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Inside The Numbers: Dolphins 31, Bears 28

CHI_Numbers

The Dolphins recorded a wild 31-28 overtime victory against the Chicago Bears on Sunday when quarterback **Brock Osweiler** made his first regular season start for the team.

Osweiler became the first QB to make his first start for the Dolphins after the season opener since 2011 when Matt Moore started in place of Chad Henne in a Week 6 game against the New York Jets.

Osweiler became the 33rd quarterback to start a game for the Dolphins, a list that began with Dick Wood in 1966. The others, in chronological order, are George Wilson, John Stofa, Rick Norton, Bob Griese, George Mira, Earl Morrall, Don Strock, David Woodley, Dan Marino, Scott Mitchell, Steve DeBerg, Bernie Kosar, Craig Erickson, Damon Huard, Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, A.J. Feeley, Sage Rosenfels, Gus Frerotte, Daunte Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green, John Beck, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen, Matt Moore, Ryan Tannehill and Jay Cutler.

The Dolphins are 14-19 in games featuring a quarterback making his first start for the organization, but are on a two-game winning streak after Cutler started in the 19-17 victory against the Chargers in the 2017 opener.

Other quarterbacks to win in their first start with the Dolphins were Stofa (1967), Mira (1971), Morrall (1972), Strock (1975), Woodley (1980), Mitchell (1993), DeBerg (1993), Huard (1999), Fiedler (2000), Griese (2003), Frerotte (2005) and Henne (2009).

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Osweiler's 380 passing yards against the Bears represented the highest total for a QB in his first start with the Dolphins, topping the 368 yards by Kosar in 1995 a 33-30 loss against the New Orleans Saints.

Stofa (307) and Marino (322) also had 300-yard passing performances in their first Dolphins starts.

The game against Chicago marked the seventh time the Dolphins reached the 30-point mark with a QB making his first start with the team. There was a 31-21 victory against Buffalo with Strock in 1975, a 38-35 overtime loss against Buffalo with Marino in 1983, a 41-27 victory against the Colts with Mitchell in 1993, the New Orleans game with Kosar in 1995, a 34-10 victory against Denver in the 2005 opener with Frerotte, and a 38-10 victory against Buffalo in 2011 with Henne.

Osweiler became the fifth quarterback making his first Dolphins start to throw for at least three touchdowns. The record in such games is four by Stofa in 1966. Marino, Kosar, Griese and Osweiler all had three touchdown passes.

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The Dolphins' 541 net yards against Chicago marked their highest output since Oct. 23, 1988 when they set a franchise record with 584 yards against the New York Jets.

**Albert Wilson’s** 150 receiving yards on five catches in the fourth quarter represented the third-highest fourth-quarter total in the NFL since 1991. The only two higher were the 159 yards for Tennessee's Kenny Britt on Oct. 24, 2010 and the 158 by Cleveland's Josh Gordon on Nov. 24, 2013.

The previous high mark for receiving yards by a Dolphins player since 1991 was 132 yards by Chris Chambers against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 4, 2005.

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With his 75-yard touchdown against Chicago, Wilson became the first Dolphins player to have two touchdown receptions of 70 yards or more in one season since 2004 when Chambers did it.

Wilson leads the NFL with a 14.9 average for yards after catch.

Wilson's 75-yard touchdown against Chicago features 71 yards after the catch, the second-most yards after catch in the NFL this season, according to NextGen Stats. The best? Wilson's 74-yard touchdown against Oakland, where Wilson got 78 yards after the catch.

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**Jason Sanders’** 47-yard game-winning field goal was the second-longest winning kick in overtime by an NFL rookie since 1974. The record is held by the Rams' Greg Zuerlein, who had a 54-yard game-winner in 2012.

With 101 rushing yards against Chicago, **Frank Gore** became the fifth player since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to have a 100-yard rushing game at 35 or older. He joined Emmitt Smith, Marcus Allen, John Riggins and MacArthur Lane.

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