*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Dec 08, 1997: -- Dolphins Beat Lions 33-30 --
The Dolphins jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the second quarter
against the Detroit Lions tonight in Miami, but had trouble holding on
to that lead as the Lions came back late in the game to tie it up with
just about a minute left to play. However, that was enough time for
the Dolphins to drive down the field and set up a winning 41 yard
field goal as time expired. It was a tough, physical game and both
teams played well in a nail-biter that reflected well on each team.
The Lions, of course, relied on Barry Sanders and he had a
great night. But while Herman Moore was a factor, their other receiver
Johnny Morton really shone in this game and was devastating throughout
the evening. The Lions have an awesome offense and might have won
this game except for turnovers. The Dolphins forced and recovered 5
turnovers from the Lions - 2 fumbles, a muffed punt and 2
interceptions.
The Dolphins, for their part, relied mostly on Dan Marino,
although Abdul-Jabbar did have another touchdown to add to his total
for the year. Mostly, thought, it was a Marino night. He completed
24 of 39 for 310 yards, with 2 touchdown (both to Troy Drayton) but
had an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
The Dolphins' defense started Calvin Jackson at right corner
in place of Sam Madison, who was slowed by an ankle injury. At
safety, the Dolphins started George Teague and Corey Harris because
Shawn Wooden was nursing a torn muscle in his forearm. However, the
defensive hero of the night was Terrell Buckley who had 2
interceptions and would have had a third, except for a penalty.
In the first half, it was mostly an offensive show. On the
opening drive, Marino completed 3 passes for 68 of the 70 yards that
the drive covered, including a 27 yard touchdown pass to Drayton right
down the middle. It was a Marino masterpiece. The Lions answered on
their first drive with Barry Sanders and drove down to the Dolphins' 8
yard line, but Sanders was stopped twice in a row for no gain at the 8
and the Lions were forced to settle for a field goal and a 7-3 score
in favor of the Dolphins.
On the Dolphins' second drive, they added some Karim
Abdul-Jabbar to the mix and Abdul-Jabbar rushed 7 times on this drive
for 27 yards and a 1 yard touchdown run at the end of the drive.
Jordan had a 20 yard catch, while McDuffie had 2 catches and Drayton
added another as the Dolphins stretched their lead to 14-3.
The Lions answered in kind, driving through the end of the
first quarter and into the second, all the way down to the Dolphins' 2
yard line. However, Mitchell fumbled a handoff at the Dolphins' 2
that was recovered by Shane Burton and that stopped the Lions' second
drive. Miami took over at their 4 and got out to the 35 on a pass
interference call, but stalled there and punted to the Lions, who took
over on their 27.
However, on their first play from scrimmage, Trace Armstrong
slipped his block to the inside and nailed Mitchell in the backfield.
He promptly fumbled and Jason Taylor was there to fall on the ball and
give the Dolphins a first down at the Lions' 18. The Dolphins used
the run and a short pass to move to the 2, but had to settle for a
field goal and a 17-3 lead after a timing pattern to Perriman was
disrupted on 3rd down.
The Lions took the kickoff and, starting at their 12, moved 88
yards in 10 plays all the way down for a 7 yard touchdown run by Barry
Sanders. The highlights of this drive were a 20 yard draw play by
Sanders and a 40 yard completion to Johnny Morton after Buckley
slipped in coverage. This cut the Dolphins' lead to 17-10, but with
56 seconds left to play in the half, Marino marched the Dolphins down
to the Lion 16, mostly on a 20 yard completion to Perriman and a nice
25 yard sideline route to Lamar Thomas. Olindo Mare then hit a 33
yard field goal as time in the first half expired that left the score
20-10 in favor of the Dolphins at halftime.
At the end of the first half, it looked pretty much like it
was going to be a shootout. Both teams had moved the ball very, very
well and each looked unstoppable. Except for 2 fumbles by the Lions,
the score might have been much higher. Barry Sanders had 86 yards on
15 carries, while Marino was 14 of 20 for 187 yards and a touchdown.
The second half opened with the Lions going 3 and out after
Herman Moore dropped a perfectly thrown sideline pass from Mitchell
and Sanders was dropped for a loss on his first carry of the 2nd
half. The Dolphins tried to block the Lions' punt and actually got a
partial block by Jerry Wilson that gave the Dolphins good field
position at the 50. However, the Dolphins went 3 and out after 2
dropped passes and a tipped ball and Kidd punted back to Detroit.
On this punt, the ball bounced and hit a Detroit player in the
foot at about the 18 yard line and OJ Brigance jumped on the ball,
recovering it for the Dolphins. The Dolphins moved from the 18 to the
7 on a short pass to Pritchett and some running by Abdul-Jabbar, but
again stalled at the Detroit 4 and the Dolphins took another field
goal and a 23-10 lead.
The Lions took the kickoff and after a 12 yard run by Sanders,
Buckley stepped in front of a Scott Mitchell pass and picked it off.
