LOS ANGELES — Midway through a season of heartbreaking losses, major injuries and maddeningly inconsistent play, the Miami Dolphins mostly put it all together on Monday night.
While their preseason Super Bowl aspirations are still in grave danger of slipping away, the Dolphins' gritty 23-15 victory over the Los Angeles Rams demonstrated to Miami's key players that they still might have a shot to make something out of this very trying year.
Tyreek Hill caught a short touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa in the third quarter to end the longest scoring drought of his career, and the Dolphins (3-6) kept Los Angeles out of the end zone while snapping their three-game losing streak with just their second victory in eight games.
''When we're playing our best ball, we can still beat anybody,'' defensive tackle Calais Campbell said. ''We've just got to continue to believe, continue to fight. And obviously the margin for error is zero. So it's one game, but we've got to keep it going. For us to go where we want to go, we've got to keep fighting and believe.''
Rookie receiver Malik Washington rushed 18 yards for his first NFL touchdown on the opening possession of a much-needed turnaround night for the beleaguered Dolphins (3-6), who had lost three games by a combined 10 points since their last victory Oct. 6.
Miami's solid defense stepped up impressively at SoFi Stadium, forcing two turnovers and keeping the Rams touchdown-less despite yielding 327 yards.
Tagovailoa passed for only 207 yards, but he made a series of big throws while the Dolphins converted six third downs, most of them at key moments. Tagovailoa was 9 of 12 for 137 yards on third downs alone.
''We've come a long way through however many losses in a row,'' Tagovailoa said. ''The resilience of this team with the external noise, everyone counting us out, hopefully this is an opportunity to not waste. Hopefully we can go on a run with this win and find our rhythm.''
