The second meeting of the Dolphins and Patriots was surprising to me only in the fact that the Patriots were favored going in to the game. Whoever or whatever determines the odds had made the Patriots a one and a half point favorite over the Dolphins. I can only assume that the odds makers and betters figured that we were in for another shootout like the first game and that, because the game was in Foxboro, the Patriots would pull it out.

However, this game turned out to be exactly the opposite of the first game, with defense and running playing the most important parts in the 23-3 victory for the Dolphins. Both teams had their wide receivers pretty much shut down for the duration of the game, but Miami still had Bernie Parmalee and Keith Byars to turn to, while the Patriots had no one. In fact, the headline in the Sports section of the Boston Globe today was "Nothing Doing".

The game started with the Dolphins kicking off to the Patriots 5 yard line, where Leroy Thompson returned the ball out to the 25. The Patriots started by trying to run the ball, but they only managed 3 yards on two carries in their first drive. However, passes to Coates and Timpson did move the ball up to the Dolphins 47, where pressure from Cross and Coleman stopped the Patrios on 3rd down and they were forced to punt.

After McDuffie made a fair catch at the 15, the Dolphins started their first possession with a handoff to Parmalee. The Dolphins moved out to their 45 on short passes to Jackson, Byars and a couple of Parmalee runs. However, on 3rd down and 4 at their own 45, Marino tried to force a pass to OJ McDuffie and failed to see a charging Harlon Barnett, who cut in front of McDuffie to pick off the pass and return it to the Dolphins' 45.

The Patriots then ran the ball 4 times in a row and uncharacteristicly managed to gain 20 yards (which would be half their total rushing yardage for the game). However, after a false start set the Patriots back 5 yards and a 3rd down pass attempt to Kevin Turner fell incomplete, the Patriots were forced to try a 47 yard field goal. But Matt Bahr was on target, and the Patriots lead 3-0.

The kickoff was taken at the 5 by OJ, and returned to the Dolphins' 21 yard line, where the Dolphins sputtered through a dropped pass by Fryar, a short gain by Keith Jackson and a fumble by Parmalee on a handoff that Parmalee recovered for a loss of one yard. Needless to say, the Dolphins punted the ball back to the Patriots, who made a fair catch at their own 31 yard line.

The Patriots started by running Marion Butts around right tackle for 14 yards, but on the next play, Tim Bowens knifed through the offense and tackled Butts for a 4 yard loss. After a false start and a short pass, the Dolphins got pressure up the middle on Bledsoe, forcing him to scramble. Bledsoe managed to scramble for 7 yards, but wound up short of the first down. Then, on 4th and 2, the Patriots lined up in punt formation but switched quickly to put Scott Zolak under center and appeared to be going for it on 4th down. However, the play clock ran out and the Patriots were penalized for taking too much time. I don't know if they were actually planning on going for it or whether they were trying to get the Dolphins to jump offsides, but the Patriots ended up punting from their own 48 yard line.

McDuffie took the punt at the 12 and could only manage to get back to the 15 before being downed. Then Irving Spikes entered the game. Unfortunately, on his first play, someone forgot to block Todd Collins and Spikes was knocked down for a 4 yard loss. Then, after one incompletion and one near interception that probably would have gone for a touchdown if it had been caught, the Dolphins were forced to punt again.

The Patriots took the punt at their 38 and ran it back to the Dolphins' 49. However, after running once for no yards and having a ball batted down by a blitzing Bryan Cox, the first quarter ended with the Patriots facing a 3rd and 10 at the Dolphins 49.

The second quarter started with a short pass by the Patriots and a punt, which was taken on a fair catch by McDuffie at the Dolphins 9 yard line. The Dolphins began moving with a 13 yard pass to Jackson, followed up by two nice runs by Parmalee. After an incomplete pass, Marino hit Keith Jackson for 9 yards and finally found Irving Fryar for 26 yards down to the Patriot 29 yard line. But there, the Dolphins sputtered by tossing 2 incomplete passes and only getting 2 yards on a run by Parmalee. This left them with 4th and 7 at the Patriots 27 and Pete Stoyanovich was called on to attempt a 44 yard field goal. Pete was perfect on the day, however, and nailed this one to tie the score at 3-3.

The ensuing kickoff was taken at the Patriot 7 and run back to the 29 yard line. After a 4 yard run by Blair Thomas, Bledsoe stepped back and overthrew Ben Coates just a little - but it was enough to allow the ball to wind up in the hands of Gene Atkins for the first Dolphins interception of the night. Atkins managed to run the ball back to the 50 and the Dolphins started back on offense from the 50.

The Dolphins started with a 5 yard run by Parmalee, but 2 successive penalties pushed them back to their own 40. However, on 2d down and 20, Keith Byars caught a quick pass on a crossing route and got the first down with a 21 yard gain. Parmalee added 6 more yards on a couple of runs, but Keith Jackson dropped a third down pass and the Dolphins were forced to try a 50 yard field goal from the Patriots 33. Pistol Pete was perfect again to give the Dolphins a 6-3 lead.

