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Carpenter kicks Dolphins to fourth straight win

Nov 17, 2008 - 12:08 AM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Miami Dolphins have become the cardiac kids.

Rookie Dan Carpenter hit a 38-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to lift the Dolphins past the Oakland Raiders, 17-15, on Sunday.

Ted Ginn Jr. had a 40-yard touchdown on a reverse and Patrick Cobbs scored from 10 yards out for the Dolphins, who have won four straight for the first time since November 2006.

Miami (6-4) is in the thick of the AFC playoff race and continues to be one of the NFL's biggest surprises after finishing a league-worst 1-15 last season. The Dolphins are tied with New England (6-4) for second place in the AFC East, and host the Patriots next week.

Miami, which needed a late stand to post a 21-19 win over Seattle last week, was able to squeak another close one. It's not something that the Dolphins enjoy, though.

"We keep putting ourselves in these dogfights," linebacker Joey Porter said. "You don't want them to come back and bite you. When you've got a team down, you've got to figure out how to put them away. Having last-second wins is not something you want to be hoping for every time."

The Dolphins rebounded after Johnnie Lee Higgins returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 15-14 lead with 4:30 left in the game. It was the first career touchdown for Higgins, a second-year pro out of Texas-El Paso.

"When I caught it, I saw little bit of jibberish," Higgins said. "Then I took two steps and it just parted like the Red Sea. I just tried to run my hamstrings off and get away from the kicker. He slapped my foot a little bit. I would have been mad if he would have tackled me."

Miami responded by driving 64 yards for the game-winning field goal. With 2:00 left, the Dolphins faced a 4th-and-5 from the Oakland 35-yard line.

Miami eschewed a 53-yard field goal, and Chad Pennington, who completed 16-of-22 passes for 174 yards, found Ginn for seven yards on a crossing route for the first down.

"We obviously knew or felt like we had a pretty good idea at that time of where (Carpenter's) range was," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said.

Four plays later, Carpenter, an undrafted rookie from Montana, drilled the game-winner.

"I wouldn't say I have been waiting for one," Carpenter said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous."

"(Carpenter) is very calm and collected," Pennington said. "I don't know if that's his Montana background. He's got an awesome leg and he did a good job."

Oakland (2-8), which has lost four straight, allowed 222 yards rushing.

"The difference between us and them is that they're playing with some confidence," Raiders interim coach Tom Cable said. "This is good for us. It hurts because we lost, but we're getting closer."

JaMarcus Russell completed 14-of-21 passes for 142 yards for the Raiders, who have scored a total of 30 points during the losing streak. Russell missed last week's loss to Carolina with tendinitis in his right knee.

Despite being outgained, 382-186, Oakland managed to hang around. The Raiders cut the deficit to 7-5 with 10:28 left in the third when Jay Richardson sacked Pennington in the end zone for a safety.

Sebastian Janikowski missed a 46-yard field goal, and Cobbs capped a nine-play, 64-yard drive with a 10-yard score to make it 14-5 with 1:57 left in the period. Janikowski's 37-yarder made it 14-8 with 8:02 to play.

Rookie Darren McFadden ran for 13 yards on three carries in his return to Oakland's lineup after missing three games due to turf toe.

"After the game it got a little sore, but during the game it felt pretty good," McFadden said.