In the first half, the Dolphins gave up 4 turnovers to the Jets that kept them in the game. However, by the end of the third quarter, the Dolphins had asserted their superiority and pulverized the hapless Jets into an embarrassing beating that continued even after Dan Marino sat down at the beginning of the fourth quarter until the Dolphins had secured a 52-14 victory over the Jets.
It was, in a word, glorious.
The Dolphins started the game by receiving the opening kickoff from the Jets on the baseball diamond end of Joe Robbie stadium. The kickoff fell short and was fielded by one of the "up" men, in this case it was offensive tackle Billy Milner at the Dolphins 19. To Milner's credit, he fielded the ball well and ran it back to the 30.
From the 30, the Dolphins started their first drive with a series of short runs by Parmalee and a catch by Eric Green, but it stalled when a Marino pass bounced off the fingertips of a streaking Irving Fryar and fell incomplete. The Dolphins then punted 53 yards into the endzone for a touchback.
The Jets started their first possession with two carries by Ron Moore, but on his second carry, he fumbled the ball after being nailed by several Dolphin defenders and the Dolphins recovered at the Jets' 30 yard line. Unfortunately, after 4 consecutive runs by Parmalee had moved the ball to the Jets' 17, Marino threw the ball right into the hands of Jets' linebacker Wilber Marshall. He was trying to hit Keith Byars, but either Byars didn't make his break soon enough or was held up. In any case, it was an easy interception for Marshall, who was tackled immediately.
The Jets then put on their only real drive of the day, moving from their own 14 to the Dolphins' 33 yard line on a series of short passes and the occasional run by Ron Moore. However, after Boomer overthrew Wayne Chrebet, the Jets were forced to settle for a 51 yard field goal attempt that sailed wide right.
The Dolphins, unfortunately, couldn't mount anything on their next drive, getting only one first down before Marino badly underthrew his receiver and John Kidd punted the ball back to the Jets endzone for another touchback.
On the Jets' subsequent drive, Bryan Cox effectively stopped the Jets offense by stuffing Ron Moore for no gain on first down and after Tim Bowens batted down an Esiason pass, Cox again pressured Esiason into an incompletion on third down and the Jets punted back to Miami.
On this punt return, O.J. McDuffie showed some of the running form that made him a sensation in his rookie year. He had a great return - spinning, twisting and dancing down the sidelines for 24 yards before being forced out of bounds at the Jets 35 yard line.
The Dolphins had 2 nice runs of 4 and 8 yards by Spikes, but were forced back to the Jets 40 by a holding penalty. Then, Marino again overthrew Irving Fryar down the sidelines, but did manage to connection with him over the middle on third down for almost all of the necessary 15 yards. However, the first quarter ended with the Dolphins having a 4th down and less than 1 yard to go at the Jets 25 yard line.
The first quarter was pretty dismal for the Dolphins - Marino was only 3 of 8 for 40 yards and 1 interception and the resulting score was 0-0.
The Dolphins began the second quarter lining up to go for the first down. On this 4th down play, the Dolphins put Billy Milner outside of Richmond Webb and then put Eric Green next to Milner to stack the left side of the line. They then ran Parmalee behind these guys and Bernie got the first down with a yard to spare.
On the very next play, the Dolphins lined up at the Jets 24 yard line and ran a sweep to the left with Parmalee. Bernie turned the corner ahead of the nearest Jet defender, sprinted to the left sideline, then outran the Jets' safety, diving the last 3 yards into the endzone for the Dolphins' first touchdown. It was an excellent run by Parmalee, who showed his speed and quickness to the outside. And it gave the Dolphins a 7-0 lead.
On the subsequent kickoff, Dexter Carter took the kick at the 3 yard line for the Jets and ran to his right, but was met with a ferocious hit by Robert Wilson at the Dolphins 17 yard line and fumbled the ball away. The Dolphins recovered the ball at the 17 and began the next series with a quick pass over the middle to O.J. McDuffie, who broke a tackle and made it down to the Jets 5. Then, after Parmalee was stuffed on first down, Marino hit a falling Irving Fryar in the back of the endzone on second down for the second Miami touchdown of the game.
The subsequent kickoff was fielded by the Jets at the 9 and run out to about 27 yard line. At this point, the Dolphins defensive line started to put lots of pressure on Esiason, with Jeff Cross, Marco Coleman and Trace Armstrong all getting to him frequently. Only his experience prevented a number of sacks on this series and the Jets finally punted the ball away from their own 42 to the Dolphins 7 yard line, where they managed to down the ball with good coverage.
