Miami Dolphins dominate Chicago Bears 27-14
Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 25 of 32 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with a career-high 123.6 passer rating. ‘Every rep, I feel more and more comfortable with the offense. … I think we are continuing to grow as a team,’ he said. (Photo by Charles Trainors, Jr.)
By Dedrick D. Henry, Sr.
After a week of guessing, the Dolphins delivered the first punch and never stopped swinging, shocking the Chicago Bears 27-14 for their first true road win. Miami (3-3), by most every statistical measurement, dominated: yards (393-224), turnovers (three to none) and passer rating (123.6-74.4).
Halfway through the third quarter, the game remained very much in doubt for the Miami Dolphins. The Bears (3-4) went 80 yards in 12 plays to cut a 14-point deficit in half. The 62,413 fans at Soldier Field were in an uproar. The Dolphins were backed up inside their own 20.
Ryan Tannehill was nearly perfect.
Tannehill orchestrated a 13-play touchdown drive that took 7:28 off the clock, topped off by a two-yard scoring run by Lamar Miller.
Every time the Dolphins needed a play, Tannehill delivered. Second-and-7? Tannehill threw to Miller for 12. Third-and-2 at midfield? Tannehill found Daniel Thomas for six feet (and not an inch more). He was a methodical passing genius, his best game throwing thus far.
And fourth-and-1 at the Bears’ 39 — a call that would have been pilloried had it failed? Tannehill raced 30 yards on the keeper, proving again his legs can be as dangerous as his right arm having played wide receiver and knowing how to elude defenders.
His day, like the Dolphins’ performance overall Sunday, was his most complete of the season. Tannehill completed his first 14 passes of the game and finished 25 of 32 for 277 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and didn’t have an interception.
Tannehill also gained 48 yards on six carries, an average buoyed by Joe Philbin’s fourth-down gamble. Tannehill continued an encouraging trend: he made the right decisions, keeping the ball on a read option instead of handing it off. Sealing a victory at Soldier Field 27-14 for the Miami Dolphins’.
