*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Dec 23, 1997: -- Dolphins Lose to Patriots 14-12 --
The Dolphins lost the AFC East Division Championship tonight
to the New England Patriots in a game where the Dolphins controlled
the football almost twice as long as the Patriots, held them to 207
yards of total offense and won the turnover battle. But they
couldn't overcome the worst officiating I have ever seen and lost
14-12 to the Patriots in Miami.
The Dolphins dominated this game from the beginning, but 4
terrible calls by the referees took the game back from the Dolphins
and gave it to the Patriots. The referees took away a total of 9
points from the Dolphins on bad calls and allowed the Patriots to
score on a drive that should have been stopped on a fumble.
The Patriots started the game without Curtis Martin, who was
inactive and although Terry Glenn played some, he sat out the second
half after aggravating his hamstring. For the Dolphins, Charles
Jordan didn't play.
The Patriots got the ball first in the game, but throughout
the first half, they never even crossed the 50 yard line. The
Dolphins' defense was tenacious and tough, stuffing the running game
and maintaining excellent pass coverage on the receivers. The 2 times
that Bledsoe was sacked in this game were both coverage sacks.
The Dolphins generated a lot of offense in the first half,
controlling the ball for 19 minutes, but a series of all-too-familiar
mistakes, such as dropped passes and stupid penalties halted the
Dolphins' offense when it got close.
Also, the Patriots' blitzing schemes were not well diagnosed
by the offense and Marino was under constant pressure all night long.
The offensive line and backs did not do a good job adjusting to the
Patriots' schemes. This caused the Dolphins to give up 4 sacks and
Marino was constantly being pressured.
The Dolphins were driving consistently enough to give Mare' 3
opportunities for field goals and he hit two of them from 50 and 42
yards and missed a 51 yarder.
However, the key moment of the first half was decided by the
referees instead of the players. With less than 2 minutes remaining
in the first half, Bledsoe hit Shawn Jefferson with a pass in the left
flat and Jefferson was swarmed on by 3 Dolphins' defensive backs. Sam
Madison stripped the ball from Jefferson and Jerry Wilson picked up
the loose ball and ran it back for what appeared to be a touchdown.
The referees, after conferring for an eternity, ruled that Jefferson
had fumbled and that Wilson had recovered, but that the ball was down
at the spot of the fumble.
This ruling didn't make any sense and the Dolphins were forced
to accept the ball at the Patriot 36, instead of getting a touchdown.
Richmond Webb then committed a false start, moving the Dolphins back 5
yards and the Dolphins ended up attempting another field goal, but
this one was no good from 51 yards.
In the second half, the Dolphins came out flat in the 3rd
quarter and did nothing on offense, while allowing the Patriots to put
together their first scoring drive of the night. This drive was
mostly short passes, but the key play was a dump pass to Meggett where
Anthony Harris was in coverage, but slipped and fell and that allowed
Meggett to go to the Dolphins' 2 yard line.
Following that Patriots touchdown, the score stood at 7-6 in
favor of the Patriots. The next couple of series were short and ended
in punts, but the Patriots got the ball at the end of the 3rd quarter
and began driving. However, at this point, with a 2nd and 2 at the
Dolphin 40, the Patriots' Derrick Cullors fumbled and the ball was
recovered by the Dolphins. Replay clearly showed him fumbling. The
referees, however, ruled that it was not a fumble - that he was down -
and the Patriots went on to score their 2nd touchdown of the night on
a run by Dave Meggett. This gave them a 14-6 lead.
Marino took over on the next drive and pushed the Dolphins all
the way down to the Patriots' 8, where he found Lamar Thomas on the
sideline. Thomas caught the ball and shook off Ty Law just long
enough to turn upfield and race into the endzone. This cut the lead
to 14-12 and the Dolphins went for a 2 point conversion. Karim
Abdul-Jabbar lunged ahead behind Tim Ruddy and got into the endzone,
but the play was nullified by a holding penalty on Richmond Webb.
Replay, however, showed that Webb was not holding illegally.
But the Dolphins were pushed back to the 12 yard line and had
to try again. Marino tried to hit McPhail on a crossing route, but
McPhail was held by the Patriots' linebacker at the line of scrimmage
and couldn't get into his route. The referees didn't call that
holding, however, and McPhail couldn't get to the ball.
Following the Dolphins' kickoff, there were now less than 4
minutes in the game. The Dolphins' defense did it's job, however, and
held the Patriots to 3 and out. The Patriots punted, but Tupa shanked
the punt and it went out at the Patriots' 47 yard line.
At this point, there were just under 2 minutes remaining and
the Dolphins had the ball at the Patriots' 47 trailing by 2. However,
after a 5 yard gain on 1st down, a Marino pass was batted down at the
line of scrimmage, leaving the Dolphins with a 3rd and 5 at the
Patriot 42.
Then the Dolphins made their worst mistake of the evening.
I don't know if it was Marino's fault or Ruddy's fault, but with a 3rd
and 5 at the Patriot 42, Ruddy either snapped the ball early or Marino
just didn't handle it, because the snap bounced off Marino's chest and
rolled behind him. He managed to fall on the ball, but he lost 10
yards doing so and on 4th and 15, the Patriots blitzed and got through
to Marino, who basically heaved the ball up for grabs down the middle,
where it was intercepted.
The Patriots would go 3 and out on their next series, but by
the time the Dolphins got the ball back, they got it at their 16
after a punt with 10 seconds remaining in the game and that just
wasn't enough.
The Dolphins have ended their regular season with a final
record of 9-7, which is a winning record, but a diappointing one. JJ
had set a goal of winning the division at the beginning of the year
and the Dolphins didn't do that.
The Dolphins now have to travel to Foxboro and try to do what
they've been unable to do this year - beat the Patriots. The Patriots
are very beatable, but unless the Dolphins can protect Dan Marino
better against their blitzes, the Dolphins don't stand a chance next
Sunday.
My Comments:
I am so angry right now, I could chew steel. To play as well
as they did, with all the emotion and fire and to have the game ripped
from their grasp by not one, not two, not even three, but four bad
calls is appalling. When is the NFL going to wake up and realize that
the game just progresses too fast for the refs to keep up with? When
are they going to bring back instant replay?
Referees should not be deciding the outcome of games. Players
on the field and coaches should decide the games.
I have never before blamed a Dolphins' loss on poor
officiating, but the Dolphins lost this game because of referee
mistakes. It is just terrible.
I must be honest and confess that I don't hold out much hope
that the Dolphins will beat the Patriots next weekend in Foxboro. The
major problem is that the Dolphins' blocking schemes don't account
well for the Patriots' blitzes and the Dolphins coaching staff seems
unwilling or unable to fix that. And unless they fix that, the
Dolphins don't have much chance next weekend.
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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