Marino-less Dolphins Lose to Saints : Interconference: Backup Kosar’s three touchdown passes are not enough as Everett has four to lead New Orleans over Miami, 33-30.

NEW ORLEANS —  Even without Dan Marino, Miami was supposed to handle New Orleans. Instead, the Saints won for the first time this season.

Jim Everett threw four touchdown passes Sunday, outdueling Dolphin backup Bernie Kosar in New Orleans’ 33-30 victory.

“This is fantastic. It was a great win,” said Everett, who completed 20 of 32 passes for 242 yards as the Saints (1-5) never trailed. “It was good to have a chance for 50 of us to play well. I’m sure we made some mistakes, but this sure feels good.”

For Everett, it was the sixth time in his NFL career that he has passed for four touchdowns.

“He was very consistent, and he made some big plays, very big plays,” New Orleans Coach Jim Mora said. “He protected the ball and had command of the game.”

It was the second consecutive loss for Miami (4-2), which blew a 21-point lead to Indianapolis last week. This time, the Dolphins never led, but they kept it interesting.

Kosar, an 11-year veteran making his first start for Miami, completed 29 of 42 for 368 yards and three touchdowns despite playing with an injured right thumb.

“In the first quarter I hit my hand on a helmet and while I was on the ground somebody rolled on the elbow,” said Kosar, who also was intercepted twice. “The doctor said it wasn’t serious, but sometimes it locked up on me. I had trouble gripping the ball.”

Kosar replaced Marino, who sat out the game after arthroscopic knee surgery and a hip injury.

“Bernie gave a great effort but he made a couple of mistakes,” Miami Coach Don Shula said. “The important thing is that we’ve lost two in a row now and we need to get back to playing better football and winning.”

Kosar led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, scoring on a one-yard run and then passing to Terry Kirby for a 16-yard score with 1:54 left to make it 33-30. A two-point attempt after Kosar’s running touchdown failed.

With four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Kosar left because of the jammed thumb. Dan McGwire threw one incomplete pass before being sacked by Renaldo Turnbull.

Kosar returned for the Dolphins’ next series and was intercepted by Ernest Dixon on the first play, leading to Everett’s two-yard touchdown pass to Irv Smith that put New Orleans ahead, 33-17.

Kosar had brought Miami back to 19-17 in the third quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass to O.J. McDuffie. Trace Armstrong set up the score, stealing the ball from Lorenzo Neal on the Saints’ 26-yard line.

McDuffie’s fumble on a punt at the Miami 22 set up Everett’s pass to Michael Haynes for a 26-17 lead.

The Dolphin defense, ranked 17th in the NFL, was burned for the second consecutive week. After giving up 419 yards to the Colts, Miami surrendered 331 yards to New Orleans.

The Dolphins had given up 27 points in the first three games, but have given up 76 in the last three.

Miami, which had a plus-seven turnover mark, gave up the football on three fumbles and two interceptions.

“We really thought we could come in and run the ball against them,” Kosar said. “But they did a real good job stopping us.”

The final margin could have been bigger except Saint kicker Chip Lohmiller missed field goals of 47, 52 and 29 yards and an extra point.

“I don’t know if we turned the corner or not,” said New Orleans defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, whose defense is ranked 29th overall and 28th against the run.

“But this sure feels good. A win is a win is a win, and we needed one.”

Shula said Marino’s return would depend on how his rehabilitation goes.

“We’ll see how it goes this week, we hope he will feel better and work out some,” Shula said. “We don’t want to rush him.”

Pete Stoyanovich’s 20-yard field goal with 20 seconds left brought Miami within 13-10 at halftime. The Dolphins failed to score on three tries from the one-yard line.

Miami’s first touchdown came on a second-quarter drive, with Kosar passing for 71 yards, including 31 yards to Eric Green for the score.