Late errors cost Miami 24-21 ot loss to Arizona

Quarterback Kevin Kolb gets away from defensive end Cameron Wake in the third quarter of the game with the Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins at University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix on September 30,2012.

Glendale, Arizona. September 30. Ryan Tannehill was poised in the pocket, threw tight spirals into impossibly-tight holes. Brian Hartline made a beeline for the end zone, counting an 80-yard touchdown among his team-record receiving yards.

The defense hounded Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb all day, sacking him eight times and picking off two of his passes.

All that and the Miami Dolphins still couldn’t find a way to be the scrappy Arizona Cardinals.

Plagued by inopportune mistakes and unable to stop Arizona for most of the second half, Miami lost its second straight overtime game when Jay Feely kicked a 46-yard field goal 6:31 in to give the cardiac Cardinals a 24-21 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday.

“I am kind of speechless. I really don’t know what to say,” said Hartline, who had 12 catches for 253 yards. “That hurts; back to back games really hurt. Losing isn’t fun but there are game where you just get beat. I don’t feel bad saying it: I don’t feel we got beat.”

The Dolphins (1-3) certainly had plenty of chances to pull away or pull it out.

Chasing Kolb all over the field, Miami led 13-0 at halftime, only to let the Cardinals creep back in it.

The Dolphins had a big play go against them when Patrick Peterson returned a fumble by Legedu Naanee 61 yards to their 3, but responded with two of their own on consecutive plays: Sean Smith’s second interception, in the end zone, and Hartline’s 80-yard score on a broken coverage by Arizona. With the 2-point conversion, that put the Dolphins up 21-14.

They just couldn’t finish it off.

With the ball near midfield, Tannehill fumbled when he was drilled by Daryl Washington and Cardinals defensive end Vonnie Holiday recovered.

Miami’s defense forced Arizona (4-0) into a third-and-18 after a pair of sacks, but allowed the Cardinals to complete a 16-yard pass and convert on fourth-and-2. The Dolphins appeared to have the Cardinals in trouble later in the drive, only to allow Andre Roberts to break free for his second touchdown, a 15-yarder on fourth-and-10 that tied the game at 21-all with 22 seconds left.

Miami held Arizona on its first overtime drive, but gave it back when Tannehill was hit by Arizona linebacker Paris Lenon and Kerry Rhodes nabbed his wobbly pass for an interception at the Cardinals’ 47-yard line. The Dolphins then allowed Kolb to complete a 10-yard pass to Early Doucet on a third-and-8 and Feely sent them to their second straight overtime loss – it was 23-20 to the New York Jets last week – when his 18th straight field goal sailed over the crossbar.

Tannehill finished 26 of 41 for 431 yards and a touchdown, but had two interceptions and one of Miami’s two fumbles.

“The fact of the matter is, we didn’t do enough to win the ball game and our opponents did,” Dolphins coach Joe Philbin said.

The Cardinals weren’t exactly sharp, giving up plenty of yards on defense, unable to protect Kolb or get any kind of running game going on offense.

What they do know how to do is win close games.

Arizona has played five overtime games out of their last 13, winning them all.

They did it this time behind some big plays on defense and some clutch throws by Kolb, improving to 4-0 for the first time since winning their first seven games in 1974.

“That’s how we do it,” said Roberts, who caught a 46-yard TD pass from Kolb in the fourth quarter to give Arizona a 14-13 lead. “I don’t know it is about us. We have to take it down to the last moment of the game, but we’re winning and that’s all that matters.”

It certainly wasn’t pretty.

Arizona had 68 yards and no points in the first half, booed off the field by some of the hometown fans.

With Beanie Wells and LaRod Stephens-Howling out, the Cardinals attempted 15 rushes, gaining 26 yards.

Kolb was harassed all day – Miami’s Cameron Wake had 4 1/2 sacks – and made some questionable throws, leading to two interceptions.

None of that mattered to the Cardinals when it counted.

The defense made two big plays to set up Arizona’s final two scores to overcome some glaring breakdowns that led to big plays for the Dolphins.

Kolb, in his third straight start since John Skelton sprained his ankle, shook off the big hits and bad throws, finishing 29 of 48 for 324 yards and three touchdowns.

NOTES: Miami’s previous franchise record for yards receiving in a game was 238 (on 15 catches) by Chris Chambers against Buffalo on Dec. 4, 2005. … Fitzgerald caught a pass for the 121st consecutive game, tying the franchise record held by Mel Gray. It’s second-longest active streak in NFL behind Tony Gonzalez (183). … Feely was called for unnecessary roughness on the second-half kickoff. … Wake increased his career sack total to 42 1/2. … Arizona DT Darnell Dockett (hamstring) missed a game for only the second time in his career. .. The win was the Cardinals’ 500th win as a franchise.