The Miami Dolphins kept themselves in the hunt for the playoffs Sunday with a 14-9 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers. The Dolphins used two first half TD passes from Chad Pennington to his TEs to build a lead and relied on their defense to seal the victory and boy did they ever.

For the 3rd straight game the Dolphins’ defense was relentless, displaying a bend but don’t break attitude to make their team’s 2 TDs hold up. The win was Miami’s 7th in their last 8 games and it kept them in a tie for 1st place in the AFC East with the New York Jets and New England Patriots.

Miami’s offense wasn’t particularly potent this week. The Dolphins were outgained 318 – 248yds while gaining only 11 first downs and converting only 1 third down all game, in comparison to 24 first downs and 8 third down conversions for San Fran. Chad Pennington connected on a 61yd TD pass to TE David Martin in the 1st qtr and on a 19yd TD pass to TE Joey Haynos in the 2nd qtr to provide all the offense Miami would need.

Miami’s defense on the other hand was red hot today and wasn’t going to allow San Francisco to steal this game from them. Slowly the 49ers chipped away at the Dolphins lead in the 2nd half and with 2:36 to go in the game San Fran had a 10 play drive going to try and steal the game. The defense would stand tall and stop the 49ers on 4th down deep in Miami territory to preserve the victory.

In allowing no TDs again this week, Miami has now gone 3 games without allowing an opponent to score a touchdown, the first such stretch the Dolphins have had since 1973. Miami’s offense sputtered today and was not particularly effective, but they did just enough and protected the ball, never turning it over. The Dolphins are on pace to set an NFL record for the fewest turnovers in a season.

With the win, Miami remains in a tie for 1st place in the AFC East with the New York Jets and New England Patriots. The Jets, playing at the same time, ran a fumble back for a TD late to survive their game with the Buffalo Bills, and at the moment New England is cruising against the Oakland Raiders, up 42-20 in the 3rd quarter. Miami’s destiny remains in its own hands, win out and you’re in the playoffs. Now it becomes important for Miami to focus on Kansas City next week and not look ahead to the Jets in the season finale.