The Dolphins beat the Broncos 70-20, scoring the most points by an NFL team in a game since 1966.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — De’Von Achane could hear the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium chanting “Three more points!” on the last trip from Miami. The Dolphins had the ball inside the Denver Broncos’ 30 with less than a minute to play, and they were three points away from breaking the NFL single-game scoring record.

Instead of sending his kicker in for a potentially record-breaking field goal, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel opted to take a knee and run out the clock.

“It was like chasing points and a record – that’s not what we came to this game for,” McDaniel said.

Either way, they’re almost there. The Dolphins scored the most points in a game by an NFL team since 1966, crushing the Broncos 70-20 on Sunday behind 203 rushing yards from rookie speedster Achane and Tua Tagovailoa. no-look shovel pass TD.

The Dolphins set a franchise record for scoring and finished two points short of the NFL regular season record – set in 1966 when Washington scored 72 points against the Giants. They are the fourth team in NFL history to score at least 70 points in a regular season or playoff game.

Many of Miami’s starters, including Tagovailoa and star receiver Tyreek Hill, were removed from the game early in the fourth quarter.

Achane caught a 10-yard pass from Tagovailoa – the quarterback’s fourth touchdown – in the fourth, and Jason Sanders converted the extra point that made the score 56-13 and broke Miami’s franchise record of 55 established against St. Louis on November 24. , 1977.

“Seventy points is crazy,” said Achane, who combined with veteran running back Raheem Mostert for eight touchdowns. “It’s like video game type stuff.”

Hill caught a 54-yard touchdown pass on Miami’s first drive en route to 157 yards receiving nine catches.

Miami scored touchdowns on eight of nine drives before Mike White replaced Tagovailoa on fourth down. Mostert had his second consecutive multi-touchdown game with three rushing touchdowns and one touchdown catch.

“Being able to put up 70 points, I think it’s going to make a lot of teams realize that we’re nothing to play with,” Mostert said. “We are that team, to put it bluntly.”

Tagovailoa found a wide-open hill on the Dolphins’ third play of the game for the duo’s fourth touchdown of the season. Hill had 9.7 yards of separation from the nearest Broncos defender when the pass arrived, according to NFL NextGen stats.

Tagovailoa, the NFL’s leading passer, looked to his left then threw a 4-yard pass to Achane, which gave Miami a 21-7 lead in the second half. Tagovailoa completed each of his first 17 pass attempts.

“I’ve never done that before in a game,” Tagovailoa said of his no-look shovel pass. “When I did it in practice, everyone was like, ‘Oh, that was really cool.’ You have to do that in the game, so that’s what I did.

Tagovailoa’s first miss came with 9:44 left in the third when he slightly knocked down Hill. He finished one shy of Miami’s franchise record, set by Ryan Tannehill in 2015 when he completed 18 consecutive passes over a two-game span.

Achane averaged 11.3 yards on 18 carries and had an electric 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth that capped Miami’s score at 70. He also had a physical 8-yard rushing touchdown in the first that made the score 14-0.

Denver’s defense, consisting of starting safety Justin Simmons (hip) and linebacker Frank Clark (hip), got a rare stop with 4:52 left in the first half when the Dolphins were unable to convert on fourth and 1 at their 34, but the Broncos launched the ensuing drive.

Russell Wilson started a season 0-3 for the first time in his career as Denver just couldn’t keep up with Miami’s scoring pace.

Wilson was 23 of 38 with 306 yards and an interception. He completed a 12-yard TD pass to Courtland Sutton on Denver’s second possession. It was the second touchdown catch of the season for Sutton, who led Denver with 91 yards on eight catches Sunday.

Sutton had two fumbles, both of which were cleared by Dolphins safety Jevon Holland. The first led to a 3-yard run by Mostert that made the score 35-10 just before halftime. The second resulted in a 19-yard TD catch from Mostert in the third. He finished with 82 yards rushing and 60 yards receiving.

Only one coach in Broncos history started worse than first-year coach Sean Payton at 0-3, and that was Miami defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who lost his first four games as Denver’s head coach in 2019.

Will Lutz had kicks of 31 and 25 yards for Denver, and rookie Marvin Mims Jr. returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score in the fourth.

Robbie Chosen, who was activated from the practice squad, caught a 68-yard TD pass from White.

NO DANDIMINATION, NO PROBLEM

Receiver Jaylen Waddle missed the first game of his career while in the concussion protocol after a helmet-to-helmet hit last week. Waddle topped 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons, but without him, Miami’s offense recorded a total of 726 offensive yards.

REACTION

What the Dolphins did was noticed around the league.

“I can’t wait to watch him,” Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff said after a win over Atlanta. “Amazing. I don’t know how they did that.

INJURIES

Broncos: LB Jesey Jewell, Denver’s leading tackler, left in the first half with a groin injury and did not return.

Dolphins: WR River Cracraft injured his shoulder in the second quarter and was ruled out. … Jaelan Philips left just before halftime with an oblique injury. … Williams left in the third quarter with a groin injury.

FOLLOWING

Broncos: at Chicago on October 1.

Dolphins: at Buffalo on October 1.