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Meltdown in Miami

(Sports Network) - The final score may not indicate it, but the Miami Dolphins were really in position to beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

The Dolphins were ahead 13-10 late in the third quarter, but three penalties completely changed the momentum and led to Dallas' go-ahead touchdown on the way to a 37-20 victory that spoiled Miami's home opener.

It all started on special teams.

After Miami had stopped Dallas' initial second-half series and the Dolphins were forced to punt following their second possession of the third quarter, a false start penalty provided the spark that soon ignited an out of control blaze.

Brandon Fields followed the penalty by driving a punt 53 yards and Patrick Crayton was stopped in his tracks, pinning Dallas at its own 16. But another penalty, this one for an illegal formation, forced the Dolphins to punt one more time.

Fields again boomed a punt 53 yards, but Crayton this time eluded the Miami coverage for a 49-yard return that set the Cowboys up at Dolphins' 30-yard line.

Still, the Dolphin defense had a chance to stop the Cowboys and allow only a potential tying field goal. But one more penalty, a pass interference call against Travis Daniels on a second-down incompletion, gave Dallas a first down at the Miami two. The Cowboys scored on the next play to take the lead.

It was all downhill from there.

"You've heard us talk about self-inflicted wounds, whatever you want to call them," Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said Sunday. "Usually, if you have to go back to cover a punt a second time it has its challenges. They got us. Again, those are the kinds of things that are correctable, and we'd better get them corrected."

The game spiraled out of control on the next two series when turnovers -- an interception and a fumbled snap -- led to a pair of Dallas field goals and a 10-point lead.

A three-and-out followed by another interception again gave the Cowboys great field position, and they took advantage with a touchdown that made the game 30-13 with just over four minutes to play.

Still another interception and a failed onsides kick in the closing minutes helped the Cowboys start six of their final seven possessions inside Miami territory.

"We're going to do everything we can to get these things corrected and continue to grow," Cameron added Sunday. "We're going to stick together."

GREEN GIVES IT AWAY

It appears that Cameron is going to stick with quarterback Trent Green through good times and bad this year. On Sunday against the Cowboys, especially in the second half, there was a lot of bad.

Green was intercepted three times in the second half and also lost a fumble on a snap. The four turnovers led directly to three Dallas scores -- a pair of field goals and a touchdown -- that put the game out of reach.

"You can't turn the football over. He knows that," Cameron said about Green. "He's our quarterback. He understands that. The one thing I know about him, he'll do everything he can to get that corrected."

Green threw a pair of touchdown passes, but completed only 23-of-40 attempts for 287 yards with a total of four interceptions for a paltry rating of 57.0. He was still in the game down by 17 points with 1:45 left on the clock.

Fans were probably hoping to see rookie John Beck for the first time in the regular season. But Cameron may have been thinking of the second-round pick's well-being. He would have been in a situation where the Cowboys would just pin their ears back and rush the passer -- not an ideal position for the team's quarterback of the future.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

The Miami defense wilted in the second half for the second straight week. Is it age, or was it the quick offensive turnovers that led to far too much time on the field?

"It's not always an ideal situation, but you've got to find a way to get off the field, force the team to punt the ball back to you or turn the ball over," said veteran defensive end Jason Taylor on Sunday. "That was the biggest thing -- they got turnovers today and we didn't. That's nothing against our offense. It is just we didn't do it, defensively, we didn't get the ball back to them."

The Cowboys had possession for more than 10 minutes in the fourth quarter, as the Dolphins had just 10 offensive plays in the stanza before starting their final series with 1:45 left on the clock. They ran seven plays on the drive that ended the game.

Miami surrendered 352 total yards on Sunday after being torched by Washington for 400 last week. The Cowboys ran for 166 yards -- 109 in the second half -- after the Redskins piled up 191 yards on the ground last Sunday.

"We are a better defense than we showed the last two weeks and to have it happen like it did today, we are a much better defense than that," said new linebacker Joey Porter. "It's kind of embarrassing. Every man is going to have to step up and look himself in the mirror and see how he can make himself better. Don't point fingers, just make yourself better."

Porter, by the way, had a mere two tackles.

NEWS & NOTES

Chris Chambers finished Sunday's game with nine catches for 109 yards, marking his 16th career 100-yard game. He also has 389 career receptions, surpassing Tony Nathan for fifth on the team's all-time list. O.J. McDuffie is next at 415.

Zach Thomas led the Dolphins with 10 tackles, recording his 38th double-digit tackle total in his last 49 regular-season games. Thomas also played in his 165th regular-season game as a Dolphin, surpassing Jim Jensen and Richmond Webb for sole possession of fifth on the all-time list.

The Dolphins hadn't surrendered as many as 37 points since December 5, 2004 in a 42-32 loss to Buffalo. The point total was the most ever by an opponent in a Miami home opener. The previous record was 35, by New England, in a 39-35 Dolphins victory in 1994.

Miami fell to 31-10-1 in home openers.

UP NEXT

Throw the records out the window when the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins get together, as they will Sunday in the Meadowlands. And for this week's game, both teams would love to throw their records out a window, or at least get a do-over to start the year.

The Jets are also 0-2, joining Miami and Buffalo at the bottom of the AFC East. Those three teams could be fighting to stay out of the division cellar all season, although the Dolphins appear to be the worst of the lot.

At least the Jets showed some fight in this past Sunday's loss at Baltimore, with backup quarterback Kellen Clemens nearly pulling off a fourth-quarter rally in a 20-13 setback. Whether it's Clemens or a gimpy Chad Pennington behind center this Sunday will be anyone's guess, as the clandestine Eric Mangini will give little indication if Pennington is ready to play on a bad ankle.

This is the first year both the Dolphins and Jets have begun the same season 0-2, but somebody will finally get a win -- probably -- and if recent history is any indication, it will be Gang Green.

The Jets swept last season's series, but both games were close, winning 20-17 at the Meadowlands in October before capturing a 13-10 triumph in Miami on Christmas Day. New York has won five of the last six meetings in the bitter rivalry and owns a record of 14-4 against the Dolphins over the past nine seasons. The all-time series now stands at 43-39-1 in favor of the Jets, but includes the Dolphins' AFC Championship Game triumph after the 1982 season.

Miami hasn't won in East Rutherford since a 21-10 victory on September 14, 2003. The Jets are 15-7 against the Dolphins at the Meadowlands.

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