MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) – De’Von Achane rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, and the Miami Dolphins won their third straight game by holding off the New Orleans Saints 21-17 on Sunday.
The Dolphins (5-7) trail first-place New England and Buffalo in the AFC East but kept their slim playoffs hopes alive, while the Saints (2-10) have lost six of seven.
The Saints trailed 16-0 at halftime, but they closed to 19-17 with 1:17 remaining on Tyler Shough’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele.
Shough was intercepted by Minkah Fitzpatrick on the 2-point try, and the Dolphins safety returned it to the opposite end zone to give Miami two points.
The rookie QB got another shot after the Saints recovered the ensuing onside kick by Charlie Smyth – a former Gaelic football player from Northern Ireland making his NFL regular-season debut. But Miami’s defense stopped Shough on fourth-and-1 at the Dolphins 36 to end the game.
Smyth connected on a 56-yard field goal to make it 19-11 with 6:08 remaining before Shough nearly completed the comeback. Despite a poor first half that featured an interception and a strip sack, Shough finished with 239 yards and two touchdowns.
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was not particularly sharp, completing 12 of 23 passes for 157 yards with an interception. He leads the NFL with 14 picks, which also matches his career high from 2023.
The Dolphins recorded 164 yards rushing behind Achane, who finished with 22 carries and topped 1,000 yards for the first time in his three-year career. Achane scored his 10th touchdown of the season on a 29-yard run on Miami’s opening drive.
The Saints, who entered the game tied for the second-worst scoring offense in the NFL, got nothing going offensively until the opening drive of the second half, when Shough capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive – more than the Saints’ 63 first-half yards – with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave. Shough then converted the 2-point try on a run to make it 16-8.
The Dolphins didn’t respond until early in the fourth, when Tagovailoa, after nearly throwing a second interception, found Jaylen Waddle for a 22-yard pickup that set up Riley Patterson’s 33-yard kick – his fourth of the day.
Saints: S Justin Reid left with a knee injury in the first half.
Dolphins: FB Alec Ingold left in the second quarter with a stinger.
Saints: At Tampa Bay next Sunday.
Dolphins: At New York Jets next Sunday.
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