The Baltimore Ravens bounced back from their defeat to the Buffalo Bills with a narrow victory over the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium in the NFL.
Joe Flacco and his side started the game well with a good drive before the Miami defense held them to a field goal inside the red zone with some stout play, and kicker Justin Tucker duly knocked a 42 yarder through the posts.
The Dolphins responded as quarterback Ryan Tannehill moved the downfield but they had troubles of their own when space became tight near the end zone after a fumble from Ray Rice had put them in good field position.
A penalty on Ravens' corner Jimmy Smith moved them close to the end zone, but kicker Caleb Sturgis was called upon to knock a 37-yarder through the posts.
In the second quarter Tucker and Sturgis were called again to score the points in the low-scoring affair with field goals from 50 yards and 25 yards respectively as both offenses continued to struggle.
However, just before the break Tannehill and his team pieced together an excellent drive to move downfield into the red zone; this time they did score the touchdown as the quarterback found tight end Charles Clay on a back shoulder fade route to take the lead.
After the break, the Ravens responded and drew level when Ray Rice found the end zone on a two-yard run after a solid drive by Flacco put his team into the red zone. Minutes later field goal from Tucker from 25 yards edged John Harbaugh's side into the lead.
Rice finished another sublime drive from the Ravens to put his side 10 points in front as he went over the left-hand side of his line for a three-yard score.
However, the Dolphins responded with a 48-yard field goal from Sturgis and were level when Flacco attempted to go long on third and 22 play but was hit by Dion Jordan, and Reshad Jones picked the ball off and ran it back to the end zone for a 25-yard return.
Tucker put the Ravens back into the lead with just over a minute to go in the game. Miami responded and drove into field goal range looking to tie the game, but Sturgis missed his kick from 57 yards to condemn his side to defeat.
Simon Sinclair
