OVERALL SUMMARY:
The Dolphins went into Rich Stadium and stunned the Buffalo
Bills 21-7 today in a game that was easily the most exciting Dolphins
game of the year. The Dolphins' defense deserves most of the credit,
stifling the Bills' offense while sacking Jim Kelly 7 times and
pressuring him into throwing 3 interception.
The offense didn't get on track nearly as well, but avoided
mistakes and didn't turn the ball over at all. The rushing game was
practically non-existant, except down near the goal line, where 2 of
the 3 Dolphins touchdowns were from running plays.
The game started with Miami taking the opening kickoff,
starting at their own 22 and moving up the field, mostly on the
strength of a couple of completions to Troy Drayton and Randal Hill.
But they were stopped when Erickson was sacked by Jim Jeffcoat on 3rd
down, and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their own 38.
The punt went out of bounds at the 18 and the Bills took
over. However, on the first play of the game, Jim Kelly tried to hit
Lonnie Johnson over the middle on a short pass and Zach Thomas stepped
in front of Johnson and picked the ball off. However, the Dolphins
could gain no yardage from the Buffalo 15 and after 4 abortive plays,
had to settle for a field goal attempt, which was pushed wide right by
the wind.
The Bills took over at the 23 and moved up the field with
Thomas running and Kelly throwing to their 47, but on 3rd and 1, Tim
Bowens got in the backfield and knocked the ball out of Kelly's hand.
Trace Armstrong recovered the fumble and the Dolphins moved from the
Buffalo 44 to their 20, mostly on one 17 yard reception by McDuffie,
but again were stuffed. Facing a 4th and 6 at the 24, the Dolphins
looked like they were going to try a field goal, but John Kidd took
the snap and ran up the middle for 4 yards.
However, that wasn't enough yardage for a first down and the
ball went over to the Bills on downs. The Bills, however, went 3 and
out and punted to the Dolphins 26 yard line. The Dolphins ran 2
plays, including a 16 yard draw to Stanley Pritchett to their 42, and
then the 1st quarter ended in a scoreless tie.
To start the 2nd quarter, the Dolphins drove down to the
Buffalo 3, mostly on the strength of an 11 yard draw and a 26 yard
dump pass to Abdul-Jabbar. There, the Dolphins ran 3 consecutive
rushing plays from the 3. On the first two, the Dolphins gained
nothing, but on a third and goal, the Dolphins opened a hole over the
right guard and Abdul-Jabbar powered into the endzone for a touchdown
to give the Dolphins a 7-0 lead.
At this point in the game, the Bills abandoned their "new"
offense and went back to the no-huddle. This appeared to work at
first as they moved from their 14 to the Dolphins 36, but at this
point the defense stiffened and the Bills were forced to punt.
The next three possessions - 2 by Miami and 1 by Buffalo -
each went 3 and out as each defense was impenetrable. The half then
ended with the Bills in possession of the ball at their own 11.
The second half opened with Buffalo taking the kickoff and
returning it to their 29. They then went 3 and out as their drive
ended with Trace Armstrong sacking Kelly. The Dolphins took the punt
at their 25 and could only move up to their 44 before being forced to
punt.
The next Bills possession started at their 20 after a
touchback on the punt and they moved out to their 43, but were stopped
when Zach Thomas sacked Kelly on a blitz and were forced to punt. The
punt was fumbled by OJ McDuffie on the catch, but he managed to cover
it up.
The Dolphins started their next series at their 29 and on the
first play from scrimmage, Randal Hill got behind Jeff Burris and was
wide open, catching the ball for a 61 yard gain down to the Bills' 10
yard line.
A comment at this point - Hill cut back into the middle of the
field after catching the ball and was caught from behind by the corner
or the safety from the opposite side of the field. He probably should
have continued down the sideline instead of slanting back towards the
goalpost.
