TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Miami Avoids Perfectly Bad Season

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEVEN WINE, The Associated Press

Published: December 17, 2007

MIAMI - The Miami Dolphins acted as though they'd never won a game before.

When Greg Camarillo turned a short completion into a 64-yard touchdown in overtime, the bench quickly cleared, with players sprinting en masse to the end zone to mob their teammate.

The stunning play made the Dolphins a winner for the first time in more than a year, ensuring they'll avoid the first 0-16 season in NFL history. They beat the Ravens 22-16.

"I'm just glad no one is going to be talking about the winless season," Camarillo said after making just his fourth catch all season. "We got a win to get the monkey off our back."

Luckless all year, the Dolphins needed a big break to improve to 1-13. Baltimore's Matt Stover missed a 44-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime.

Three plays later, Camarillo broke across the middle on third down and had two steps on the secondary when he caught a pass from Cleo Lemon near midfield. Finding himself in the clear, Camarillo sprinted to the end zone for his first NFL touchdown.

"It was like watching one of those plays in slow motion, and it's the Super Bowl and the miraculous catch and all those things," teammate Vonnie Holliday said. "It was up there like that for us. Maybe not for everybody else, but for us it was up there with all those great catches - Dwight Clark and all those guys."

With the 1972 perfect-season Dolphins cheering them on, the woebegone 2007 Dolphins rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit and snapped a 16-game losing streak. The franchise's first victory since Dec. 10, 2006, allowed Miami to avoid matching the worst start in NFL history.
Cam Cameron finally earned his first victory as an NFL head coach, 11 months after taking the job.

"I've been looking forward to this day for quite some time," Cameron said.

Owner Wayne Huizenga, who confirmed Saturday he's discussing the sale of the franchise, wore a grin in the locker room after the victory.

"It was exciting for me," Huizenga said. "In my suite it was like winning the Super Bowl. It was up and down all game, and with the 17-0 team here and being honored at halftime, to pull it off in this game for those guys, that was special. It was very emotional for me."

Huizenga's Dolphins finally found a team they could beat in the Ravens (4-10), who lost their eighth game in a row, extending a franchise record.

"Eight losses in a row - I think everything stinks at this point, whether it's the Dolphins or whether we were playing Missouri," center Mike Flynn said.

"I talked to Coach Don Shula, and I told him we would win," Miami defensive end Jason Taylor said. "I'm glad we did. I can't lie to Coach Shula."

Bal-FG Stover 27, 9:28.

Second Quarter

Bal-FG Stover 39, 10:02.

Mia-FG Feely 23, 3:17.

Bal-Mason 17 pass from Boller (Stover kick), :47.

Third Quarter

Mia-Gado 7 run (Feely kick), 6:51.

Fourth Quarter

Mia-FG Feely 22, 12:06.

Mia-FG Feely 29, 1:56.

Bal-FG Stover 18, :08.

Overtime

Mia-Camarillo 64 pass from Lemon, 8:14.

A-70,287.

RUSHING-Baltimore, McGahee 29-104, M.Smith 5-39, Boller 1-11, Anderson 1-9. Miami, Gado 18-43, L.Booker 8-17, Lemon 3-12.

PASSING-Baltimore, Boller 10-19-1-159, T.Smith 5-11-0-49. Miami, Lemon 23-39-0-315.

RECEIVING-Baltimore, Darling 4-56, Mason 4-45, Clayton 2-28, Figurs 1-36, M.Smith 1-29, Sypniewski 1-8, Wilcox 1-4, McGahee 1-2. Miami, M.Booker 8-88, L.Booker 6-60, Camarillo 3-109, Hagan 3-38, Gado 2-6, Ginn 1-14.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Baltimore, Stover 50 (BK), 44 (WL).

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT