*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Oct 28, 1997: -- Dolphins Lose to Bears 36-33 in OT --
The Dolphins played terrible, mistake ridden football tonight,
allowing the formerly winless Chicago Bears to overcome a 33-18
deficit in the 4th quarter and beat the Dolphins 36-33 in overtime at
Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. The story of this game is that the
Dolphins' offensive line couldn't get the job done when it had to and
that allowed the Bears to put pressure on Marino all night, forcing
numerous fumbles, including one in overtime at the Dolphins' 18 that
allowed the Bears to kick their game winning field goal.
The game started off with a bad omen, as Marino was sacked
when Troy Drayton completely missed a block on the Dolphins' very
first series. Marino fumbled and the Bears recovered at the Miami 20,
then took the ball right in for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead.
Following an attempted onsides kick, the Dolphins drove to the endzone
but Marino threw an interception and that drive was stopped.
However, after forcing a punt, Jerris McPhail took a handoff
from Marino and cutting behind Webb on the left, bounced outside and
ran 71 yards through the Bears' secondary for a touchdown. That tied
the score at 7-7. The Bears drove right back and opened the 2nd
quarter with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. After that kickoff,
the Dolphins' offensive line commited 2 separate penalties that put
the Dolphins back at their 5 and then allowed the Bears to sack Marino
for a safety that would give the Bears a 12-7 lead.
After trading punts, the Bears drove down for a field goal and
a 15-7 lead. Marino ended the 2nd quarter with a touchdown drive of
his own in classic Marino style, but the Dolphins missed a 2 point
conversion and went into halftime down 15-13.
In the second half, the Dolphins allowed the Bears to drive
down for a field goal on their 1st possession, and after making a
long drive that ended in a punt, George Teague hit the Bears' Ricky
Proehl after the catch and caused a fumble that Buckley picked up and
ran in for a touchdown that gave the Dolphins a 19-18 lead. However,
Miami again failed to get a 2 point conversion.
The Dolphins opened the 4th quarter with a drive that ended
with a 22 yard touchdown pass to Troy Drayton down the left sideline
that extended the Dolphins' lead to 26-18. After Kramer fumbled a
snap on the Bears' next possesion, Miami again had good field position
and drove down to the 2 and Karim Abdul-Jabbar drove up the middle for
another touchdown and a 33-18 lead.
At this point, with 7 minutes still remaining, the Dolphins
went into their prevent-nothing defense and allowed the Bears to drive
the length of the field in a minute and a half and score a touchdown
to cut the lead to 33-25. After the kickoff, the Dolphins went 3 and
out after McDuffie dropped a pass and the Dolphins offensive line
allowed the Bears to blitz unmolested.
Following a Dolphins' punt, the Bears were stopped, but the
Dolphins went 3 and out again and this time, the Bears got the ball
back and drove the length of the field, ending with a 25 yard
touchdown pass. Then, still trailing by 2 points, the Bears converted
a 2 point attempt on a timing pattern to the endzone to tie the game
with 1:20 remaining at 33-33.
Marino got the ball back, but the Dolphins again went 3 and
out as pressure on Marino didn't allow him time to throw and
regulation ended after Miami punted.
Overtime began with the Dolphins getting the kickoff, but
after 3 consecutive penalties on the Dolphins, they faced a 3rd and 24
at their own 13 and couldn't get enough yards back. They punted to
the Bears and the Bears put together a short drive, but were stopped
by the Miami defense.
However, after the Bears' punt, Parmalee dropped a sure first
down pass and on 2nd down, the Bears' Barry Minter came unblocked on a
blitz and sacked Marino, forcing a fumble at the Miami 18. From
there, the Bears kicked a field goal to win the game 36-33.
My Comments:
This was the saddest performance by the team all year. This
time, they were not beaten by a better team. In fact, they did
everything they could to lose this game. It was almost like they
didn't want to win - like it would have been too much to handle.
Or perhaps they were taking pity on the Bears.
How else do you explain the 13 penalties for 83 yards - many
of them in crucial situations. Or the 4 sacks on Marino - that's as
many as this team has given up all year. Or the 2 fumbles that
resulted in two scores for Chicago and the sack for a safety.
I don't know what was wrong with this team, but they gave away
a chance to take a big lead in the AFC East and they blew it. They
didn't play at half the level of which they are capable and if they go
into Buffalo and play the same way up there, the Bills will eat them
alive.
I really don't understand how JJ could have allowed this team
to be so unprepared. The gameplan was poor and the blockers were
unprepared to handle the blitz. The players were distracted and
allowed this game to slip away. About the only players who looked
like they were playing well were Jerris McPhail, OJ McDuffie and Dan
Marino.
And the lack of a pass rush really killed the defense tonight.
The only sack on Kramer came from Gardener and Bowens right up the
middle. There was some pressure on Kramer late in the game, but that
was well after he had become comfortable in the pocket and started
picking apart the Miami defense.
All in all, it was very sloppy football and doesn't put the
Dolphins in a good place to go against the Bills this weekend.
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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