*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Nov 23, 1997: -- Dolphins Lose to Patriots 27-24 --
The Dolphins went into Foxboro stadium with high hopes today,
but 3 uncharacteristic Dan Marino interceptions - 2 that were returned
for touchdowns by the Patriots - ruined Miami's chances to stay atop
the AFC East. Marino had the Dolphins' offense moving well throughout
the game, and nearly brought the team back from a 24-3 halftime
deficit, but the interceptions were just too much for the team to
overcome and by the end of the game, the Dolphins had lost 27-24 to
New England.
The Dolphins started the game with a 2 tight end formation,
but the Dolphins' offensive line was dominated by the Patriots front 4
for most of the game. As a result, they never got much of a running
game going and had to rely on Marino to try and win it. The Patriots
were able to use their front 4 to get pressure on Dan that never let
up and Marino didn't respond well in key situations.
The Dolphins defense played pretty well, holding the Patriots
to 13 offensive points and getting the ball back late in the game when
they needed it. However, they didn't get any turnovers and they
weren't able to put much pressure on Bledsoe during the game. Only
Jason Taylor had a sack.
The game started with neither team being able to move the ball
very well against good defensive efforts by the opposition. The
Dolphins started in a 2 tight end formation and went 4 plays and out
on their first series, with the Patriots responding by going 6 plays
and out on theirs.
The Dolphins faltered again on their second series, getting 1
first down on a pass to Charles Jordan, but with the running game
going nowhere, the Dolphins were forced to punt it away again. The
Patriots responded with a 51 yard drive, mostly on passes to Ben
Coates, Shawn Jefferson and a 14 yard run by Curtis Martin that ended
in a field goal and gave them a 3-0 lead.
The Dolphins responded with their own drive of 68 yards on
passes to Jordan and some decent runs by Abdul-Jabbar that carried
them to the Patriots' 7 yard line. However, the drive stalled there
and the Dolphins were forced to kick a field goal and accept a 3-3
tie.
The Patriots responded by going 3 and out after Jason Taylor
sacked Bledsoe on first down with a nice speed rush. The Dolphins
could do nothing in response, however, and had to punt again. When
the Patriots got the ball after a short punt at their 42, they moved
down to the Dolphin 35, before they caught the Dolphins' defense
sleeping and completed the halfback option pass from Dave Meggett to
Troy Brown, who was wide open at the goal line. This gave the
Patriots a 10-3 lead and was the only offensive touchdown that they
would score in the game.
With time remaining now less than 3 minutes in the first half,
the Dolphins got the ball back in excellent field position at their 38
after the kickoff. Marino began using the 2 minute offense to move
the ball down the field, but on 3rd and 5 at the New England 45,
Marino didn't see Larry Whigham in coverage for the Patriots on OJ
McDuffie and as he tried to force the ball to McDuffie, Whigham
stepped in front of McDuffie and picked it off, then returning it 60
yards for an easy touchdown.
With the Patriots now leading 17-3, the Dolphins took the
kickoff and Marino magic drove them from their 24 down to the
Patriots' 7 yard line on a series of passes to Jordan, Manning and
McDuffie. However, with less than 20 seconds remaining in the half,
Marino was pressured up the middle and tried to loft the ball to
McDuffie in the endzone. However, he underthrew the ball and it was
picked off at the goalline and returned 100 yards for a touchdown and
a 24-3 Patriot lead.
The second half opened with the Patriots taking the ball on
the kickoff and driving from their 33 to the Miami 10, but they
stalled there and were forced to settle for a field goal and a 27-3
lead. Following the kickoff, the Dolphins abandoned the running game
and drove right down the field on passes to McDuffie and Lamar Thomas
and finished the drive with a 1 yard touchdown run by Karim
Abdul-Jabbar that gave the Dolphins their first touchdown and cut the
score to 27-10.
The Patriots responded by putting together a long drive from
their 15 to the Miami 12, but the Dolphins stiffened and the Patriots
missed a short field goal to leave the score 27-10. Now, with 2:59
remaining in the 3rd quarter, Marino put together another drive,
starting at the Miami 20 and going down to the New England 1 yard line
on passes to Drayton, McDuffie and Lamar Thomas and a little running
by Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Ray Nealy. With 11:56 remaining in the
game, Karim would plunge over from the 1 and cut the Patriots' lead to
27-17.
On the kickoff, the Dolphins unexpectedly faked a real kick
and pulled a surprise onsides kick that was recovered by OJ Brigance
and gave the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at their 39. Marino went right to
work, passing to McPhail, McDuffie and Lamar Thomas and drove the
Dolphins right down to the New England 1 yard line. However, after
the Dolphins lost 5 yards trying to run it in twice, Marino dropped
back to pass on third and goal and underthrew the ball to a
well-covered Jerris McPhail in the endzone where it was picked off
again.
