The Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens, 22-16, in overtime Sunday afternoon at Dolphin Stadium. The win was the first of the season for Miami (1-13) and it helped the Dolphins avoid becoming the first 0-16 team in NFL history.

This game was ugly as advertised but it was intriguing enough to keep me interested throughout the game. If this was the only game on Sunday, I would have been forced to watch the whole game. Thank goodness for the NFL Ticket. 

Something had to give Sunday in South Florida as Baltimore (4-10) entered the game riding a franchise record seven game losing streak while Miami had lost 16 straight games, a franchise record also, dating back to 2006.

Miami took its first lead of the game with 1:56 left in the fourth quarter as Jay Feely nailed a 29-yard field goal to give the Dolphins the lead at 16-13. Feely’s go-ahead field goal came after a conservative third down call by Miami coach Cam Cameron, which should’ve come back to haunt them in the final seconds.

On the ensuing kickoff, Feely booted the ball out of bounds giving the Ravens the ball at their own 40-yard line.

Rookie Troy Smith, who entered the game midway through the fourth quarter after Kyle Boller was sidelined with a mild concussion, drove the Ravens 59 yards. Smith connected with wide receiver Devard Darling down to the Miami 1-yard line (actually you could’ve called it the 1-inch line).

The Dolphins, luckless all year long, would catch the first of two breaks from the Ravens as Baltimore coach Brian Billick had no balls to go for it on fourth down. Instead Billick decided to go for the field goal with 12 seconds remaining. Matt Stover’s 18-yard field goal tied the game and sent it into overtime.

What was Billick thinking? The Ravens had nothing to play for and a QB sneak would’ve almost certainly ended their franchise 7-game losing streak. Billick could’ve given his quarterback of the future, a big boost of confidence, by letting him score the game winning touchdown.

The players all wanted to go for the win but Billick decided to be “MACHO MAN”. Billick was seen yelling at his offense as they were ordered off the field in the closing seconds of regulation.

The Ravens won the coin flip and drove down 54 yards down to the Miami 26-yard line. The Dolphin faithful started headed for the exits. Stover was 5-for-5 all-time in his career in overtime attempts and the sixth was just 44-yards away.

The Dolphins got their second huge break from the Ravens as Stover shanked the game winning 44-yard field goal wide left.

Miami didn’t wait long to capitalize on Stover’s miss. Cleo Lemon connected with Greg Camarillo on 64-yard touchdown pass on the Dolphins third play from scrimmage in overtime, sending Dolphin Stadium into a wild frenzy.

The stunning play made the Dolphins a winner for the first time in more than a year and gave coach Cameron his first NFL victory as a head coach.

The scene in the endzone after Camarillo’s game winning touchdown looked more like a scene from a Cinderella story upset in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that an NFL team winning a game.

With the 1972 perfect-season Dolphins cheering them on, the current Miami team avoided matching the worst start in NFL history with their first victory since Dec. 10, 2006.

The Ravens, behind no-nuts Billick, are 0-4 lifetime at Dolphin Stadium.