Mistake-prone Miami loses 27-13 at 49ers
Sunday - 12/9/2012, 11:40pm ET
ANTONIO GONZALEZ
AP Sports Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Staring up at the sunny San Francisco sky, Marcus Thigpen peeked down at a pair of hard-charging defenders. By the time he looked back up, everything became blurry.
Same goes for the Miami Dolphins' season.
Thigpen's fumbled punt led to a 49ers touchdown that highlighted a series of mistakes in Miami's 27-13 loss Sunday at San Francisco. An ugly game that for so long seemed close ended the same way five of the last six have for the Dolphins: in defeat.
"I felt like I let the team down," Thigpen said.
That turned out to be a common phrase in the crammed quarters of Candlestick Park's visiting locker room.
Sean Smith was called for pass interference on a critical fourth-down play. Jonathan Freeny fielded a Miami punt about the 2-yard line before he walked on the goal line for a touchback. Even worse, first-year Dolphins coach Joe Philbin challenged the seemingly clear-cut call with Freeny's foot on the line -- and lost.
"We haven't mastered the concept of complementing one another," Philbin said. "When we go down and kick a field goal, we give up a touchdown. We score a touchdown, they get another one. We didn't get a stop. We get a stop on defense (and) we get some momentum, we fumble a punt."
That might sum up the Dolphins' demise this season.
Rookie Ryan Tannehill threw for 150 yards and a touchdown, and Reggie Bush ran for 65 yards on 14 carries against one of the league's most dominant defenses. Miami's makeshift offensive line only allowed two sacks -- both to Aldon Smith, extending his league lead to 19
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