OVERALL SUMMARY:

The Dolphins were manhandled by the Cowboys 29-10 today, as the team played poorly in the long-awaited matchup with Dallas in Miami. The Dolphins were overmatched most of the game in most areas of play and only a little Dan Marino magic in the second quarter kept the game close at the half.

The Dolphins took the opening kickoff, but went 3 and out on 2 incomplete passes and one run for no yards. Following the punt, the Cowboys, starting at their 30, marched the ball down to the Dolphins 7, mostly on passes to Michael Irvin. However, a good tackle by Calvin Jackson forced the Cowboys back to the 10 and a penalty moved them back further and they were forced to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

The Dolphins took the kickoff to their 30 and managed one completion to OJ McDuffie of 14 yards before a bad "intentional grounding" call on Marino and an incompletion to McDuffie ended that Dolphins drive at their 36 and forced them to punt. The Cowboys took the ball at their own 21 and again drove right down the field to the Dolphin 7, mostly on a series of passes to Irvin, Sanders and Emmitt Smith. But a little pressure and a coverage sack by Armstrong stopped the Cowboys again as the 1st quarter ended.

Opening the second quarter, the Cowboys were forced to settle for another field goal and a 6-0 lead. After the kickoff was returned to the Dolphins 28, the Dolphins moved up to their 47 on some runs by Spikes and a pass to McDuffie. There, Marino found Charles Jordan on a quick slant on the left for a 38 yard gain to the Cowboy 16 and, on the next play, found Stanley Pritchett all alone on down the right sideline for a 16 yard touchdown pass and a 7-6 lead.

The Cowboys took the ensuing kickoff out to their 21 and moved out to the 50, but a good defensive play by Oliver and Buckley knocked the ball out of Kelvin Martin's hands on 3rd down and the Cowboys were forced to punt for the first time. The Dolphins started at their 20 after a touchback and after a nice 10 yard run by Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Marino hit Randal Hill on a 46 yard pass down the middle that Hill made a great diving catch on. However, after moving down to the Cowboy 9, the Dolphins stalled and were forced to settle for a field goal and a 10-6 lead.

With a little less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half, the Dolphins kicked off and the Cowboys started at their own 27. They moved to the Dolphin 7, but stalled again after Shawn Wooden almost intercepted an Aikman pass and settled for a field goal and a 10-9 ball game as the first half ended.

The second half opened with the Cowboys taking the ball at their 40 after Nedney's kickoff went out of bounds at the 5. From there, the Cowboys marched rigth down to the Dolphins 4, on a nicely executed drive combining Emmitt Smiths' running and passes to Bjornson, Irvin and Sanders and on 3rd and goal from the Dolphins 4, Aikman hit Bjornson in the front of the endzone for a TD and a 16-10 lead that the Cowboys would never relinquish.

The Dolphins took the ensuing kickoff and started at their own 21 in the shotgun formation, apparently going to a mostly passing game at this point, but went 3 and out and punted to the Cowboys. The Cowboys started at their 43 and after 2 great plays by the Dolphin defense to move the Cowboys back 7 yards and force a 3rd and 17, a mixup in the secondary left Michael Irvin wide open deep down the right sideline and only hustle by Shawn Wooden kept Irvin from scoring.

It didn't matter, however, because the Cowboys had a first and goal at the 3 and 3 plays later, Aikman found Irvin diving in the front of the endzone on a quick slant for a TD and a 22-10 lead. The Cowboys went for a 2 point conversion, but a penalty on Irvin pushed them back 15 yards and then Boniol missed the extra point, leaving them with a 22-10 lead.

After the kickoff was returned to the Dolphin 30, Marino hit Parmalee on 2 successive passes, but Parmalee fumbled the second one at the Dolphin 49 and the Cowboys recovered. The Cowboys, however, couldn't do anything with the ball and after going 3 and out, punted back to the Dolphins, who started from their own 15.

The Dolphins, however, couldn't get anything going and on 3rd and 12, Marino tried to force the ball to Fred Barnett. Kevin Smith cut in front of Barnett and even though they both appeared to have the ball, the refs ruled it an interception and the Cowboys took over at the Dolphin 31 to end the 3rd quarter.

The fourth quarter opened with the Cowboys moving right in for the touchdown after a 16 yard pass to Johnston set up a 10 yard pass to Emmitt Smith for the score. That pushed the Cowboy's lead to 29-10 and was the last score by either team.

