DENVER - Halloween is a couple of weeks away, and teal isn't usually the color that goes with orange to cause so many frights. But the Denver Broncos felt haunted once again by the sight of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night, as scared of the dark as ever, victimized in a horror story that even had the predictable last gasp at the end.

This time it was kicker Olindo Mare who stuck it to them at the end, kicking a 53-yard field goal with six seconds remaining to lift the Dolphins to a 24-22 victory in front of 74,776 tortured souls at Invesco Field at Mile High.

"To go out there and make a kick like that, it's probably the biggest and longest kick of my life," said Mare. Actually, it tied for the second-longest field goal of his career, but it spoiled what would have been a 55-yard game-winning field goal only 39 seconds earlier by Denver counterpart Jason Elam.

Elam felt haunted. He kicked six field goals but only five of them counted, which made the final one count even more, and the missing one count most of all. At the end of the first half, with the Broncos leading 9-7, his 49-yard field goal was nullified by a holding penalty by tackle Blake Brockermeyer.

It was that kind of night, when the smallest of margins separated the teams. They were as close as a holding call, as close as a lost fumble by fullback Mike Anderson at the Miami 1-yard line in the second quarter, as close as linebacker John Mobley's two large hands that couldn't quite grasp the football on the Dolphins' final drive, even though both were on it.

At no point did the Broncos feel more jinxed - not even when Mare's kick sailed through the uprights - than they did when Mobley failed to intercept Jay Fiedler's last pass with 11 seconds remaining.

The Dolphins (5-1) had driven to their own 43-yard line after Fiedler - who played the final drive with a broken right (throwing) thumb after hitting it on a helmet one possession earlier - completed a 17-yard, third-and-10 pass to rookie tight end Randy McMichael. His next pass went right off Mobley's hands, deflected to receiver Dedric Ward for a 22-yard gain to the Denver 35-yard line.

"I really thought it was going to be an interception," Denver defensive end Trevor Pryce said. "Even with the deflection, a guy is standing there to get the ball. How much of a fluke is that? Call it a fluke. Call it a miracle. Call it what you will, you saw what happened."

What everyone saw was a game eerily familiar to the one played between the teams last season in Miami, when a 10-0 fourth-quarter lead dissolved in the fourth quarter, in large part because of the misadventures of quarterback Brian Griese.

Not since Hamlet has a young man been so haunted by the specter of his father. Griese has had his share of the Dolphins - his Hall of Fame father Bob's former team - and once again the final act was his downfall.

In last year's 21-10 loss, he literally threw the game away. His attempt to ground the ball while being sacked resulted in a momentum-swinging 56-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive end Kenny Mixon.

This time, the Broncos (4-2) held a 12-7 lead in the fourth quarter when Griese was intercepted twice. The first, by Sam Madison, came when receiver Rod Smith fell down and resulted in the second rushing touchdown by Ricky Williams and a 14-12 Miami lead. The second, four plays later, was returned 40 yards by Patrick Surtain, giving Miami a 21-12 lead.

"I didn't see the guy coming," Griese said. "I have to make better decisions than that. I could sit here and list 10 to 12 things we could have done to win this game. It doesn't matter right now. This one is going to hurt for a while. That's a tough way to lose."

Griese grew up in the shadow of the Dolphins because of his father, and his first-ever start was a Monday night loss to Miami at home in 1999. But as he led his team back onto the field after Surtain's touchdown, booed by some fans for his return, it was the ghost of another player that was haunting him - John Elway.

Does Griese have any of Elway's old fourth-quarter magic? He had enough to lead the Broncos 80 yards, throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Anderson with 3:37 remaining, cutting the deficit to 21-19. And he came through again when the Broncos took over at their 20-yard line with 1:51 remaining, moving them into position for Elam's potential game-winning kick.

At least it could have been the game-winner. But once again the Broncos, who haven't beaten Miami in the regular season since 1968 and who never play well in prime time, found themselves on the losing end of a fright night.

"We had a lot of opportunities, and we gave them away," Denver coach Mike Shanahan said. "It came back to haunt us."