Dolphins Get Their Signature Win Plus a Playoff Berth

The Miami Dolphins showed they could defeat a quality team when they handled the Dallas Cowboys at Hard Rock Stadium

The Miami Dolphins can stop hearing about not beating a team with a winning record this season, but the biggest thing they accomplished Sunday was clinching a playoff berth for the second consecutive year.

With their 22-20 victory against the Dallas Cowboys at Hard Rock Stadium, the Dolphins made it back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since they had five in a row from 1997-2001.

Clinching with two weeks left in the regular season makes it the earliest the Dolphins have secured their spot in the playoffs since 1994. Their previous nine playoff appearances weren't clinched until the last or next-to-last week of the regular season.

While the offense and the defense performed well, the star of the day for the Dolphins was kicker Jason Sanders, who made five field goals, including the game-winning 29-yarder on the last play of the game.

The kick capped a 73-yard drive that began with a 6-yard completion to De'Von Achane with a facemask penalty tacked on to move the ball from the Miami 25 to the 46. The longest play of the drive was a 10-yard completion to Tyreek Hill on a bubble screen to convert a third-and-3 and allow the Dolphins to bleed the clock.

The game-winning drive came after Dallas took a 20-19 lead with 3:27 left on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Brandin Cooks after the drive was kept alive by DPI penalties on both Xavien Howard and DeShon Elliott on fourth down.

Three of Sanders' field goals were from beyond 50 yards, becoming the first kicker in team history to do that in one game. His 57-yard kick to open the scoring in the first quarter was the longest of his career.

The Dolphins defense got off to a shaky start, but rebounded with a solid effort until the drive that gave Dallas the lead.

The Cowboys rushed for 97, but it took them 25 carries to get there, an average of less than 4 yards per attempt.

The Dolphins got four sacks — 1.5 each for Andrew Van Ginkel and Bradley Chubb, and one by Zach Sieler.

Miami got the only turnover of the game, and it was a big one, as safety Brandon Jones — in the starting lineup with Jevon Holland missing a fourth consecutive game with knee injuries — recovered a fumble at the Miami 2-yard line following a botched exchange between Dak Prescott and fullback Hunter Luepke.

The Dolphins moved the ball very well but kept Dallas in the game because of an inability to finish off drives.

The only touchdown came on a 4-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa to running back Raheem Mostert.

Tyreek Hill made his return to the lineup after missing the Jets game in Week 15 with an ankle injury and led the team with seven catches for 84 yards, while tight end Durham Smythe had a season-high five catches.

Jaylen Waddle left the game in the second half with a shin injury, but not before he had a 50-yard reception on a beautiful deep throw by Tua on the Dolphins' first drive.

Mostert also failed to finish the game because of a lower-leg injury, but not before he crossed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his NFL career.

The Dolphins also lost wide receiver Robbie Chosen when he was evaluated for a concussion after taking a hit at the end of a 19-yard reception.

The victory reduced the Dolphins' magic number to clinch the AFC East title to one, meaning all they need to clinch is a victory at Baltimore next week or against Buffalo in Week 18, or a Buffalo loss against New England next week.