Dolphins foil perfection

The 1972 Dolphins can breathe a little easier. And once again, they can thank a current Miami team for it.

Although Dan Marino was nowhere to be found this time, the Dolphins once again upset Chicago to spoil the Bears’ bid for a perfect season.

Ronnie Brown rushed for a career-high 157 yards and Jason Taylor forced a fumble and returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown, helping Miami beat Chicago, 31-13, on Sunday. Brown carried 29 times and eclipsed his previous career-high set last season against Carolina by 25 yards.

The Bears (7-1) not only lost their first game, but linebacker Brian Urlacher hurt his foot when he landed awkwardly in a pileup near the end of the game. The severity of the injury was not known.

After hearing criticism from the media and members of the 1972 team, these Dolphins had their way with a team that had scored the most points and allowed the fewest. The defense constantly applied pressure as the Dolphins (2-6) ended a four-game losing streak.

“A lot of [media] in this locker room and a lot of people in this country didn’t give us a chance,” Taylor said. “ ... You always want to handle everything with class, but sometimes you can’t.”

Miami’s win removes another potential challenger to the 1972 Dolphins, the only team with a perfect record in NFL history. The Indianapolis Colts remained the only undefeated team this season by beating the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

The 7-0 start was the Bears’ best since the 1985 championship team won its first 12. The only loss that year, incidentally, was to Miami -- when Marino threw three touchdowns and the Dolphins scored 38 points against one of the best defenses in NFL history on “Monday Night Football.”

Linebacker Zach Thomas said the Dolphins deserved criticism but thought it went too far.

“It’s a little overboard when you’re an old football player and know how tough it can be to win,” he said. “To say a team has no soul -- we’ve been playing hard, but we just haven’t put it together. Maybe we need more of that.”

The Bears lost wide receiver Bernard Berrian, their main deep threat, to a rib injury on their first possession and were buried beneath a pile of turnovers. Chicago committed four fumbles and lost three to go with Rex Grossman’s three interceptions.

Grossman was under pressure all day and was only 18 of 42 for 210 yards and a touchdown. The running game never got going, either, with Thomas Jones carrying 20 times for 69 yards.

Joey Harrington was 16 for 32 for 137 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in his fourth start for the injured Daunte Culpepper.