Dolphins at Eagles halftime report: Miami starts slowly, gives up another safety

The Miami Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles have reached the intermission, with the Eagles leading Miami 16-13. The Dolphins once again started slowly in this game, but a blocked punt has put them back into the game.

The Dolphins actually moved the ball fairly well on their opening drive, including a 36-yard pass from Ryan Tannehill to Lamar Miller down the sideline. The drive, however, stalled when Tannehill was sacked on third down and MIami had to settle for a field goal.

The Eagles, on the other hand, had no issues with stalled drives, immediately moving the ball with a 60-yard pass from Sam Bradford to Brent Celek on first down. Two DeMarco Murray runs were then followed by a Bradford touchdown pass to Josh Huff. Philadelphia took the lead 7-3 on the drive.

Miami then committed their weekly safety on the first play of their second possession. After Damien Williams started to take the ball out of the endzone on the kickoff, then tried to stop, only to awkwardly slide and injury himself, giving Miami the ball just on the field side of the goal line, Tannehill dropped back to pass, only to be blindside hit on the blitz, and fumble the ball out the back of the endzone.

The safety marked the third straight week Miami has allowed a safety, the first time that has happened since 1980.

The Eagles then immediately took their next possession down the field for another touchdown. Bradford utilized multiple targets on the drive, including Celek, Jordan Matthews, and Nelson Agholor. Murray and Ryan Mathews also saw carries on the drive, with Mathews punching the ball into the endzone on a one-yard run.

After a Miami punt, the Eagles again looked like they would drive all over Miami's defense, highlighted by a 40-yard pass from Bradford to Celek. However, Ndamukong Suh suddenly took charge and stalled the Eagle's drive. An attempted 32-yard field goal from Caleb Sturgis went wide and the Eagles came away with no points.

The Dolphins then used their possession to put themselves back in position to score points. Led by runs from rookie Jay Ajayi of 20-yards and 24-yards, the Dolphins would move down to the Philadelphia four-yard line before having to settle for a field goal.

Philadelphia would only run four plays on their next drive before having to line up for a punt. Miami linebacker Zach Vigil blocked the kick, giving Miami the ball at the Eagles' 12-yard line. Two players later, Ryan Tannehill would find Lamar Miller on the 12-yard touchdown pass, brining Miami to within three at 16-13.

The teams then traded two pairs of punts before the end of the half. Philadelphia leads 16-13 at the half, and then get the ball to start the second 30-minute period.