Miami, FL – Dan Carpenter drilled a 43-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Miami Dolphins to a 24-21 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at Sun Life Stadium.
Ryan Tannehill threw for 253 yards with a touchdown and directed a 65-yard drive in seven plays over the final 1:32 for the winning score. Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas combined for 147 yards with a touchdown apiece on the ground for Miami (5-6), which scored 17 fourth-quarter points and halted a three-game slide.
Russell Wilson completed 21-of-27 passes for 224 yards with a pair of touchdowns for the Seahawks (6-5), who were coming off their bye and had a two-game win streak stopped. Seattle fell to 1-5 on the road this season.
"We made too many mistakes and that's just not doing the job the right way," Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said. "I gave them a bunch of time off and maybe we're too young to do that, I don't know."
Wilson had the Seahawks at the Miami 40 and threatening for a go-ahead score with less than two minutes to play, but a screen pass lost six yards and a sack pushed Seattle back to force a punt.
The Dolphins took over at their own 10 with just 92 seconds left and Tannehill quickly went to work. He threw a 19-yard pass to Davone Bess, scrambled for 15 yards and hit Bess again for 25 yards to the Seattle 36 with 46 seconds to play.
"It was a team effort, the line gave me time to see down field and make the throw," said Tannehill. "Davone got open a couple times and everyone just did their job. That's the thing you come to find out, if everyone does their job and does it well you're going to execute."
After fullback Charles Clay caught a pass for seven yards, Thomas ran up the middle for four yards and the Dolphins called their final timeout with four seconds left before Carpenter calmly split the uprights.
Tannehill completed 18-of-26 passes Sunday, with Bess catching seven balls for 129 yards. The Miami rushing game returned as Bush finished with 87 yards on 14 carries and Thomas added 60 on nine attempts. The Dolphins finished with 189 yards on the ground -- nine fewer than the team compiled in the past three games combined.
Neither team seriously threatened in the first quarter, although the Seahawks elected to punt after a Bobby Wagner interception gave them possession at the Miami 35 and they failed to pick up a yard.
The Dolphins scored first when Bush ran 21 yards to cap a 94-yard drive late in the first half, but the Seahawks immediately answered with an 80-yard march and tied the game just 29 seconds before the intermission on a 3-yard TD strike from Wilson to Anthony McCoy.
Seattle took its first possession of the second half 80 yards in 12 plays for another score. Wilson finished the eight-minute series with a 4-yard scoring toss to Michael Robinson.
The Dolphins tied it on a 3-yard TD run by Thomas with 8:08 left in the fourth, but only after a costly roughing the passer penalty negated a Wagner interception in the end zone.
Seattle immediately went back in front when Leon Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, but the Dolphins didn't flinch and drove 80 yards for the tying score. Bush ran for 22 yards on the first play and Thomas hauled in an 18-yard pass to convert 3rd-and-7 before Tannehill hit Clay in stride for a 29-yard touchdown with 5:13 to play in regulation.
Game Notes
Seattle has been perfect in five home games this season, including wins over AFC East opponents New England and the New York Jets ... Washington notched his eighth career kickoff return for a touchdown, tying an NFL record held by Josh Cribbs ... Seattle's Marshawn Lynch was held to just 46 yards on 19 carries ... Clay caught six passes for 84 yards ... The Dolphins outgained the Seahawks, 435-312 ... Seattle committed 10 penalties for 59 yards ... The Dolphins have won five of the last six meetings and improved to 10-4 all-time against the Seahawks ... The game was briefly delayed late in the third quarter when the sprinklers went on ... Miami hosts New England next Sunday, while Seattle visits Chicago.