SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 20, 2013
Bills 23, Dolphins 21: Dan Carpenter burned his former team by drilling the go-ahead 31-yard field goal with 33 seconds remaining as Buffalo snapped a six-game road skid.
With Miami nursing a 21-20 lead, defensive tackle Kyle Williams recovered a fumble at the Dolphins' 34-yard line after defensive end Mario Williams stripped the ball from Ryan Tannehill. Carpenter, who was Miami's kicker since 2008 prior to being cut in August, kicked his third field goal of the day as the Bills (3-4) ended a modest two-game losing streak.
After tossing three touchdown passes - including two to Brandon Gibson - Tannehill threw four incompletions on the final drive as the Dolphins (3-3) came off their bye to lose their third straight game. Tight end Charles Clay added his third score in as many games.
Tannehill got off to a rocky start as defensive back Nickell Robey returned an interception 19 yards for a score on Miami's opening drive. After Fred Jackson's 3-yard touchdown run boosted Buffalo's lead to 14-0, Tannehill found Clay for a 7-yard TD.
Gibson trimmed the deficit to 17-14 after taking Tannehill's short throw on a crossing route before propelling his body toward the end zone for a 13-yard score with 21 seconds left in the half. Miami seized the lead with its only three third-down conversions of the day as Tannehill bought time with his feet before finding Gibson for a 4-yard score.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Gibson became the first Miami WR to record at least two touchdowns in a game since Marty Booker on Thanksgiving 2006. ... Tannehill entered the contest having been sacked an NFL-high 24 times and was taken down two more times. ... Miami native Thad Lewis completed 21-of-32 passes for 202 yards and an interception for the Bills.