MIAMI, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Defensive end Jason Taylor recorded three sacks and forced two fumbles by Rich Gannon and cornerbacks Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison blanketed receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown Sunday as the Miami Dolphins defeated the Oakland Raiders, 23-17.
The Dolphins (9-5) moved into sole possession of first place in the AFC East, a half game ahead of New England (8-5), which plays at Tennessee on Monday night.
"Fantastic team win against a heck of a team. We rose up in every area," Dolphins Coach Dave Wannstedt said. "So many guys contributed in so many different areas."
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Raiders (9-5), who remained one game ahead of San Diego (8-6) in the AFC West.
Gannon set an NFL single-season record with 10 300-yard games, but completed just six passes for 44 yards in the first half while the Dolphins built a 17-6 lead.
Taylor had two of his sacks on Oakland's first possession and jarred the ball from Gannon twice, although the Raiders recovered both fumbles. Using his speed to race past left tackle Barry Sims, Taylor registered his third sack of the game in the fourth quarter.
The three-sack day increased Taylor's season total to 17.
"I was jacked up to play," Taylor said. "To come out early and have success early and get after the quarterback a little bit, it sets the tone for the team and yourself throughout the day.
"It puts a little something in the offensive lineman's mind and in Gannon's mind too. No quarterback likes to be hit and pushed around in the pocket."
Miami's Jay Fiedler threw for more yards than Gannon, 237-204, and each threw for one touchdown.
Miami's pass defense, ranked fourth in the NFL, held Rice and Brown to a combined six catches for 60 yards. Gannon threw his only touchdown pass -- a 20-yarder to Jerry Porter -- eight seconds into the fourth quarter.
"It says a lot. I don't think anybody's done it this year," Surtain said of holding the NFL's No. 1 offense to just one touchdown. "When you have a guy (Gannon) who is probably going to break the single-season passing record and two guys with 1,000 career catches on your team, to hold those guys to one touchdown is a phenomenal feeling."
Raiders Coach Bill Callahan gave kudos to the Miami defense.
"That is the toughest defense we've faced all year," Callahan said. "They did an outstanding job in their coverage and pass rush. Jason Taylor is a premier pass rusher in the this league. He gave us a lot of problems."
The game featured the only three players in NFL history with 1,000 career receptions -- Rice, Brown and Miami's Cris Carter -- but it was second-year player Chris Chambers of the Dolphins who starred with seven catches for a career-high 138 yards.
"I've been waiting for this game for the whole season," said Chambers, who entered with 41 catches for 494 yards. "I always knew I had it in me. I got the chances I don't usually get and I didn't want to be ignoring it."
It helped that the Raiders were without injured starting cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Tory James, giving Chambers the chance to operate against Terrance Shaw and third-year players Brandon Jennings and Clarence Love.
"Even with their corners out, they still pressed on the outside with man-to-man and we wanted to take advantage of that," Fiedler said.
Rice, the NFL's all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns, and Brown, third overall in catches, each had just three receptions for 30 yards. Carter, the second all-time leading receiver, had just three catches for 12 yards, but one of those was a one-handed, five-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
Fittingly, the Dolphins sealed the win when Surtain made a leaping, one-handed interception on a deep pass over the middle intended for Rice at the Miami 18 and returned it 22 yards with 1:43 left.
"I got a paw on it and they say if you get a hand on it, you should come down with the play and I did," Surtain said. "No matter how I caught it, it was time to make a play."
"He (Surtain) just made a great play, but I'm not making excuses," Rice said. "We had a bad day. We didn't make plays. We didn't play Raider football."
Ricky Williams, who was coming off back-to-back 200-yard rushing games for Miami, gained 101 yards on 27 carries for his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game.