On the Dolphins first play after the punt, Bernie Parmalee was hit hard after a short gain and he fumbled the ball, which was picked up by Jets' defensive tackle Matt Brock and run in for a touchdown, reducing the Dolphins lead to 14-7. The funniest part of this play was watching Dan Marino attempt to tackle Brock.
On the Jets kickoff, McDuffie returned the ball 33 yards to the Dolphins 45 and then caught a pass on the first play for 12 more yards. However, on the very next play, Bernie Parmalee again fumbled the ball after a hit and the Jets took over at their own 45. However, after they could only manage to get to the Miami 37, Boomer tossed 2 incompletions, one of which was almost picked off by Troy Vincent, and the Jets were forced to punt once again.
The punt was another touchback and Miami started at their own 20, with Keith Byars getting the first two calls, but after he dropped a short pass over the middle, the Dolphins were forced to punt and the Jets took over at their own 26 yard line. However, after Bowens tackled the Jets' Adrian Murrell for a one yard loss and a blitzing Bryan Cox knocked down Esiason at the moment he released the ball, the Jets did manage a short completion, but were finally forced to punt.
The Dolphins took a fair catch at their own 31 and, on first down, Marino attempted to hit Irving Fryar on a short hook pattern but threw badly inside and was intercepted at the Dolphins 31. This was Marino's second interception - but it was also his last.
The Jets then took the ball from the Miami 31 on two passes to the 7, where the Dolphins managed to hold them on two fine plays by the defensive line. However, on a third and goal from the 6, Esiason hit Charles Wilson in the right corner of the endzone behind Troy Vincent for the Jets only offensive touchdown of the game.
The score was now 14-14, with the Dolphins basically giving the Jets every opportunity to upset them. However, there were still nearly 2 minutes left in the half, which is more than enough time for Dan Marino to put the Dolphins ahead.
After the ensuing kickoff, which Spikes ran out to the 32 yard line, Marino went to work. He started by hitting Terry Kirby with a 4 yard little dump pass that Kirby turned into a 32 yard gain with a series of great running moves through the Jet defense. Then, after a pass to O.J. McDuffie and a short run by Terry Kirby, Marino hit Irving Fryar for a 23 yard gain down to the 2 yard line.
With 16 seconds left, the Dolphins tried running Terry Kirby in from the 2, but he was stopped just shy of the goal line. Then, with 8 seconds remaining, the Dolphins lined up in a tight running formation, but shifted to a spread formation that confused the Jets defense, leaving Keith Byars all alone coming out of the backfield. Marino then tossed a quick swing pass to Byars on the left who plunged over the goal line to give the Dolphins a 21-14 lead with just :04 left in the first half. After the kickoff was carried out of bounds by the Jets, the half ended with the Dolphins ahead.
The story of the first half was turnovers. Basically, The Dolphins were doing everything they wanted to - except holding on to the ball. They committed 4 turnovers in the first half, resulting directly in one touchdown and indirectly in the other.
The defensive line was putting a lot of pressure on Boomer, which showed in the Jets' performance, despite the lack of sacks.
The Dolphins kicked off the ball to begin the second half, but after the tackle by Robert Wilson and a holding penalty, the Jets were forced to start at their own 15. They did manage to get one nice run in and a couple of other short gains, but they were finally stopped at their own 45 and punted back to Miami.
Miami started at their own 24, but after the only sack of the game by the Jets, could do nothing with the ball and punted back to the Jets at their own 42. One quick pass and one good run moved the ball back to the Miami 45, but on 1st and 10, Chuck Klingbeil broke through the Jets line and got a hand on Boomer. Boomer threw the ball sooner than he should have to his right and Troy Vincent, who had his man well covered, made a diving interception at the Dolphins 15 yard line.
Miami put Bernie Parmalee back in at this point, giving him the ball twice in succession to start their second drive of the second half with a 16 yard shovel pass and then a one yard run. Fryar caught a 19 yard pass across the middle and then, after Parmalee contributed a 6 yard run to the Jets' 28, Marino hit a wide open Keith Byars in the right flat. Byars ran the ball down into the endzone, but stepped out at the 4 yard line.
