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A storm brought brief heavy rain to South Florida, but the Dolphins continue to pour it on the Texans in the first half. The rout is on as Miami has a 41-20 lead into the fourth quarter.
Miami scored at 10:53 of the first quarter on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to Rishard Matthews to take a 7-0 lead.
The Fins made it 14-0 on a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry from Tannehill at the 6:45 mark.
Tannehill then hit Landry again, this time on a 10-yard TD pass with 3:03 left in the first.
The second quarter wasn't much different than the first as Tannehill connected with Lamar Miller on a 54-yard TD pass just 50 seconds in.
On the Texans next offensive play, TE C.J. Fiedorowicz juggled a Brian Hoyer pass and the ball popped right into the hands of Dolphins defensive back Reshad Jones, who ran the ball in to make the score 35-0 in favor of Miami.
Then late in the second quarter, Miller ripped off an 85-yard rushing TD for a 41-0 lead.
At the half, Hoyer is 6-23 for 61 yards with an interception. The Texans so far have just 65 total yards of offense, compared to Miami's 392 yards.
The only good news of the first half was the first career sack for the Texans' Jadeveon Clowney.
The Texans scored their first points with 8:28 remaining in the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Hoyer to Arian Foster. Foster finished another Texans' drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 1:45 left in the third quarter.
The Texans closed the gap to 21 points in the fourth quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Hoyer to Nate Washington with 11:36 left in the fourth quarter to make it 41-20.
Mallett missed team flight
Houston Texans backup quarterback Ryan Mallett missed the team's charter flight to Miami on Saturday. He arrived in Miami on his own and remained the backup quarterback for Houston's game against the Dolphins.
It's unclear why Mallett missed the flight.
Currently the Texans have no other quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. QB Zac Dysert is on the practice squad and Tom Savage is on injured reserve (shoulder) and out for the season.
Earlier this season, Mallett was late for practice just days after learning Bryan Hoyer had won the starting quarterback job and Mallett would serve as his backup. An excerpt of Mallett's meeting with general manager Rick Smith just after that had happened was shown on an episode of HBO's "Hard Knocks."
"I didn't get up. I'm not trying to make excuses to you, to Bill, to anybody. You don't gotta worry about that no more," Mallett said at the time.
"That's a strong statement there. We need that consistency. We have to know we can count on you," Smith said.
PREVIEW
HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Dolphins (2-3) barely missed the playoffs the past two years, largely because they lost four games in Miami each season.
Now they're again in a hole at home, thanks to a 41-14 loss to Buffalo on Sept. 27. The rout was especially embarrassing because it was the first game at Sun Life since the start of a two-year renovation that will cost more than $425 million.
"It's time for us to really christen that stadium," receiver Jarvis Landry said. "With all the renovations going on and having one home game in six weeks, it's good to be back home. We've got to make plays early, and I think we can take this one."
The Texans (2-4) earned their first road victory last week at Jacksonville. They're trying to become the first NFL team to win back-to-back games in Florida as the visitors since they did it in 2011 with victories at Tampa Bay and Jacksonville, according to STATS.
LOPSIDED SERIES: The Texans are the only team Miami has never beaten. Houston is 7-0 against the Dolphins, with the most recent victory in 2012, and 3-0 in Miami.
The first four games, from 2003 to 2008, were decided by a field goal or less.
Are the Dolphins due against Houston?
"This franchise is due, period," said defensive end Cameron Wake, who has lost to Houston three times in seven years with Miami. "I don't think the Texans have an X on them. In general we've been underperforming since I've been here."
LIGHTS-OUT WIDEOUT: Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins has a chance to break a franchise record with his fifth consecutive 100-yard game.
Hopkins leads the NFL with 726 yards receiving on 52 catches. That includes a highlight-reel reception where he trapped the ball with one hand against the side of his helmet last week.
When reporters asked if he was amazed by his statistics, Hopkins said no.
"Our record is 2-4, so there's nothing really to be too amazed about," he said. "I guess I'm doing historical stuff right now. I guess you guys should be amazed."
WAKEUP: A four-game sack drought by Wake to start the season fueled speculation the 33-year-old defensive end was in decline. The Dolphins' four-time Pro Bowler silenced that talk with four sacks and two forced fumbles in the first half last week.
"Cam Wake is back, not that he was ever gone," Campbell said. "For any of the doubters out there that said that Cam Wake is slowing up or slowing down: I don't think so."
Houston's Brian Hoyer has been sacked only six times, third-fewest among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 100 passes.
OLD FRIENDS: At 39, Campbell is the league's youngest coach. He's perhaps the first NFL head coach to be a Metallica fan, and so young his roommate at Texas A&M, Shane Lechler, is still playing.
Lechler is the Texans' punter. His buddy from college offered long-distance barbs this week, reminiscing about a kick Lechler shanked nearly 20 years ago against Texas Tech.
"We don't need to talk about that punt," Lechler said. "It was like 8 yards, out of bounds."
Why did Campbell bring it up?
"Why wouldn't he?" Lechler said. "That's what friends are for, right?"
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