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Doug Baldwin's late TD lifts Seattle Seahawks past Miami Dolphins

By Scott Johnson, The Sports Xchange
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin (89) catches the game winning touchdown against Miami Dolphins cornerback Bobby McCain (28) with 31seconds remaining in the game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington on September 11, 2016. Seahawks came from behind to beat the Dolphins 12-10. Photo by Jim Bryant/UPI
1 of 3 | Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin (89) catches the game winning touchdown against Miami Dolphins cornerback Bobby McCain (28) with 31seconds remaining in the game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington on September 11, 2016. Seahawks came from behind to beat the Dolphins 12-10. Photo by Jim Bryant/UPI | License Photo

SEATTLE -- Slow starts are nothing new to a Seattle Seahawks team that has stumbled to a 4-4 record in September and October over the past two seasons.

On Sunday, the Seahawks made sure that another slow start resulted in a fantastic finish.

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Russell Wilson hit receiver Doug Baldwin on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining as the Seattle Seahawks rallied for a 12-10 win over Miami, spoiling Dolphins head coach Adam Gase's debut.

"As long as there's some time on the clock, we believe we can make it happen," Wilson said, "and that's what we did today."

After the Dolphins (0-1) scored the go-ahead touchdown with just over four minutes remaining, Wilson engineered a 14-play, 75-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions. He connected with Baldwin in the left corner of the end zone on second-and-2, but kicker Steven Hauschka missed the extra point to give Miami a chance at the game-winning field goal.

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But the mistake-prone Dolphins' final drive resulted in an overthrown pass and a sack-and-fumble that saw the ball roll out of bounds before the clock ran out prior to the third-down snap.

"We had a chance," Gase said. "We took the lead and had a couple of opportunities to finish it on our own terms."

Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill had 108 of his 186 passing yards in the fourth quarter and gave the Dolphins their first lead with a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:08 left.

The Dolphins, who had lost two starting defensive linemen due to injury, got Seattle into a fourth-and-four situation with 2:08 remaining after star Ndamukong Suh batted down a Wilson pass at the line of scrimmage. Wilson rebounded to complete a 22-yard pass to Baldwin on fourth down, setting up the game-winning score. Earlier in the drive, Seattle running back Christine Michael broke off a seven-yard run on fourth-and-1.

"We just keep believing, keep fighting," Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner said after the comeback win. "There were a lot of times we could have given up, but we showed grit. We can keep building on this."

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Wilson completed 27 of 43 passes for 258 yards and the touchdown. Michael had a team-high 66 yards on 15 carries.

Tannehill completed 16 of 29 passes for 186 yards and was sacked four times. Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry caught seven passes for 86 yards in the loss.

The Dolphins took their first lead while scoring the first touchdown of the game on a 2-yard Tannehill keeper with 4:08 remaining in the game. Tannehill ran up the middle on a quarterback draw out of the pistol formation, diving into the end zone for a 10-6 lead.

The Seahawks responded with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in the game-winning touchdown.

"It doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish," Baldwin said.

Tannehill overthrew an open Kenny Stills to open the Dolphins' final drive, which started at the Miami 18-yard line, then Seattle defensive Cassius Marsh forced him to fumble the ball out of bounds on second down, with 12 seconds left on the clock. Because Tannehill fumbled the ball forward, the ball was moved back to the spot of the fumble and the clock started on the referee's whistle. The clock started, and Tannehill didn't get the snap off until after the 12 seconds had expired.

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Seattle (1-0) held the Dolphins to 222 total yards, 104 of which came in the fourth quarter.

"Our defense did a great job to put us in the position we were in," Gase said. "I was just irritated that, on the other side of the ball, we couldn't get anything going until late in the game."

Miami overcame a blocked field goal, a blatant drop that probably would have resulted in a first-quarter touchdown and a failed fourth-down attempt at the Seattle 21-yard line to stay within striking distance in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 6-3 early in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins put themselves in a great position with a fumble recovery at the Seattle 36-yard line. Miami converted two third downs before settling for a 27-yard field-goal attempt that ended up getting blocked by Marsh with 10:41 remaining.

The Seahawks emerged with a 6-3 lead after a mistake-filled first half that saw the Dolphins stay close despite only 63 total yards.

Miami probably should have been leading at the half, but Stills dropped a sure touchdown on the Dolphins' first offensive play of the second quarter. Stills took advantage of a communication breakdown in the Seattle secondary and was 10 yards past the closest Seahawks defender when Tannehill delivered a near-perfect throw that looked like it would result in a 71-yard touchdown - only to come up empty when Stills dropped the ball at the Seattle 15.

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The Dolphins also passed up an easy field goal in lieu of a fourth-and-inches run that came up short to end a drive late in the first quarter.

Both quarterbacks got banged up early in the second half but came out of it without any missed action or significant injury. Wilson turned his right ankle while trying to avoid Suh and limped through two plays before seeking assistance from team trainers when the Dolphins took possession of the ball. A few minutes later, Tannehill got drilled by two Seattle defenders at the end of a third-down play and was slow to get up.

NOTES: Four Dolphins players - RB Arian Foster, WR Kenny Stills, S Michael Thomas and LB Jelani Jenkins - were kneeling during the national anthem. ... Seahawks CB Jeremy Lane, who knelt for the national anthem a week earlier, was standing and locked in arms with teammates during the song Sunday. ... Seattle played without G Germain Ifedi, a rookie first-round pick who was expected to be a starter before suffering a high ankle sprain in practice last week. ... Another Seahawks rookie, RB C.J. Prosise, suffered a wrist injury in the second quarter and did not play after halftime. ... Miami played significant parts of the second half without starting defensive linemen Earl Mitchell (calf) and Mario Williams (concussion protocol). ... The Dolphins traveled 2,723 miles, the NFL's longest road trip in games played on American soil.

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