On a first and goal from the Jets' 4, Parmalee swept right and dove over Chris Gray into the endzone for the Dolphins' fourth touchdown of the day. On this play, both Gray and Robert Wilson provided excellent blocks.
With the Dolphins now up 28-14, they kicked off to Ron Carpenter at the Jets' 10, but when Frankie Smith tackled him at the 23, he pulled a hamstring and was removed from the game. On the next play, the Dolphins read and covered an attempted screen very well, but Steve Emtman was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he hit Boomer with the crown of his helmet. This moved the ball out to the 40 and then, after a 17 yard pass to Kyle Brady and a 4 yard draw play, the Jets had a 1st down at the Miami 38.
However, on this play, Boomer badly overthrew his receiver and the ball went into the waiting arms of Troy Vincent, who took off down the left sideline for 68 yards and a touchdown, giving the Dolphins a 35-14 lead.
After the Dolphins' kickoff, the Jets took over at their own 18, but they appeared completely deflated. They could manage only three yards on the next three downs and punted the ball back to the Dolphins, the ball going out of bounds at the Miami 46.
The Dolphins, even though they were ahead by 21 points, weren't done yet. After a short gain by Spikes and a short catch by Green, had a third and five at the 50. Marino faded back in the pocket and lofted the ball down the left sideline, where a streaking Irving Fryar had badly beaten his man. Fryar gathered the ball in and raced to the endzone, to give the Dolphins a 42-14 lead.
This touchdown is significant, because it shows that the Dolphins were not content to sit on a 35-14 lead and coast, like they might have done in the past. Perhaps they have learned the lesson of last year.
At this point, the game was still in the third quarter, although I'm sure both teams would have liked to have gone home. The Dolphins kicked off to the Jets, who started at their 29, running the ball for 6 yards before the third quarter ended.
The Jets continued to moved the ball into the fourth quarter, but were finally stopped at their own 35 after a false start and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Boomer Esiason for "taunting" moved the Jets back from the Dolphins 45. They punted to the Dolphins' 29, but the Dolphins moved back to their own 19 after a penalty for an illegal block.
At this point, the Dolphins starting putting in their second team, with Bernie Kosar stepping in for Marino. The Dolphins, however, went three and out and after the punt, the Jets started at their own 48.
On the very next play, however, Trace Armstrong hit Esiason just as he was releasing the ball and the ball sailed into the arms of Aubrey Beavers, who took it back to the Jets' 41. This was the third interception of Esiason on the day.
The Dolphins let Spikes carry the ball 4 times in a row, before a series of miscues stopped them at the Jets' 7, but Pete Stoyanovich nailed a 33 yard field goal from there to put Miami ahead 45-14.
By this point in the game, Ron Heller, Eric Green, Bernie Parmalee, and and Keith Byars were resting and Billy Milner, Ronnie Williams, Irving Spikes, and Robert Wilson were taking their respective places.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Jets put in Bubby Brister at quarterback, preferring to let their starter sit out the rest of the game. But Bubby wasn't any better than Boomer and the Jets had a few short gains, but eventually turned the ball over on downs at their own 49 yard line.
From the Jets' 49, the Dolphins didn't do much until they got a gift interference call on Randal Hill at the 20 yard line. I don't think that this was a good call by the officials, because the DB was looking back at the ball, but he did knock Hill out of bounds and that may be what prompted it.
In any case, the Dolphins got a first down at the Jets 20, where Spikes got the call twice in a row. After a 3 yard pickup on first down gave the Dolphins a second and 7 at the Jets 17 yard line, Spikes was given the ball and sprinted off left tackle, through the secondary and into the endzone for the last Dolphins touchdown of the day. This put the Dolphins on top, 52-14.
The Jets got one more series, with Gene Atkins picking off a Bubby Brister desperation pass, but everyone was more than ready to go home at that point.
The win was a departure for the Dolphins in several ways:
1. They won an opening day game by a wide margin, not by last minute heroics like they have the last 3 years.
2. They really stomped the Jets, which they don't often do.
3. They completely buried an opposing team, which is unusual. Usually, they take it easy after they get a 2-3 touchdown lead. Not this time.
The only thing that bothered me about this game was the 4 turnovers. The Dolphins won't be able to get away with making 4 turnovers next week against the Patriots and still win. The Patriots will play much tougher football than the Jets did today.
Still, despite committing four damaging turnovers and essentially giving away 2 touchdowns, the Dolphins were completely dominating in this game.
They are off to a great start.