In a victory they needed to stay close in an AFC East race that’s become a three-team derby, the Dolphins capitalized on several Jaguars mistakes in a 27-13 victory in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon.
The Dolphins (4-3) forced three turnovers, all by Jaguars rookie quarterback Blake Bortles. And Miami, like a cook using every piece of the roast for multiple meals, made the most of all three takeaways.
Dolphins safety Louis Delmas started the scoring for Miami by picking off Bortles and taking it back 81 yards for a touchdown, giving Miami a 7-0 lead 14 seconds into the second quarter. Later in the quarter, Delmas recovered a Bortles fumble, setting up a field goal to extend the Dolphins lead to 10-3 at the half.
Then, in the third quarter, the Dolphins’ defense struck again, with cornerback Brent Grimes picking off Bortles and taking it back 22 yards a touchdown, extending Miami’s lead to 17-3.
Eventually, the Dolphins’ offense — which sputtered early — would get into the act, with quarterback Ryan Tannenhill hitting wideout Rishard Matthews for a three-yard TD to put up Miami 24-6 late in the third. By then, the Dolphins were in full control against the Jaguars (1-7), who had missed their window to upset Miami.
Bortles completed 18-of-34 passes for 221 yards for Jacksonville, tossing a 48-yard TD pass to Allen Robinson late in the fourth quarter to narrow the final margin to 14 points. But Bortles’ early mistakes hampered his club, as did first-half special teams miscues by Jacksonville that took one made field goal off the board because of holding and caused another field goal to be blocked.
Tannehill connected on 16-of-29 passes for 196 yards with the one score and one pick for Miami, which hosts San Diego next week. The Jaguars play at Cincinnati next Sunday.
