04:10 Sun 12-13-09 | by Andy Kent
JACKSONVILLE – On a day when second-year quarterback Chad Henne set a Dolphins record for consecutive completions, it was Miami's defense that came up big by stifling Jacksonville’s dangerous running back, Maurice Jones-Drew, and constantly frustrating the entire Jaguars offense in a crucial 14-10 victory on the road.
Miami forced seven three-and-outs and pressured quarterback David Garrard all afternoon, giving up one big pass play of 63 yards in the third quarter, to keep the playoff hopes alive at 7-6. Randy Starks put an exclamation point on the victory by mauling Garrard on a 4th-and-3 keeper with less than two minutes to play. Jones-Drew finished with just 59 rushing yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.
"I thought our defense just did a good job at the right time," said Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano, whose teams are now 6-0 in the month of December. "I think one of the first things was being able to keep Jones-Drew from getting into his rhythm a little bit, and first down; I mentioned that during the week. This team's done such a good job, Jacksonville, on first down and they love living in that second-and-short range to convert their third downs, and I thought our defense did a pretty nice job of keeping them in some longer yardage situations."
Meanwhile, The Dolphins' offense converted 9-of-14 third downs and Henne finished 21-of-29 for 220 yards, including a streak of 17 straight completions that set a single-game record tied the overall record set by Chad Pennington over two games last year. He also scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 1-yard keeper in the second quarter that stretched the lead to 14-0. Ricky Williams carried the ball 28 times for 108 yards and a touchdown, marking the fourth time in the last five games he has surpassed 100 yards.
Miami has now taken care of one of the teams it is fighting for a playoff berth and heads to Nashville next week to take on the Tennessee Titans.
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