However, the interception was nullified by a penalty on Buckley before
the pass and instead of the Dolphins getting the ball, the Lions
retained possession. The Lions didn't waste this opportunity, driving
down the field on runs by Sanders and Vardell and then a 35 yard
touchdown pass to Johnny Morton. Corey Harris actually had good
coverage on this play, but didn't get his head turned around in time
and Morton reached in front of Harris and caught the ball in the
endzone. This cut the score to 23-16 after the Lions botched an extra
point attempt when a poor snap forced the holder to try and get up and
convert for 2 points.
Following this score, the Dolphins and the Lions each went
three and out and traded punts. Then Miami got the ball back at their
28 and after Jordan caught a nice slant and Abdul-Jabbar rambled off 9
yards, the Dolphins had moved to a 3rd and 3 at the Lions' 43.
However, when Marino tried to hit Lamar Thomas on the quick slant for
a first down, Bryant Westbrook cut in front of Thomas and picked off
Marino and then raced 64 yards untouched for a touchdown. This time,
the holder bobbled the snap and the ball bounced off the upright.
This did cut the lead to 23-22, in favor of Miami.
It was now early in the 4th quarter and Miami went 3 and out
again following the kickoff. The Lions got the ball back at their 24
following a punt, but after moving to their 32, Terrell Buckley
spotted a short route to Herman Moore and cut in front of Moore,
picking off Mitchell's pass and returning it to the Lions 37. The
Dolphins did nothing on 1st or 2nd down, but when facing a 3rd and 15
(after Webb was penalized for a false start on 3rd and 10), Marino
scrambled forward out of the pocket under pressure and dumped the ball
off to McPhail, who picked up enough for a 1st down at the 24. On the
very next play, Marino faked the handoff right and rolled to his left,
finding Drayton deep at about the 10 and Drayton turned and ran into
the endzone for his 2nd touchdown of the night. This play pushed the
Dolphins' lead to 8 points in a 30-22 ballgame.
The Lions started at their 20 after the kickoff and after a
short run and a short pass, Mitchell tried to hit Johnny Morton down
the right sideline. However, Terrell Buckley had perfect coverage on
Morton and picked off the pass, returning the ball to the 50 yard
line. The Dolphins' offense failed to capitalize on this opportunity
as Abdul-Jabbar ran 3 times in a row, but only got 9 yards. Kidd then
punted from the Lions' 41 and Jerry Wilson ran under the punt and
caught the ball at the Lions' 4 yard line.
Now, with 5:32 remaining in the game, the Lions began driving
96 yards in 13 plays all the way down to the Dolphins 16. The most
important plays were 17 and 14 yard passes to Morton and a 13 yard
pass to Metzelaars, along with an 11 yard run by Sanders. The final
play was a 16 yard pass play, where Herman Moore clearly pushed off on
Calvin Jackson, turned and made the catch and then dove into the
endzone to cut the score to 30-28. The Lions made a 2 point
conversion to tie the game when Moore again pushed at Calvin Jackson
and turned and caught Mitchell's pass. The Dolphins had called a
blitz on this play, but it never got to Mitchell.
But at this point, the Lions had made a tactical mistake.
They had left 1:14 on the clock and Marino had all his timeouts left.
After the kickoff, Marino started at the Dolphins' 22 and hit a 19
yard pass to McDuffie, followed by a 9 yarder to Perriman that moved
the ball all the way to the 50. Now, with 41 seconds left, Marino hit
Bernie Parmalee with a short dump pass that Parmalee turned into a 17
yard gain down to the Lion 33. The Dolphins called a draw to McPhail,
followed by a short pass to Parmalee and then another draw to McPhail
got the ball down to the Lion 24, where Miami called it's last timeout
with 4 seconds remaining on the clock. From there, Olindo Mare' came
in and drilled a high, deep kick almost right down the middle to win
the game 33-30.
My Comments:
Overall, it was a pretty good win for the team. Offensively,
the Dolphins played pretty well against one of the better defenses in
the league. They ended up with 391 yards of total offense and while
they didn't rack up a lot of rushing yards, they did force the Lions
to respect the run enough to keep some of the pressure off of Marino.
Marino was knocked down some, but was not sacked in this game.
The defense did not stop the Lions' offense all that well,
giving up 424 total yards, but did manage to come up with 4 turnovers,
some in key situations. Their pass rush was largely ineffective
against Mitchell, except for a few places, and the coverage allowed
Johnny Morton and Herman Moore a lot of room to run for much of the
game.
Special teams played some outstanding football, recovering a
muffed punt, downing the ball at the 4 yard line and keeping Glyn
Milburn in check.
Jason Taylor did bruise his quadricep in the game and Charles
Jordan had some problems with pulled muscles, but as far as I know,
there were no major injuries in this game.
And for those who just can't stand the suspence - Lawrence
Phillips was active for this game, but didn't carry the ball once.
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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