St. Louis, MO -- (Sports Network) - Ronnie Brown scored the only touchdown of the contest and the Miami Dolphins edged the St. Louis Rams, 16-12.

Brown carried the ball 15 times for 48 yards and scored in the second quarter while Dan Carpenter was 3-for-3 on field goals and added an extra-point for the Dolphins (7-5), who have won five of their last six.

Chad Pennington went 13-for-23 with 166 yards for Miami, which now sits only one game behind the first-place Jets for the AFC East lead. New York lost, 34-17, to the Broncos on Sunday. The Dolphins are also one game behind Indianapolis (8-4) and Baltimore (8-4) for the AFC Wild Card spots after the Colts and Ravens each posted a victory on Sunday.

"We've done a great job of keeping our poise and composure in tight games," said Pennington. "We've done a really good job of not getting down and getting stressed out over the situation and trying to remain focused even though today was a tight game. We had some opportunities to not let it be a tight game, but it was."

Marc Bulger went 16-for-35 with 149 yards and was picked off three times while Steven Jackson, who had missed four of the last five games with a right thigh injury, started the game and had 21 carries for 94 yards for the Rams (2-10), who have dropped their last six games. Josh Brown went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts to account for all of St. Louis' points.

"We find ways to lose," said Bulger. "We hung in there the first half. We got that corrected, which is good. We played good in all phases at some points, but we struggled at others."

The Dolphins were holding a one-point lead after 30 minutes of play and tacked on to their lead late in the third quarter.

Starting with the ball at their own 12-yard line, Pennington hit Davone Bess for 37 yards on second down to get the ball past midfield. The drive stalled at the St. Louis 30 and a 47-yard field goal from Carpenter made it a 13-9 game with 6:10 left in the third.

Miami had an opportunity to pad its lead as Bulger was picked off near midfield on the ensuing drive, but David Martin fumbled a reception and St. Louis recovered.

The Rams used the turnover to cut into their deficit on a 38-yard field goal from Brown to make it a 13-12 game with 12:14 to play, but for the third time in the game had the ball in the red zone and failed to get into the end zone.

After having to punt the ball away, Bulger was picked off by Renaldo Hill and the Dolphins used the opportunity to take a 16-12 lead on Carpenter's 42-yard field goal with 6:39 to play.

St. Louis was unable to move the ball for the remainder of the game and Bulger was intercepted by Andre' Goodman in the closing moments of the game to seal the win.

The Rams started the game with the ball and efficiently moved the ball down the field. However, with a 1st-and-goal at the seven-yard line, Antonio Pittman was stopped and two straight incompletions from Bulger resulted in a 23-yard field goal from Brown for a 3-0 lead 4:11 into the contest.

Brown's 51-yard boot then gave the team a 6-0 lead with 1:44 left in the first.

The Dolphins answered on their next touch to take the lead. Pennington got the ball down the field on completions of 19, 14, 13 and 19 yards and Ronnie Brown took it into the end zone from three yards out for a 7-6 advantage 4:01 into the second quarter.

After exchanging punts, St. Louis regained the lead, but again squandered a red zone opportunity. A mix of Jackson runs and completions by Bulger gave the team a 1st-and-10 at the Miami 20. Jackson's first two runs went for two yards then three yards, but Bulger's pass on third down fell incomplete and Josh Brown hit a 33-yard field goal for a 9-7 lead with 1:51 left in the first half.

Miami countered on its following drive and Carpenter's 47-yard field goal as time expired gave the team a 10-9 lead heading into the locker room.

Game Notes:

Miami plays in Buffalo next Sunday in Toronto...St. Louis plays at Arizona next Sunday...The Rams finished the year 0-4 versus AFC East teams...St. Louis wideout Torry Holt passed Rod Smith for 13th place on the all-time reception list. He now has 850 catches in his career after hauling in three balls...Miami guard Justin Smiley left the game in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. He is listed as day- to-day...St. Louis guard Richie Incognito left the game in the first half with dizziness...The Dolphins have won eight of the past nine games against the Rams.