LOS ANGELES (AP) — Midway through a season of heartbreaking losses, major injuries and maddeningly inconsistent play, the Miami Dolphins mostly put it all together on Monday night.
While their preseason Super Bowl aspirations are still in grave danger of slipping away, the Dolphins' gritty 23-15 victory over the Los Angeles Rams demonstrated to Miami's key players that they still might have a shot to make something out of this very trying year.
Tyreek Hill caught a short touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa in the third quarter to end the longest scoring drought of his career, and the Dolphins (3-6) kept Los Angeles out of the end zone while snapping their three-game losing streak with just their second victory in eight games.
“When we're playing our best ball, we can still beat anybody,” defensive tackle Calais Campbell said. “We've just got to continue to believe, continue to fight. And obviously the margin for error is zero. So it's one game, but we've got to keep it going. For us to go where we want to go, we've got to keep fighting and believe.”
Rookie receiver Malik Washington rushed 18 yards for his first NFL touchdown on the opening possession of a much-needed turnaround night for the beleaguered Dolphins (3-6), who had lost three games by a combined 10 points since their last victory Oct. 6.
Miami’s solid defense stepped up impressively at SoFi Stadium, forcing two turnovers and keeping the Rams touchdown-less despite yielding 327 yards.
Tagovailoa passed for only 207 yards, but he made a series of big throws while the Dolphins converted six third downs, most of them at key moments. Tagovailoa was 9 of 12 for 137 yards on third downs alone.
“We’ve come a long way through however many losses in a row,” Tagovailoa said. “The resilience of this team with the external noise, everyone counting us out, hopefully this is an opportunity to not waste. Hopefully we can go on a run with this win and find our rhythm.”
Hill had three receptions — including his first TD catch since the season opener — while playing through a wrist injury, and Jason Sanders kicked three field goals.
“This is the kind of game that can spark a run,” Campbell said. “But it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win the next one. ... The hard part is, how do you continue this? But like we said in the (pregame) meetings, to create a wildfire, all it takes is one spark. So we keep believing, keep fighting and make a run for it.”
The Rams’ run was stopped in its tracks.
Matthew Stafford passed for 293 yards and rookie Joshua Karty kicked five field goals for the Rams (4-5), whose three-game winning streak ended with a major offensive regression. Los Angeles failed to score a touchdown for only the eighth time in coach Sean McVay’s eight seasons, and it couldn't score an offensive touchdown for only the second time in four years when Stafford was in uniform.
“Defensively, I was pleased with the way we played,” McVay said. “Ultimately we weren’t able to capitalize on offense. There wasn’t any semblance of complementary football. ... There have been instances where we haven’t been consistent enough. Sloppy? Yeah. We have to be able to play better and be more consistent.”
After scoring 76 points in its three straight wins, Los Angeles failed to score a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 5, 2023, at Green Bay while Stafford was injured.
Puka Nacua had nine catches for 98 yards, and Cooper Kupp made seven receptions for 80 yards.
Los Angeles drove to the Miami 4 in the fourth quarter, but McVay settled for a fourth field goal that made it a one-score game with 6:31 to play.
Miami’s Odell Beckham Jr. then made a key catch for a first down in the stadium where he badly injured his knee while winning the Super Bowl with the Rams three seasons ago, and the Dolphins drove for Sanders’ 50-yard field goal with 2:38 left.
Tagovailoa threw his first interception since Sept. 12 to Christian Rozeboom in the second quarter, and the oft-injured QB then put a fright into his team by going low to tackle the linebacker with his upper body.
“I went up to that dude that intercepted me and asked him, ‘Bro, you couldn’t just like ran out of bounds or cut back?’" Tagovailoa said. "That was pretty bad tackling form, though. That was pretty terrible.”
Kyren Williams fumbled on Los Angeles' next play, but Rams rookie Jared Verse sacked Tagovailoa and recovered the fumble at the Miami 36 four plays later.
Miami’s win saved the state of Florida from what would have been an unprecedented 0-12 weekend by its NFL and college teams at the FBS and FCS levels.
It also meant that the Dolphins, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville didn’t combine to go 0-3 for a third consecutive week for what would have been the first time since Florida became a three-team NFL state in 1995.
Dolphins: CB Kendall Fuller went into the concussion protocol for the second time this year.
Rams: With Rob Havenstein (ankle) sidelined, RT Joe Noteboom (ankle) started in his first appearance since the season opener.
Dolphins: Host Las Vegas on Sunday.
Rams: At New England on Sunday.
___
AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