In any case, the Dolphins were helped by a pass interference
call and then ran 3 consecutive rushing plays up the middle with
Irving Spikes. On the third play, with a third and goal from the 1,
Irving Spikes vaulted over the middle of the line for a touchdown and
gave the Dolphins a 14-0 lead.
After the kickoff, the Bills started at their 27 and moved
rapidly down the field, mostly on 2 long pass plays until they faced a
2nd and 9 at the Dolphins' 19 yard line. There, they caught the
Dolphins in an all-out blitz and Thurman Thomas went untouched off
right tackle for 19 yards and a touchdown. This cut the lead to 14-7
and put the momentum back on the Bills' side.
The Dolphins started at their 31 after the kickoff, but after
a sack and some more great defense by the Bills, the Dolphins moved
into the 4th quarter by punting to the Bills. The Bills started their
next series at their 32 and moved to their 45, but Trace Armstrong
sacked Kelly on 3rd and 9 and the Bills punted.
After a touchback, the Dolphins managed to use up some of the
clock by moving from their 20 to the 47, but were forced to punt when
Erickson couldn't find McDuffie on a third down. The punt was a
touchback and after Jim Kelly was sacked on the first play, the Bills
managed to move out to their 32. However, on first down, Calvin
Jackson stepped in front of a Jim Kelly pass and picked it off at the
Buffalo 48.
The Dolphins, however, went 3 and out on this series after a
pass to OJ McDuffie went over his fingertips. The ensuing punt by
Kidd was downed at the Buffalo 1 by Sean Hill and the Bills could only
push out to their 20, before they had to punt. However, an amazing 80
yard punt by the Bills' Chris Mohr started the Dolphins back at their
own 20 and, once again, they couldn't get any offense going, gaining
only 3 yards before they were forced to punt once more.
This punt was either pushed back by the wind or was a bad
punt, but it was taken by the Bills at their 47. With 2:17
remaining, the Bills made one quick completion to their 49 and on 2nd
and 9, Kelly found Andre Reed down the right sideline in between
Buckley and Shawn Wooden. Wooden missed the tackle on Reed and Reed
sprinted down the right sideline. However, Terrell Buckley caught
Reed from behind at the Dolphins 2 yard line, saving the touchdown.
On first and goal at the Dolphins' 2, Kelly was penalized for
intentional grounding while throwing the ball away into the endzone
under pressure. Kelly's next pass was thrown away and a draw to
Thurmon Thomas went only to the 10 yard line.
At this point, it was fourth and goal at the Miami 10 with
exactly one minute to play. Kelly dropped back to pass and under
pressure, threw towards Andre Reed in the right front of the endzone.
But Terrell Buckley cut in front of Reed and picked off Kelly's pass,
then raced down the left sideline for a touchdown.
Now, with 41 seconds remaining, the Bills were out of timeouts
and ran a couple of half-hearted plays, but the game was essentially
over.
This game was a great contest between two tough teams,
both contending for dominance in their division. It was a game unlike
recent contests and it was the first time in recent memory that the
Dolphins have managed to take the Bills down to the wire and then win
in the last seconds. In the recent past, the Dolphins would not have
won this game.
GOOD STUFF:
The defense played as well as they have all season, especially
along the defensive line. The Dolphins sacked Jim Kelly 7 times,
mostly on just regular defensive line pass rushing - not on blitzes.
This speaks volumes both for the play of the defensive line and for
the coverage of Kelly's receivers.
The pressure on Kelly translated into 3 interceptions, one
fumble and one touchdown. The Dolphins also held the Bills to
converting just 25% of third downs.
On offense, the Dolphins were not as successful, but didn't
make too many dumb mistakes and even though there were a few close
calls, they didn't turn the ball over once. Pass protection was as
good as could be expected without Marino's fast release.
And despite having the running game stuffed for most of the
game, both Dolphins' offensive touchdowns were on running plays. In
each case where the Dolphins were down inside the Bills' 10 yard line,
they ran the ball into the endzone, unlike past years.
