Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Miami Dolphins with late field goal in preseason

MIAMI GARDENS, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Miami Dolphins 26-24, getting a late field goal in a preseason game Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Chandler Catanzaro connected on the 26-yard try with just 26 seconds remaining to give the Buccaneers the triumph, in which the stars played sparingly.

"It's always fun to win," said Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who completed 6-of-8 passes for 55 yards in the win. "Whether it's preseason or not. I thought it was great for Chandler to hit the kick and for Ryan [Griffin] to get the opportunity to drive everybody down the field and for some of the young receivers to step up and make plays."

Dolphins starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 4-of-6 passes for 32 yards in the loss. Jameis Winston completed 11-of-13 passes for 102 yards. Griffin completed 20-of-26 passes for 179 yards and a score for the Buccaneers, while Bryce Petty thew a touchdown in relief for the Dolphins.

"I think we got off to a good start," Tannehill said. "Obviously it wasn't perfect. We definitely have a lot of room for improvement, but to get on the field and move the ball down the field obviosly we didn't end up with points -- which is what you want to do -- but I thought for my first time hitting the field in a long time, it felt good to be back out there."

Peyton Barber put the Buccaneers on the board with a four-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders made a 29-yard field goal, making the score 6-3 with 3:52 remaining in the quarter.

Buccaneers rookie running back Ronald Jones Jr. scored on a two-yard touchdown run about five minutes into the second stanza. The Buccaneers added three more points on a Catanzaro 27-yard goal with 7:07 remaining in the quarter.

The Dolphins made the score 16-10 by getting a seven-yard touchdown run from Sinorise Perry with 2:53 remaining in the first half.

Miami made the game tighter at the beginning of the second half, getting a 23-yard field goal from Sanders after Jordan Lucas recovered a Buccaneers fumble inside the Tampa Bay 25-yard-line.

But Tampa Bay struck again in the third quarter when Griffin tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Alan Cross, making the score 23-13. Greg Joseph connected on another Dolphins field goal from 48 yards with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter to cut the deficit to seven points.

The Dolphins added another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a six-yard toss from Petty to Isaiah Ford. But Catanzaro connected for a 26-yard field goal with 26 remaining to put the Buccaneers ahead late.

"I liked the energy. I liked the focus that we had leading up to the game," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. "Before we even got out there, guys were wired in they were ready to go. Then when we got out there, there was a lot of good execution, there were some things we need to work on."

The Dolphins travel to North Carolina to face the Carolina Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Tampa Bay faces the Tennessee Titans at 8 p.m. Aug. 18 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.