Raiders Caught in Miami Vise

It could have been uglier. Miami Dolphin defensive end Jason Taylor came within a wisp of sacking Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon three times in the first three plays.

Instead, Taylor got him twice -- and pried the ball loose both times.

“I had him on the first play and I just missed him,” Taylor said. “I went for the ball instead of grabbing him.”

Well, nobody’s perfect. But the Dolphin defense looked awfully good Sunday, limiting Oakland’s No. 1-ranked offense to one first down in the first 26 minutes, then safeguarding a six-point lead down the stretch for a 23-17 victory.

It was the home finale for the Dolphins (9-5), who remain in first place in the AFC East but have yet to secure a playoff berth. Then again, no AFC team has clinched. The Raiders (9-5) are still alone atop the AFC West, thanks to San Diego’s loss at Buffalo.

That was of little consolation to the Raiders, who were riding a five-game winning streak, and whose quarterback had thrown for at least 300 yards 10 times this season, an NFL record.

Hurried and harassed all day, Gannon never got into a groove against the Dolphins. He shortened his drops, put too much heat on his close-range passes and underthrew Jerry Rice on Oakland’s last offensive play -- resulting in a one-handed interception by Patrick Surtain with 1 minute 43 seconds to play.

“No matter how I caught it, it was time to make a play,” Surtain said.

Taylor was making them all day. He had three of Miami’s five sacks, increasing his total to a league-leading 17. He made Barry Sims, normally a very capable left tackle, look as agile as a potted palm.

“He’s elusive and he’s a slippery guy,” Sims said. “He’s got a lot of good moves, so if you try to shut down one move, he’ll turn to another one. He’s a hard guy to defend. He was up on his game today, and apparently I wasn’t.”

Making matters worse, Gannon’s in-helmet headset went on the fritz. So he not only had to worry about executing the plays, but hearing them.

“I had to run over a lot of times and read Marc’s lips,” he said, referring to offensive coordinator Marc Trestman. “We called a couple of plays on our own. It was definitely a problem.”

Miami quarterback Jay Fiedler, facing a Raider defense that was without injured starting cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Tory James, completed 21 of 32 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown. Ricky Williams rushed for 101 yards in 27 carries, recording his fifth consecutive 100-yard game and ninth of the season.

But the day belonged to Miami’s defense, which limited the Raiders to one touchdown and Gannon to 204 yards passing, 119 fewer than his average.

“When you have a guy who is probably going to break the single-season passing record and two guys [Rice and Tim Brown] with 1,000 career catches on your team, to hold those guys to one touchdown is a phenomenal feeling,” Surtain said.

The Raiders were never too far behind. Miami led by two touchdowns in the first half, but Oakland chipped away with three field goals by Sebastian Janikowski.

And the tide looked to be turning when Gannon hit Jerry Porter for a 20-yard touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter, then found Porter again for a two-point conversion that trimmed the deficit to 20-17.

The Dolphins answered with a drive to the Oakland 22, but Olindo Mare was wide right on a 40-yard field goal attempt with 8:53 remaining.

Oakland couldn’t move the ball on its next possession, but neither could Miami, and the Dolphins were forced to punt with 4:59 remaining. Back to return was Brown, who took over special-teams duties normally handled by Woodson.

Brown fielded the punt, started his return by cutting across the field, and was nailed by Trent Gamble. The ball popped free and was recovered at the Oakland 39 by Miami’s Ed Perry.

A disheartened Brown lay face-down on the turf for a few moments, his pride hurting worse than anything. He’s the leading punt returner in Raider history, and losing his grip has never been a problem.

“I need to protect the ball,” he said. “The return was set, then I saw the white helmet.”

The Dolphins burned another two minutes off the clock, moving into position for a 41-yard field goal and setting the stage for Oakland’s last-gasp drive.

Three plays into that final possession, Gannon heaved the long pass for Rice that was snared by Surtain. The interception wasn’t the best one-handed catch of the day, however. That was made by receiver Cris Carter -- the only other member of the 1,000-reception club -- who split a pair of Raider defenders and used his right hand to reel in a five-yard touchdown pass from Fiedler in the second quarter.

“He’s got some of the best hands in football,” Fiedler said of Carter, who gave up his TV gig in October to sign with the Dolphins. “As they say, he just catches touchdowns.”

Frequently, Fiedler tested Oakland’s secondary with deep passes, throwing a 40-yard pass to Chris Chambers on Miami’s opening play. That’s not necessarily the style of the Dolphins, whose “Miami Pound Machine” offense tends to rely more on short passes and the steady running of Williams.

Asked if he was surprised by the air-it-out approach, Raider defensive tackle Sam Adams didn’t hesitate.

“Nah,” he said. “With our two starting cornerbacks out, what would you do?”