• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Dolphins win third straight, hold off Seahawks

Nov 9, 2008 - 10:58 PM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Yeremiah Bell deflected a pass on a potential tying two-point conversion to preserve the Miami Dolphins' 21-19 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Miami (5-4), which has now won three straight games, got a big performance from Ricky Williams, who rushed for 105 yards on 12 carries, including a 51-yard scoring run.

"It feels good to win and to contribute, that's the biggest thing," Williams said. "People make a big deal over 100 yards, but it's only one more yard than 99 yards."

Williams registered his 32nd career 100-yard game but first since January 1, 2006, against New England.

"Ricky was outstanding," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "He looked pretty fast out there, explosive and did a nice job. We really felt like it was important to get him involved early."

Miami got all it could handle from the Seahawks, nearly squandering a 14-0 advantage.

After Ronnie Brown marched in with a 16-yard touchdown run to give Miami a 21-13 lead with less than six minutes to go, Seattle responded with a touchdown of its own.

Seneca Wallace found Koren Robinson in the end zone for a 3-yard score on the ensuing drive, which was set up by a 33-yard run by Julius Jones, with 3:03 to play.

On the conversion attempt, which was backed up five yards due to a false start, Wallace was looking for tight end but Bell knocked the ball down.

"Yeremiah came up big," Sparano said. "I can't be held accountable for my actions at that point, but I think I might have chest-bumped somebody,"

After a three-and-out by the Dolphins, Seattle took over on its own 23-yard line with 1:50 remaining, but only could get as far as Miami's 49-yard line.

"We made it close at the end, but too little, too late," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said.

Wallace completed 21-of-38 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown for Seattle (2-7). Holmgren said his quarterback was hindered by an injury.

"He hurt (his groin) in the first quarter and that's a part of his game that he relies on, but he couldn't use it," Holmgren said. "He hung in there and played courageously."

With the Dolphins leading, 14-13, in the fourth quarter, quarterback Chad Pennington engineered a 16-play, 79-yard drive spanning over nine minutes and capped by Brown's touchdown.

Pennington had another efficient game, completing 22-of-36 passes for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

"I think we are building confidence in ourselves and the ability to win," Pennington said.

Ted Ginn started the scoring for the Dolphins on their opening possession, catching a 39-yard pass from Pennington with two defenders on him down the back of the end zone on a flea-flicker.

"A lot of that is chemistry," Pennington said. "We are getting better. Ted is getting better."

The touchdown made up for a holding call by Charlie Anderson, which negated Ginn's 99-yard kickoff return to start the game.

Williams doubled the lead with a 51-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-0. Brown took the direct snap out of the wildcat formation and handed the ball off to Williams.

"That wildcat, we practiced," Holmgren said. "We were not surprised by it, but we sure looked like it on the touchdown run because I don't think anyone touched him."

It was Williams' longest run since a career-best 63-yarder against the Chicago Bears on December 9, 2002.

"We would practice that play the last couple weeks," Williams said. "We ran it for the first time and I think they were a little surprised by it."

Seattle struggled to move the ball on offense in the first half, but Jordan Babineaux returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown to pull the Seahawks within 14-7.

"I thought the play was definitely going to jump start us," Babineaux said. "It gave us a little momentum, but in the end we just didn't finish on the winning side."

Olindo Mare hit back-to-back field goals for the Seahawks to cut the deficit to 14-13.