• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Dolphins keep Bears winless at home

Oct 20, 2014 - 12:17 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Tannehill was nearly perfect in the first half, and the Miami Dolphins put last week's stinging loss to Green Bay behind them with a 27-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.

Tannehill completed his first 14 passes and misfired only once in the opening 30 minutes as the Dolphins built a 14-0 lead. He finished the contest 25-of-32 for 277 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 48 yards on six carries.

Lamar Miller ran for 61 yards with a touchdown for Miami (3-3), which forced three Chicago turnovers and sent the Bears (3-4) to their third loss without at win at home. It's Chicago's worst home start since 2004.

"Our defense set the tone early in the game," said Dolphins coach Joe Philbin. "When you have a plus-three turnover margin on the road, it's a great day."

Jay Cutler completed 21-of-34 passes for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception in defeat. Matt Forte totaled 109 yards from scrimmage with a touchdown catch and a rushing score for the Bears, while Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 48 yards against his former team.

"That's a very sick locker room right now," said Bears head coach Marc Trestman.

The Dolphins couldn't hold a fourth-quarter lead last week at home, as the Miami offense failed to take enough time off the clock late and allowed Aaron Rodgers to march the Packers to a 27-24 victory in the final seconds.

Miami was facing a similar situation on Sunday with a 24-14 lead and more than 7 1/2 minutes left. This time, the offense drained nearly 5 1/2 minutes off the clock before Caleb Sturgis made a 19-yard field goal with 2:13 to play.

The Bears drove deep into Miami territory, but Cutler threw four straight incomplete passes from the 15-yard line and Tannehill took a pair of kneeldowns to end the game.

"Guys did a great job of stepping up and making plays when we needed it," said Tannehill. "We had the mindset that we were going to win the game."

Tannehill led the Dolphins to a touchdown on their second possession, starting the eight-play set with a 14-yard scamper on a read-option. He completed each of his three passes during the 81-yard drive, finishing it with a 13-yard scoring strike to Charles Clay.

The Dolphins drove back into Chicago territory with their next series and Tannehill was again perfect until he took a sack on 3rd-and-7. That pushed a field goal attempt to 50 yards and Sturgis' kick drifted wide right.

Cutler was intercepted by Reshad Jones a few minutes later and his 50-yard return set up Tannehill's 10-yard TD pass to Mike Wallace for a 14-0 lead with 5:20 remaining in the first half.

The Bears followed with a three-and-out and the Dolphins had a chance to tack on more points, but a holding penalty wiped out a 22-yard completion that would have put Miami at the Chicago 12-yard line. Tannehill finally misfired on a second-down pass and took another sack on third down to push the Dolphins out of Sturgis' range before a punt ended the half.

Chicago managed just two first downs and 54 total yards in the opening 30 minutes, then took the second half kickoff and drove 80 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. The Bears converted a 4th-and-1 at the Miami 45 on a Forte run and the back caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap the seven-minute series.

The Dolphins then took all but the remaining 31 seconds off the third-quarter clock to restore a 14-point cushion. Miami also converted a 4th-and-1 play at the Chicago 39 when Tannehill again took off on a read-option and raced 30 yards to the 9-yard line. Miller did the rest with runs of seven and two yards to finish the 13-play trek.

Miami's defense came up with turnovers on each of Chicago's next two possessions.

Cameron Wake strip-sacked Cutler in the first minute of the fourth quarter, leading to a 33-yard Sturgis field goal for a 24-7 advantage. Dante Rosario fumbled just two plays after the ensuing kickoff, but a Tannehill intentional grounding penalty pushed Sturgis back and he had a 37-yard kick blocked with 9:43 to play.

The Bears answered quickly, as a 39-yard pass interference penalty set up Forte's 1-yard touchdown run with 7:38 remaining.

Game Notes

Forte had six catches for 60 yards and 12 carries for 49 yards ... Miami ran for 137 yards and controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes, outgaining Chicago 393-224 ... Tannehill, who connected with eight different receivers, improved to 1-4 on the road against NFC opponents ... Chicago's Jeremiah Ratliff had 3 1/2 sacks ... Bears defensive back Kyle Fuller left the contest with a hip injury ... The Dolphins improved to 8-4 against Chicago and won for the third time in the last four meetings ... Miami visits Jacksonville next Sunday ... Chicago travels to New England next week.