ATLANTA _ Something magical happened in Atlanta on Sunday, interrupting what looked like a Dolphins drubbing and sending the Dolphins to their most stunning win in recent memory.
Down 17-0 at halftime, the Dolphins suddenly showed a pulse, erasing a large deficit and upsetting the heavily-favored Atlanta Falcons, 20-17, with a shocking 20-0 second half blitz that nobody could have seen coming after a dreadful first half.
Jay Cutler rallied Miami to within 17-14 with third-quarter touchdown passes to Kenny Stills and Jarvis Landry.
Miami tied with on Cody Parkey's 49-yard field goal with less than nine minutes left, then went ahead on Parkey's 38 yard field goal with 2:30 left.
Miami (3-2) survived a final Falcons drive when Reshad Jones intercepted Matt Ryan's pass off a Cordrea Tankersley deflection at the Dolphins' 6 yard line and 39 seconds left.
The Dolphins, who had been the first team in four years to score as few as three offensive touchdowns in their first four games, on Sunday became the first team since the 2004 Brown to fail to score an offensive touchdown in their first five games.
But inexplicably, the Dolphins suddenly came alive in the third quarter.
After receiving the second half kickoff, the Dolphins marched 75 yards in 15 plays, capped by Cutler maneuvering deftly out of the pocket and finding Stills in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown, pulling the Dolphins within 17-7.
After a Falcons three and out and a poor punt, the Dolphins gained possession on their own 49 and were greatly aided by two Falcons penalties: a 26-yard pass interference penalty on a deep ball to Jakeem Grant (who was double covered) and a late hit on Cutler (negating what would have been Deion Jones' second interception).
Given new life, Cutler found Landry for a seven-yard touchdown. And suddenly it was 17-14 Atlanta.
The Dolphins defense then stopped Atlanta on the next possession, thanks in part to a penalty and a Cam Wake sack.
And then the Falcons had a bad snap on the punt, and Michael Thomas dropped punter Matt Bosher, giving Miami the ball at its own 48 with nearly 12 minutes left.
On Miami's ensuing drive, the Dolphins converted a 4th and 2 _ on a Cutler nine-yard pass to Landry _ and Parkey then nailed a long field goal to tie the game with 8:34 left.
The Dolphins then held again defensively, with William Hayes limiting a Tevin Coleman run to two yards, then dropping him on another run for a loss of eight. Matt Ryan, pressured, threw errantly on 3rd and 16, and suddenly, Miami had the ball with seven minutes left and a chance to go ahead.
Then Ajayi ripped off consecutive runs of 18 yards. And on a 3rd and 9, Cutler hitting Landry, who pushed through Falcons defenders for a first down.
The drive stalled, with Cutler's third and 9 pass to Julius Thomas knocked away, but Parkey's field goal put Miami ahead 20-17 with 2:30 to go.
The Falcons got the ball on their own 12 and moved to the 40 on catches by Taylor Gabriel and Julio Jones.
But Devonta Freeman dropped a screen, and Taylor Gabriel was met by Kiko Alonso and couldn't catch a pass, setting up a 3rd and 10.
But a 22-completion to Justin Hardy on a 3rd and 10 saved the drive, and an Austin Hooper catch on 3rd and 2 took the ball to Miami's 26. But Reshad Jones' interception ended it.
Ajayi seized on holes that weren't there for much of the past four games. He ran 11 times for 71 yards in the first half and finished with 25 carries for 131 yards.
But the passing game remained comatose in the first half, doomed by drops and Cutler's lack of precision on several throws.
Landry and Ajayi each dropped two passes that were catchable, and Cutler threw a horrible pass that was intercepted by Deion Jones at the Dolphins 11 late in the first half.
Cutler, whose 74.8 passer rating entering the game was third-worst among 32 qualifying quarterbacks, went to halftime with a 39 passing and 64 yards passing.
But he was very sharp in the second half and finished 19-32 for 151 yards and a 79 rating. He was victimized by five drops, including three by Landry.
The Dolphins, at least in the first half, continued their penchant for making dumb mistakes at the most inauspicious times.
Miami's third drive into Atlanta territory was disrupted by right tackle Ja'Wuan James' late hit on Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant after a play was over. That created a 3rd and 18, a series that ended with Dontari Poe knocking down a Cutler pass on 4th and 3 from the Falcons 49.
The next Dolphins possession, Miami's fourth and final one of the first half, ended with the ugly Cutler interception on a pass intended for Leonte Carroo.
Carroo started in the absence of DeVante Parker, who missed the game with a sprained ankle.
And Miami played the second half without center Mike Pouncey, who showed concussion-like symptoms. Jake Brendel replaced him.
Ryan's 40 yard TD pass to Marvin Hall, badly beating Xavien Howard, put Atlanta up 10-0 in the first quarter.
The lead grew to 17-0 in the second quarter on Coleman's six-yard TD run, which was set up by Freeman's 44-yard run. Freeman had just four carries for four yards before he escaped a tackle from Wake.
But then everything changed.
