The Oakland Raiders spoiled the Dolphins' return to Sunday Night Football.
Quarterback Jay Cutler returned to action and threw three touchdown passes, but it wasn't enough as the Dolphins suffered a 27-24 loss at Hard Rock Stadium in their first Sunday night appearance since 2010.
Marshawn Lynch rushed for two touchdowns and Derek Carr threw a 44-yard TD pass to Johnny Holton for the Raiders, who came in having lost five of their past six games.
Running back Damien Williams, wide receiver Jarvis Landry and tight end Julius Thomas had the touchdowns for the Dolphins, who concluded the first half of the regular season with a 4-4 record. Cody Parkey kicked a 49-yard field goal.
Kenyan Drake had a 42-yard run for the Dolphins' longest offensive play of the game.
Ndamukong Suh produced the defensive highlight when he jumped to knock the ball out of quarterback Derek Carr's hand as he was preparing to pass. Raiders tackle Marshall Newhouse recovered the fumble, but he lost the ball again when he was hit by linebacker Kiko Alonso and defensive end Charles Harris recovered for the Dolphins takeaway. Safety Reshad Jones had an interception on the final play before the two-minute warning.
The Dolphins were hurt by penalties and miscues, including a lost fumble by Drake and 11 penalties.
Oakland seemingly put the game away when Lynch scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run to make it a 27-16 score. The play immediately followed a defensive pass interference penalty on cornerback Xavien Howard and a completion accompanied by a personal foul penalty on Reshad Jones.
The Dolphins scored with 1:32 left to make it 27-24 after Drake ran it in for the two-point conversion, but the comeback attempt ended when Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper recovered the ensuing onside kick.
The Dolphins found themselves trailing 20-9 after Lynch's first touchdown run in the third quarter, but they answered that score with a 75-yard touchdown drive highlighted by Drake's 42-yard run and capped by Cutler's 6-yard TD pass to Landry.
Oakland tight end Jared Cook had a big first half, catching six passes for 113 yards. His 35-yard reception on the first offensive play of the game set up Tavecchio's first field goal, a 36-yarder.
The Dolphins took the lead in the second quarter with a 73-yard touchdown drive that featured a 19-yard completion to DeVante Parker on third-and-6 and ended with Cutler's 10-yard pass to Williams, where he bounced off cornerback Dexter McDonald at the 2-yard line, regained his balance and dove into the end zone.
After Parkey missed the extra point off the left upright, the Dolphins led 6-3.
The Dolphins looked to build on their touchdown when they called for an onside kick, which Parkey executed to perfection when he recovered the loose ball after it traveled 10 yards.
The Dolphins moved to a first-and-10 at the Oakland 24-yard line, but the drive ended when Drake lost a fumble.
Oakland then drove 81 yards, overcoming a first-and-25 in the process, to regain the lead.
The drive began with a 27-yard pass from Carr to Cook and ended with a 44-yard TD pass to Holton, who won a battle for the ball in the end zone against safety Reshad Jones.
The teams traded field goals in the final minutes of the first half, with Parkey hitting from 49 yards before Tavecchio hit a 53-yarder on the final play of the first half. Tavecchio's kick came after Carr thew a 16-yard pass to — who else? — Cook and the Raiders immediately called their final timeout with 1 second left.
Long-snapper John Denney appeared in his 200th NFL game, joining Dan Marino and Jason Taylor as the only players to appear in 200 games for the Dolphins.
