margin for error,” Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson said. “Our defense today, playing at home, came through for us.”

Miami was coming off a loss in Buffalo in which it gained only 101 yards and lost starting running back Cecil Collins because of a broken leg. Rookie running back J.J. Johnson, who had alternated with Collins, had more than last week’s team total with 106 yards in 31 carries.

The defeat seriously hurt the Patriots, who lost to the Dolphins for the second time this season.

“We lost too much ground here,” said New England Coach Pete Carroll, whose team also lost for the second time in six days. “We’re running out of time.”

Huard, who was 18 for 30 for 131 yards, suffered his broken nose when he was tackled for an 11-yard loss by Willie McGinest late in the third quarter. Earlier in the quarter, Huard had connected with Gadsden for a three-yard touchdown pass that put the Dolphins ahead for good at 17-10. The pass capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive that was kept alive when McGinest was called for a late hit on Huard as he released what was to be an incomplete pass on third and five.

“There’s a number of things that could have changed the game around. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Willie, your play changed the game around,’ ” McGinest said. “I’m an aggressive guy. I’m going to go after the quarterback any chance I’ve got.”

Scott Zolak, a former Patriot quarterback who had also been released by the New York Jets this season, played the rest of the game for Huard and didn’t complete a pass in four attempts.

Huard said he should be able to play Thursday in Dallas, but Jimmy Johnson said he hopes Dan Marino will return from the pinched nerve in his neck that has sidelined him five games.