This game was as bad a game as the Dolphins had played all year. The fact that they only lost by a field goal is more a testament to the fact that the Bears don't have a high scoring offense than to any real competitiveness on the Dolphins' part. The Dolphins did not play well at all today and it is only by the grace of the football gods that the Dolphins lost by the score of 17-14.

You have to give the Bears credit for this game. Overmatched in talent and playing on the road, they certainly gave the Dolphins all that they could handle. But the sad truth is that the Dolphins committed mistake after mistake all day long and deserved to lose this game by a lot more than they did.

The Dolphins' starting lineup changed for this game - Larry Webster started in place of the injured Jeff Cross at left defensive end and Chris Gray started in place of Bert Weidner. I hadn't heard about any injuries to Weidner, so I'm mystified as to why Gray was starting. Also, Dwight Hollier started in place of Aubrey Beavers and OJ McDuffie was the starter at wide receiver in place of Mark Ingram, although Ingram got plenty of playing time.

And, of course, James Saxon and Irving Spikes started in place of Keith Byars and Bernie Parmalee.

Chicago took the opening kickoff at their 30, but other than an illegal contact penalty on JB Brown, were unable to move much and punted to the Dolphins at their 23. The Dolphins took the ball and mounted a drive that started with a flea flicker to Irving Fryar and went down to the Bears' 9 yard line on some nice runs by Spikes and some nice receptions by McDuffie, Jackson and Fryar. However, after a 3 yard loss on a handoff to Spikes because of some sad blocking and two incompletions, the Dolphins were forced to settle for a field goal and lead 3-0.

After the kickoff, each side had one short offensive series and punted away to the other. However, Miami had been pinned back at their 13 and the Bears started their third possession at the Miami 47 yard line. They moved down to the Dolphins' 24 on short passes and runs. There, they were stopped and appeared to be attempting a field goal on a 4th and 3.

However, it was a fake - the ball was snapped to Curtis Conway, a wide receiver and he attempted to pass. The Dolphins had read the play well, however and chased Conway across the field. In desperation, Conway heaved the ball to a covered receiver at about the Miami 8 yard line. Two defenders ( I believe they were Atkins and Stewart) leaped for the ball along with one Bear receiver. The ball was batted back into the air and fell into the arms of tight end Keith Jennings, who ran into the endzone for a touchdown, giving the Bears a 7-3 lead.

This play was actually well read by the defense and it was part luck and part very alert playing by the Bears that allowed the touchdown. However, it was one of those situations where the ball just fell in the right direction.

Unfortunately, it took some of the fight out of the Dolphins. Their next series started at the 9 yard line after a holding penalty on the kickoff. It ended with a punt after Marino badly overthrew Fryar (who was running a different pass route than Dan had expected) and Cleveland Gary tripped in the backfield. The Bears moved from their 33 to the Dolphins 35 on one long pass and some runs by Harris and Tillman, but their field goal attempt from the Dolphins 42 was wide right.

The Dolphins took over and used the running of Spikes and the receiving of Fryar to move to the 15 of the Bears, where a fumble by Cleveland Gary on third down stopped the Miami drive. The Dolphins did recover the fumble and kicked a field goal to cut the score to 7-6 in favor of Chicago.

The Bears took the kickoff at their 24 and moved down the field to the Dolphins' 39, aided by a couple of cheap penalties by the Dolphins. However, Dwight Hollier read a screen prefectly and the Bears were forced to punt from the Miami 39 to the Dolphins' 9. The Dolphins moved quickly out to their 38 on two passes to the their 38. However, 3 successive incompletions were thrown and the Dolphins punted away to the Bears' 21, where the Bears kneeled down on one play to end the first half.

The score at halftime was 7-6 in favor of Chicago, and the stats were in Miami's favor, but it was clear to me that the Bears were playing the kind of game they wanted to play, while Miami was struggling. The Dolphins commited seven penalties in the first half, giving Chicago extra yards and killing their own drives. They tended to be cheap penalties, also, like offsides and holding.

The second half opened with Spikes running the Bears' kickoff out to the 31. At this point, a severe rain shower started, soaking the field and the players. After running for 2 yards on first down, Marino hit Keith Jackson at the 40 and Jackson tried to lateral to James Saxon, who was unprepared and missed the lateral. It was a stupid play on Jackson's part and really symbolized the game play of the Dolphins all day.

