Dolphins take 19-6 halftime lead against Bucs

Aided by a controversial replay ruling, the Miami Dolphins scored 10 points in the final 90 seconds of the first half to take a 19-6 lead against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Miami scored on a 5-yard touchdwon pass from Chad Henne to tight end Kory Sperry and a 30-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter.

The landscape of a close game changed when the Dolphins were awarded possession after a replay overturned a call on the field of an incomplete pass to Bucs receiver Michael Clayton. After reviewing the play, officials called it a fumble forced by linebacker Charlie Anderson and recovered by end Jason Taylor at the Bucs 15-yard line.

Connor Barth's second long-range field goal pulled the Bucs to within 9-6, capping an 8-play, 37-yard drive with a 50-yard field goal with 2:36 left in the second quarter.

Barth drilled a 50-yarder with 2:36 left in the second quarter, capping an 8-play, 37-yard drive.

Barth, who once was released by the Dolphins, hit from 51 yards in the first quarter.

Dan Carpenter's 49-yard field goal extended the Dolphins' lead to 9-3 with 7:19 left in the second quarter.

Running back Ronnie Brown plunged in from the 1-yard line to give the Dolphins a 6-3 lead midway through the first quarter.

Bucs tackle Donald Penn blocked the extra point attempt.

The key play of the 77-yard scoring drive was a 45-yard run out of the wildcat formation on which Brown took the direct snap and reversed direction to his left to sprint into the Bucs secondary. He was pushed out of bounds by cornerback Aqib Talib at the Bucs 16-yard line.

Brown scored four plays later.

The wildcat formation had been largely unproductive for the Dolphins in their previous three games, averaging only 1.8 yards. But the "gimmick" had early success against the Bucs, whose run defense entered ranked 30th in the 32-team league.

Barth's booming, 51-yard field goal gave the Bucs an early 3-0 lead. The six-play, 21-yard drive was aided by a 15-yard face mask penalty against Dolphins linebacker Charlie Anderson that resulted in the only first down.

The Bucs benefitted from good field position on their opening drive, courtesy of a 36-yard kick return by Clifton Smith to the Tampa Bay 46-yard line.

Bucs defensive end Tim Crowder started at right defensive end for Stylez G. White, who did not travel with the team because of a shoulder injury. Crowder's only previous NFL start was in 2007, when the former second-round pick played for Denver.

Also, receiver Maurice Stovall started in place of Antonio Bryant, unable to play for the third time this season because of a lingering knee injury. Bryant, who had surgery in August to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, did not play last week against the Packers or in Week 2 at Buffalo.

Also inactive for Tampa Bay: receiver Yamon Figurs, cornerback Mike Mickens, fullback Chris Pressley, guard Shawn Murphy and tackle James Lee. Byron Leftwich is the inactive, emergency third quarterback.

For the Dolphins, veteran linebacker Joey Porter is out of the lineup, but not because of injury. Coach Tony Sparano chose not to play Porter.

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