Chargers fall victim to resurgent Dolphins

Miami uses ball control to stymie Rivers, San Diego

MIAMI -- With the Miami Dolphins threatening to score, running back Ronnie Brown waited in the single wing for a direct snap, his grin visible through his face mask.

Winning can be fun, as the Dolphins are discovering.

Brown was still grinning moments later when he reached the end zone. And he wore a smile in the locker room after Miami pulled off its second successive upset by beating San Diego 17-10.

"We can compete, and we're starting to realize that," Brown said.

The Dolphins won Sunday with ball control, a smothering defense and a few offensive frills. Brown scored the decisive touchdown from the single-wing formation the Dolphins revived two weeks ago, and a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter preserved a seven-point lead.

With back-to-back wins for the first time since November 2006, the Dolphins are 2-2 in the Bill Parcells era. That's double their victory total for all of last season, when they went 1-15.

"We're proud of what we did, but it's just another step," former UNC defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "Hopefully we're going to raise some brows. Hopefully people will start to pay some attention."

Defending AFC West champion San Diego fell to 2-3 for the second year in a row. The Chargers remained winless in six visits to Miami since a memorable overtime playoff victory in January 1982.

The single wing was less explosive than in the Dolphins' win at New England, but running back Brown took a direct snap 11 times on running plays that netted 49 yards and Miami's second touchdown. Other formations were also effective -- Chad Pennington threw for 228 yards, and Brown ran for 125.

"It's not about the formation," Brown said. "It's about execution."

Miami's defense allowed only three third-down conversions and held LaDainian Tomlinson to 35 yards on 12 carries. The Dolphins were nursing a seven-point lead when they stopped Tomlinson up the middle for no gain on fourth-and-goal at the 1 in the first minute of the final period.

"They lined up as we expected, and they ran where we expected," Holliday said.

The Chargers came into the game leading the NFL with a scoring average of 34.5, but they had a hard time getting the ball away from the Dolphins, who kept it nearly 37 minutes.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers finished 13-of-28 for 159 yards, throwing a 17-yard scoring pass to Chris Chambers in the third quarter for San Diego's lone touchdown.