The Bears were quick to return the favor, however. After two nice runs by Tillman and Harris and a reverse that took the ball down to the 22, Walsh fumbled the snap and Bowens pounced on it.

On the very next play, Marino attempted to hit Fryar deep, but threw the ball badly and it was picked off by Donnell Woolford, who ran back from deep in the Bear's territory to the Miami 36, where OJ McDuffie knocked the ball out of his hands. The ball was recovered by the Dolphins for a net gain of 12 yards. The Dolphins continued to move the ball until they got to the Chicago 47, where a penalty and a sack moved them back to their own 43 and despite a 15 yard screen pickup on 3rd down, were forced to punt down to the Bears' 3 yard line.

The Bears moved the ball out to their 34, aided by an offsides penalty on Bowens, but Bowens then redeemed himself by batting down a Steve Walsh pass and forcing the Bears to punt. Miami put together a short drive using runs by Spikes and passes to Fryar down to the Bears' 30, but couldn't get the one yard they needed on third or fourth down and turned the ball over on downs.

The Bears took the ball and proceeded to march down the field, using two passes of 26 and 24 yards to quickly move to the Miami 16. Then, a quick swing pass to Harris netted 15 and a half yards and put the ball at the Miami 1 foot line. A replay showed that the play should have been a touchdown, but it didn't matter, because the Bears put the ball over on a run by Harris from the one to take a 14-6 lead.

At this point in the game (early in the 4th quarter), the Miami defense was starting to look tired. The Bears were wearing them down with runs and short passes and by keeping the Miami offense off the field.

Miami took the ensuing kickoff at their 32 and proceeded to open the offense up with passes to Fryar, Jackson, Spikes and Ingram that moved the ball down to the Chicago 13 yard line. There, on 1st and 10, Marino tried to hit Fryar with a timing pattern in the endzone. However, the ball was underthrown enough to make it easy for Donnell Woolford to pick it off for an apparent interception. The referee ruled that Woolford came down out of bounds with the ball, but it was a very close call.

After a penalty moved the ball back to the 18, a quick pass to Fryar moved the ball back down to the 11. There, on a 3rd and 8, Marino took the snap in the shotgun and rifled the ball to Keith Jackson on the goal line, who fell in the endzone for the touchdown. Then, Aaron Craver ran the ball over for a two point conversion that had the Bears looking for a pass play. This tied the score at 14-14.

The Bears took the kickoff with 5:45 remaining and marched down the field from their 30 with a series of quick 10-15 yard passes. When they got down to the Miami 30, they ran Tillman down to the Miami 23, where the Dolphins finally stopped them with 1:04 remaining. However, Kevin Butler's field goal attempt was good, giving the Bears a 17-14 lead.

At this point, the Dolphins had no timeouts left, having taken them on the previous drive by the Bears. The kickoff was dropped by McDuffie at the 15, but he picked it up and ran to the 26. However, Chicago was offsides on the kickoff, so they were forced to rekick. Spikes took this ball and ran out to the 34, where Marino took over with :47 left to play.

Dan hit McDuffie with a 29 yard pass and then Craver for 9 more yards down to the Chicago 28 yard line. With 7 seconds remaing, Stoyanovich came in to try and tie the game. However, he hit the kick a little low, and Chicago's James Williams got a big hand up and knocked the kick down, to end the game with a 17-14 Chicago victory.

The truth is that the Dolphins didn't deserve to win this game. It was, in a way, a replay of the Bills game earlier in the year. The offense, in particular, sputtered and lurched along as if on drugs. The play calling was inconsistent and the Bears seemed to know what was coming most of the day.

But I think that the biggest failure was on the offensive line of the Dolphins. The Bears got some good pressure on Marino and when the Dolphins really needed the line to open up holes for Spikes, they couldn't do it. The Bears have the worst defense in the league against the run and, while the Dolphins are missing Parmalee and Byars, they should have been able to do more against them. Instead, they didn't come out fighting - they came out sleeping.

Give the Bears credit for coming out fighting, playing tough and never giving up. But give the Dolphins credit for assuming that they would be able to brush the Bears aside and move on without having to play them. I am really disappointed in my team, today. They didn't deserve to win this game - and they didn't.