Brown directs upset again
Resurgent Dolphins knock off Chargers
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MIAMI - With the Miami Dolphins threatening to score, running back Ronnie Brown waited in the single wing for a direct snap, his grin visible through his facemask.
Winning can be fun, as the Dolphins are discovering.
Brown was still grinning moments later when he reached the end zone. And he wore a smile in the locker room after Miami pulled off its second successive upset, beating San Diego, 17-10.
"We can compete, and we're starting to realize that," Brown said.
The Dolphins won yesterday with ball control, a smothering defense, and a few offensive frills. Brown scored the decisive touchdown from the single-wing formation the Dolphins revived two weeks ago in their upset of the Patriots, and a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter preserved a 7-point lead.
With back-to-back wins for the first time since November 2006, the Dolphins are 2-2 in the Bill Parcells era. That's double their victory total for all of last season, when they went 1-15.
"We're proud of what we did, but it's just another step," defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "Hopefully we're going to raise some brows. Hopefully people will start to pay some attention."
Defending AFC West champion San Diego, which plays host to New England next Sunday night, fell to 2-3 for the second year in a row. The Chargers remained winless in six visits to Miami since a memorable overtime playoff victory in January 1982.
The single wing was less explosive than in the Dolphins' win at Foxborough, but Brown took a direct snap 11 times on running plays that netted 49 yards and Miami's second touchdown, a 5-yard run. Other formations were also effective - Chad Pennington threw for 228 yards, and Brown ran for 125.
"It's not about the formation," Brown said. "It's about execution."
Miami's defense allowed only three third-down conversions and held LaDainian Tomlinson to 35 yards on 12 carries. The Dolphins were nursing a 7-point lead when they stopped Tomlinson up the middle for no gain on fourth-and-goal at the 1 in the first minute of the final period.
"It was one of our favorite plays down there, and we have been successful in doing it," Tomlinson said. "They get paid, too, and they did a good job of snuffing out the play."
Said Holliday: "They lined up as we expected, and they ran where we expected."
The Chargers came into the game leading the NFL with a scoring average of 34.5 points per game, but they had a hard time getting the ball away from the Dolphins, who kept it nearly 37 minutes. After building a 14-point lead, the Dolphins didn't score in the second half, but they had two long drives, including a 60-yard march that ran out the final 5:55.
"We've been down this road and found a way to win these games in the second half," San Diego coach Norv Turner said. "But we weren't able to get it done today. They did a great job on third down keeping us off the field."