There was plenty of time left, with almost 13 minutes remaining, but even though the Dolphins went completely to the shotgun passing attack that has been so successful for them in the past, they couldn't seem to get anything done offensively. They would get only one first down for the rest of the game, even though they had 3 possessions.

The Cowboys, for their part, tried to run the clock out, but because they stuck with the running game, the Dolphins were able to shut them down twice in a row in the fourth quarter, giving the offense plenty of opportunity to get something going, but to no avail.

The game ended as the Cowboys mercifully decided to kneel down at the Dolphin 8 yard line instead of adding another score after they had taken the Dolphins' last fumble and moved with it down inside the Dolphins' 10 yard line.

Overall, the Dolphins were just overmatched and the Cowboys played their best game of the year. It was not a good time for the Dolphins to meet the Cowboys, since they were trained by Jimmy Johnson to play their best games in important circumstances, like today. And with the talent on their team, the Dolphins were just no match for them today.

GOOD STUFF:

There wasn't much good about this game, but there were one or two things that stuck out. First of all, the special teams played fairly well, limiting Hershel Walker and Kelvin Martin on kickoff and punt returns, respectively. And Nedney did make his field goal, while Kidd averaged 54 yards per punt.

Also, the Dolphins did manage to contain Emmitt Smith's rushing fairly well. He had 74 yards on 22 carries, for a 3.4 yard/carry average and no rushing TDs. He was stuffed effectively late in the game when he's normally at his best by the Dolphins defense.

And I thought that the offensive line played pretty well. The Dolphins running backs, when they did run, averaged 4.1 yards per carry and Marino wasn't sacked all night.

BAD STUFF:

Let's see, where do I begin?

Well, let's begin with the defensive scheme. Who thought that having the cornerbacks playing 10 yards off the wide receivers was a good idea? I realize that trying to keep from giving up the big play was important, but the Dolphins gave up the 10-15 yard out pattern to the Cowboys all night long. And with no pass rush, that kind of cushion is going to allow the opposition to control the ball and wear out your defense. Which is, of course, exactly what happened.

On that note, the Dolphins maintained possession for just 18 minutes and 2 seconds out of a 60 minute game.

And on offense, why did they give up running the ball so early in the second half, when they were down by only 6? And what happened to the passing game? Either the receivers were having a bad night and not getting open or Marino was having one of the worst nights of his career. He seemed to be getting protection, but couldn't find the open man - if there was an open man.

On the defense, the pass rush was absent again. This, combined with the very loose pass coverage allowed the Cowboys to move down the field pretty much at will as they passed whenever they wanted.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

Dan Marino returned after a 4 week abscence with a poor performance against the Cowboys. Despite not being sacked and not pressured much, he only completed 12 of 27 passes for 173 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. It was not a good outing for him.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar had only 29 yards on 7 carries, but played well when they did give him the ball.

Jerris McPhail rushed twice for 14 yards, caught 2 passes for 12 yards and had 69 yards in kickoff returns, including a 40 yarder.

OJ McDuffie caught just 3 passes for 32 yards.

Stanley Pritchett caught two passes for 24 yards and a touchdown.

Randall Hill also caught 2 passes for 46 yards, including one long bomb over the middle.

Charles Jordan caught 1 big pass for 36 yards.

On defense, Shawn Wooden lead the team in tackles with 10 and almost had an interception.

Calvin Jackson also had 9 tackles, including a couple of nice stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Zach Thomas had 8 tackles, but missed a couple he should have made.

Both Hollier and Singleton finally showed up for a game, getting 6 and 7 tackles, respectively.

John Kidd averaged 54 yards per punt.

Nedney hit one field goal, but kicked the ball out of bounds to open the second half.

INJURIES:

Louis Oliver was shaken up at one point, but seemed ok later. Other than that, I didn't see anything serious.

My Comments:

I have little to say about this game that I haven't already said. The Dolphins just weren't ready to face a team as talented as the Cowboys who were playing at the top of their game today.

Related Info:

• Dolphins Endzone: Game Summary
• NFL.COM: Game Book
• NFL.COM: Dolphins vs Cowboys Recap
• ESPNet Sportszone: Jimmy Flattened by Cowboys Machine He built
• USA Today: Dallas vs Miami