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MIAMI (Ticker) -- While the Miami Dolphins continue to search for a star running back, the Buffalo Bills shut down their star quarterback. The Bills stuffed the ground game and forced Dan Marino into three key turnovers in a 23-18 victory that knocked the Dolphins from the unbeaten ranks. Gabe Northern returned a fumble for a touchdown and John Holecek had a pair of big defensive plays for the Bills (3-1), who also got three field goals from Steve Christie and timely passing and running from Doug Flutie. Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson insists on developing a consistent running game to complement the aging Marino, the most prolific passer in NFL history. In the first three games, he has rotated Karim Abdul-Jabbar and rookies Cecil Collins and J.J. Johnson, but none have emerged as a potential workhorse. Abdul-Jabbar started but had just two yards on three carries. Collins managed 47 yards on 16 carries and Johnson added 11 on four. Miami has just 255 rushing yards in three games. "That's the way it is sometimes," Collins said. "You can't score every time, but hopefully you know it will come around and get better." "They tried to start off the game by running against me and I took that personally and I had a lot of fun with it," Bills star defensive tackle Bruce Smith said. "They had established the run in the two previous ballgames. That was something that defensively we didn't want them to have. We didn't want them to have that edge in balance with Marino back there throwing the ball." As the running game sputtered, the offensive burden once again fell to Marino, whose fumble was turned into a touchdown and twice was intercepted in Buffalo territory. He completed 22-of-44 passes for 251 yards and fell to 0-4 in his career against Flutie, although he did beat him in last season's AFC wild card game. "I thought our guys did a heck of a job," Bills coach Wade Phillips said. "We played the way we played, our style, and thought we were ready for what they did. Our defense played outstanding, the same aggressive defense we had the last two games, we had here. We were tremendous on third down." Most of the offense for Miami (2-1) came from its special teams. Olindo Mare kicked four field goals and Brock Marion returned a kickoff 93 yards to set up Marino's nine-yard TD pass to O.J. McDuffie with 5:13 to go that cut the deficit to 23-18. It was the first TD allowed by the Bills' defense in 11 quarters. "We did poorly on third-down conversions (1-of-14) and we had to go for field goals instead of touchdowns," Johnson said. Buffalo had to punt but forced Marino to throw four consecutive incompletions. An offsides penalty against linebacker Robert Jones turned 3rd-and-6 into 3rd-and-1 and Flutie took advantage, running a bootleg left for five yards and the clinching first down with just under two minutes to go. "I feel bad because my offsides gave them a 3rd-and-short and Flutie rolled out and got another first down and they kept the ball and ran the clock out," Jones said. Flutie was 12-of-25 for 186 yards and a touchdown. He also had nine carries for 29 yards, boosting his season total to 152 -- more than any Miami running back. "Last year we moved the ball the way they did and we turned the ball over and lost," Flutie said. "That was my emphasis going in. I wanted to protect the ball. If we make plays, we make plays. It finally got to the point in the second half when I said, 'Let it loose and fly.' The difference in this game was not turning the ball over." After a scoreless third quarter, Mare's fourth field goal from 26 yards pulled the Dolphins within a point with 13:23 to play. But the Bills immediately responded with a five-play, 80-yard drive, all through the air. Flutie connected on passes of 40 yards to Eric Moulds, 16 to Jay Riemersma and 23 to Kevin Williams before finding Moulds from six yards for a 20-12 lead. Holecek intercepted Marino and returned it 35 yards to the Miami 19. The Dolphins' defense held and Christie kicked a 31-yarder for a 23-12 advantage with 6:56 remaining. Marion's return came on the ensuing kickoff, setting up Marino's TD toss to McDuffie, who caught seven passes for 64 yards. But Stanley Pritchett's conversion run was stopped and Miami did not score again. The Bills were limited to 77 rushing yards, just half of their AFC-leading average. Riemersma caught four passes for 85 yards. Moulds, who had an NFL playoff-record 240 receiving yards in the wild card loss, had four catches for 60 yards. There were no offensive TDs in the first half, which ended with Buffalo holding a 13-9 lead. Flutie's 24-yard pass to Riemersma set up Christie's 26-yard field goal with 10:46 left in the first quarter. Shawn Wooden's fumble recovery preceded Mare's 30-yard kick four minutes later. Mare drilled a 44-yarder to give Miami the lead with 1:57 left in the period, but Flutie scrambled for 17 yards and found Riemersma again for 38 more to set up Christie's 52-yard kick that tied it just over two minutes into the second period. The Bills took the lead for good as a turnover by Marino became a TD for the opponent for the second straight game. He was hit on a blitz by an unblocked Holocek, who jarred the ball loose. Northern picked it up and rumbled 59 yards for his second career touchdown. "Holecek hit him from the back, the ball popped into my hands and then I had to outrun (tackle) Richmond Webb," Northern said. "I was blitzing, the running back came to block, I jumped around him and the ball came straight into my hands." Two weeks ago, Marino had an interception returned for a score by Arizona's Rob Fredrickson. With the half winding down, Marino worked the two-minute drill to perfection. He completed 6-of-7 passes for 79 yards to position Mare for a 26-yarder as time expired.
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