Special teams were good, although not as impressive as they
have been. However, the punt coverage continues to be good and the
Dolphins keep pinning opponents deep in their end of the field. The
Bills didn't start one drive in Miami territory and started 11 of
their 14 drives inside of their 30 yard line.
But perhaps the best thing about this game is that the
Dolphins beat a healthy Bills' team with a backup quarterback in Rich
Stadium.
THINGS TO WORK ON:
The running game was, for the most part, absent for the third
week in a row. The Dolphins had just 63 yards rushing on 32 carries,
for a 2.0 yard/carry average.
Also, the rushing defense gave up 85 yards to Thurmon Thomas
on 16 carries and a touchdown. This isn't terrible, but Thomas ended
up with a 5.3 yard/carry average and that's too much for a guy they
should have been keying on.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
Where to start after a great game like this? Well, let's
start with the defense:
Terrell Buckley had 5 tackles and 1 assist, including the
game-saving tackle of Andre Reed at the Dolphins' 2 yard line late in
the 4th quarter. He also had 2 passes defensed and 1 interception
returned 91 yards for the game clinching TD. Buckley now has 5
interceptions, leading the league and tying his all-time season
interception record.
Trace Armstrong appeared to have switched souls with Bruce
Smith, getting 5 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He was all over Kelly all
day.
Danny Stubbs quietly had 9 tackles and a sack.
Calvin Jackson had 7 tackles and an interception.
Tim Bowens was an animal up the middle, getting 4 tackles, 2
sacks and a forced fumble.
Norman Hand had half a sack on a play where he really should
have gotten all the credit. He just pushed the Bills' right tackle
down on the ground and got to Kelly.
And, of course, Zach Thomas lead the team in tackles again
with 9 solo tackles, 2 assists, an interception and a sack.
On the offense:
Craig Erickson completed 14 of 29 passes for 192 yards with no
touchdowns and no interceptions. He was also sacked 3 times and
pressured a lot. However, for the most part, he kept his head and
didn't do anything really stupid (although he came close to tossing an
interception). He still needs to work on his reads and knowledge of
the offense.
Troy Drayton, in his first outing, caught 3 passes for 27
yards. He looked pretty tough, especially on one reception where he
was fighting for a first down.
Karim Abdul-Jabbar ran 25 times, but only got 37 yards.
However, he did get one 3 yard rushing touchdown. He also caught 3
passes for 30 yards.
Randal Hill lead the team in receptions, catching 4 passes for
94 yards, including a 61 yard bomb.
Irving Spikes only carried the ball 3 times for 6 yards, but
scored a touchdown on a leaping play into the endzone from the one.
On special teams, Nedney missed a field goal into the wind and
put 2 of 4 kickoffs into the endzone.
Kidd continues to impress punting the football, averaging 48
yards per punt.
INJURIES:
There were no serious injuries that I observed.
My Comments:
This game was not good for my general health - it was way too
exciting. The Dolphins went into Buffalo with so much going against
them and kept the game close with great defense and sporadic, but safe
offense.
It is not completely unheard of for the Dolphins to beat the
Bills in Buffalo at this point of the year. And this game had some of
the hallmarks of the 37-10 victory by Miami back in 1993.
However, this game had two notable difference - first, it was
won late in the 4th quarter. The Bills have owned the fourth quarter
this year and the Dolphins took it away from them this time.
Secondly, the Dolphins won without Dan Marino. In fact, they
won without a particularly strong offense, which is highly unusual.
Overall, I'd have to call this a truly great game. Both
teams played very tough, right down to the end. Nobody choked and
nobody folded. It was as fine a defensive game as you're likely to
see.
And oh, by the way - do you think JJ did a good job motivating
the defensive line?
The Dolphins have re-established themselves with this win as
one of the stronger teams in the league and a true force to be
reckoned with in the AFC.
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