Now, with 6:45 remaining in the game, the Patriots started at
their 20 and were able to move with Curtis Martin and a 25 yard pass
to Shawn Jefferson. However, at the Dolphins' 29, the Patriots were
unable to convert a 3rd and 1 and tried again on 4th and 1 and were
stuffed.
Marino took over with 2:39 remaining and drove the team down
the field with passes to Manning, McPhail, OJ McDuffie and Lamar
Thomas until they were down to the New England 1 yard line with just
13 seconds remaining in the game. The Dolphins had a 4th down and
Abdul-Jabbar dove over for a touchdown with just 10 seconds left in
the game to cut the score to 27-24.
On the kickoff, the Dolphins at first appeared to have
recovered the onsides kick, but were penalized for having a man touch
the kick before it had traveled 10 yards. However, Keith Byars was
also called for unnecessary roughness and was ejected from the game
when he got into a heated argument with a ref. With offsetting
penalties, the ball was kicked again and this time the Dolphins
legally recovered the ball when Jerry Wilson fell on it as it squirted
free.
With a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins 42, Marino tried to hit
Lamar Thomas on a deep sideline route, but the ball was badly thrown
and it was easily deflected. With time for just one more play, Marino
threw the ball high as a hail-mary type pass, but it came down in a
crowd at the 20 yard line and was batted down by a Patriots' player to
end the game.
For the most part, the Dolphins played well in this game. The
defense held the Patriots' offense in check for most of the game and
gave up just 13 points. They are still having problems finding a pass
rush, but for the most part, they did a good job.
The Dolphins' special teams played well, recovering 3 onsides
kicks and providing good coverage. The only real disappointment for
them was the poor kicking of John Kidd, who shanked several punts and
wasn't hitting the ball well at all.
The offense gets mixed reviews, however. The offensive line
was unusually bad this game, allowing the Patriots' defensive front to
put constant pressure on Marino and sack him 3 times. To be fair, the
Dolphins tried several different combinations of players on the
offensive line, with Keith Sims filling in for John Bock at one point
and then, when Richmond Webb left the game for a while with a minor
knee injury, Sims went back to left guard and Buckey went to left
tackle.
Still, that doesn't entirely excuse the poor pass protection
or the lack of running yardage. Abdul-Jabbar ended the day with just
33 yards on 18 carries, although he did score 3 times. The Dolphins'
offensive line should have played better than it did.
But by far the worst performance of the game was by Dan
Marino. Each of the interceptions that he threw were bad choices by
him and 2 of them were underthrown balls as well. Marino ended the
day with nearly a 70% completion rate and 389 yards, but he had no
scores and he had 3 very costly interceptions.
The coaches must take some blame for this loss also. The
Dolphins didn't go after Drew Bledsoe enough in the early part of the
game with blitzes. As a result, even though Bledsoe didn't put up any
points, he was steady in the pocket and didn't turn the ball over.
The Dolphins are now 7-5 and tied with New England for 2nd
place in the AFC East. The New York Jets beat Minnesota today to take
sole possession of first place in the East.
My Comments:
I do not like to have to say it, because I am a Dan Marino
fan, but the unfortunate truth is that Dan cost the Dolphins the game
today. Sure, you can argue that they wouldn't have been in the game
at the end if Dan hadn't been the quarterback and maybe that is true.
But you can't deny that Dan made 3 critical mistakes today
that resulted in 14 points for the Patriots and ended 2 Dolphins'
drives at the Patriots' goal line.
I am not sure what to make of his performance. Perhaps the
cold affects his throwing arm, which has been sore all year. Or maybe
it's just that he had to throw 60 passes today. By the end of the day,
the passes didn't have the authority or zip on them that they have had
in the past.
Still, for all of Dan's mistakes, the Dolphins almost won this
game. And I don't have any problem with the rematch in Miami, because
I think that the Dolphins showed that they can beat the Patriots.
They have the talent, but they just can't make the mistakes.
As for Dan Marino, I don't really know what to say. I'm sure
that Dan feels worse right now than I do. And I don't think that his
playing days are over, by any means.
But today, he was not the Dan Marino that we have come to rely
on to win games for the Dolphins.
On a personal note, due to a number of commitments that I've
got to fulfill for this Thanksgiving week, there will be no Game
Analysis this week. What little I've got to say has been said above.
The preview of the upcoming game against the Raidahs will be
available by noon on Friday.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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