Ronnie Brown rushed for a touchdown and Brandon Marshall reeled in eight receptions in his debut with his new team as the visiting Miami Dolphins recorded a 15-10 triumph over the Buffalo Bills in the season opener on Sunday.
Sidelined for nearly half of last season with a Lisfranc fracture in his right foot, Brown picked up where he left off for the Dolphins (1-0). The former first-round pick carried the ball 13 times for 65 yards and rushed up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Chad Henne fared well as he began his first season as the team's starter. Henne completed 21-of-34 passes for 182 yards.
Henne found a familiar target in Marshall, who was acquired from the Denver Broncos for a pair of second-round draft picks in the offseason. The mercurial wideout accounted for 53 of Henne's passing yards.
The Dolphins' defense held firm in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, including forcing a safety to cap the scoring.
Pro Bowl kicker Dan Carpenter kicked field goals of 32 and 43 yards for Miami.
Trent Edwards struggled mightily for the Bills (0-1). The former Stanford star completed 18-of-34 passes for just 139 yards - but he did find Roscoe Parrish for a 31-yard touchdown with 5:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Miami | Buffalo | |
Ronnie Brown | Player | Fred Jackson |
13 | Attempts | 4 |
65 | Yards | 19 |
5.0 | Avg Yards | 4.8 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
17 | Long | 9 |
Miami | Buffalo | |
Brandon Marshall | Player | Steve Johnson |
8 | Receptions | 3 |
53 | Yards | 40 |
6.6 | Avg Yards | 13.3 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
13 | Long | 19 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Miami | 296 | 132 | 164 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 |
Buffalo | 166 | 50 | 116 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 |