Raiders...35 Dolphins...17
MIAMI -- Daunte Culpepper dived into the end zone for a touchdown, rose, tapped his surgically repaired right knee and signaled “OK” to the crowd.
His much-scrutinized knee might not be 100%, but it was good enough Sunday for Culpepper to lead the Oakland Raiders past the Miami Dolphins. He ran for three touchdowns and threw for two to win the grudge game against his former team, 35-17.
Culpepper’s slow recovery from major knee surgery limited him to four games last year in his only season with the Dolphins, and his breakup with new Miami Coach Cam Cameron was bitter.
Cameron has bigger problems now -- for the second time in four years, the Dolphins are off to an 0-4 start. The Raiders, who won last week when Culpepper came off the bench to replace an injured Josh McCown, improved to 2-2.
Justin Fargas replaced LaMont Jordan, who suffered a back injury shortly before halftime, and had a career-high 179 yards in 22 carries for the Raiders.
Quoteworthy: “He had a chip on his shoulder. He wanted revenge.” -- Warren Sapp, Raiders defensive tackle, on teammate Daunte Culpepper
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