After the Patriots ran the kickoff back to the 30, Bryan Cox tackled Blair Thomas in the backfield for a 4 yard loss on first down. On second down, Cross tackled Thomas for another loss and after an incompletion on third down, the Patriots punted to the Dolphins.

The Dolphins started at their own 34 after a 4 yard punt return and after a couple of nice runs by Parmalee and a nice reception by Keith Jackson, the Dolphins sputtered and stalled and were forced to punt from their 41. The Patriots called for a fair catch at their 12.

On this series, the Patriots got a first down out to the 23 on 4 short plays, including a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1. However, after a short pass reception by Leroy Thompson gave the Patriots a 2d and 7 at the 26 yard line, Bledsoe dropped back to pass on 2d down. On this play, Coleman, Webster and Veasey all got free of their blockers and were descending on Bledsoe when he let the ball go. Jeff Cross stuck a big hand up and swatted the ball in the air and then turned around and caught the ball as it fell. Cross's interception gave the Dolphins the ball at the Patriots 29 with the half almost over.

The Dolphins moved the ball methodically down to the Patriots 5 yard line on a series of short passes to Keith Byars and Bernie Parmalee. After Parmalee got down to the one yard line on first and goal, Marino crossed the Patriots up by handing off to Keith Byars, who twisted his way up the middle into the endzone to give the Dolphins a 13-3 lead just before the half.

The Dolphins did kick off to the Patriots with a squib kick that gave them a first down at their own 41, but the Patriots elected to kneel down and end the half.

Overall, the Dolphins' defense played a very good first half, not allowing the Patriots to get anything going. The offense got off to a slow start, making a number of mistakes, but managed to come through at the end of the half to take a nice lead. The Patriots managed just 49 yards passing in the first half.

The second half kickoff was taken by the Dolphins at their 5 yard line and McDuffie ran it back to the 28. There, the Dolphins handed off to Parmalee three times in a row and he responded with carries of 10, 13 and 2 yards. After Byars caught an 8 yard pass for another first down, the Dolphins had the ball at the Patriot 40. However, after two penalties set the Dolphins back 15 yards and a short pass only netted 5 yards, the Dolphins were faced with a 2d and 20 at the 50. The Patriots brought a full blitz on the next play, forcing Marino to throw it away.

Now the Dolphins faced a third and 20 from the 50. The Patriots called another blitz on this play, bringing both safeties. This time, however, Miami was ready. Marino tossed a quick pass to Mike Williams slanting over the middle - a middle vacated by both Patriot safeties on the blitz. Williams hauled in the short pass and scampered 22 yards for a first down.

This play was the final nail in the Patriots' coffin. The Patriots had the Dolphins stopped and then let them get 22 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive. You could see the fight go out of the Patriots at this point.

With a first down at the Patriot 28, it only took three plays - a 15 yards pass to Byars, a 6 yard run by Parmalee and a 7 yard touchdown pass to Byars to put the Dolphins up 20-3. On the touchdown, the offensive guards pulled and ran left, with Parmalee following them. The Patriot defense followed them. However, Marino and Byars had rolled right and it was easy for Marino to hit Byars for the score.

Miami kicked off to the Patriots, who returned the ball from the 9 to the 27. A series of short passes moved the ball out to the Dolphins 49 yard line, but consistent pressure and a near interception by Troy Vincent stifled the Patriots. The Patriots decided to go for it on 4th down, but couldn't get it done and the Dolphins took over on downs.

From the Dolphins 44, Parmalee ran for 18 yards on 2 carries down to the Patriots 38. However, on 2nd and 8, Marino overthrew no one and the ball landed in the hands of Harlon Barnett, who returned the interception to the Patriots 31 yard line. Either someone ran the wrong route or Marino didn't know which route the players were supposed to run, because there wasn't a Dolphin within 20 yards of the ball.

The Patriots started at their 31 and, on two quick passes, moved to the Dolphins' 46. But then Bledsoe threw two incompletions and Singleton diagnosed a screen and stopped it for no gain, leaving the Patriots with a 4th and 9. The Patriots elected to go for it and the defensive line of the Dolphins rose to the occassion, with Jeff Cross, Craig Veasey and Larry Webster all broke through their blocks and swarmed over Bledsoe for the sack.

The Dolphins took over at the Patriot 45 and ran and shovel-passed their way down to the Patriot 30, where the third quarter ended.

The fourth quarter started with the Dolphins having a 1st and 10 at the Patriot 30. After Parmalee rushed for 7 and 2 yards, the Dolphins faced a 3rd and 1 at the 21. On this play, Fryar appeared to catch a 13 yard pass, but was called for offensive pass interference that pushed the Dolphins back to the 31. After the next pass went incomplete, Stoyonovich was called on again to attempt a 48 yard field goal that was good. The Dolphins lead 23-3.

The Patriots got a nice kickoff return to the 33 yard line and moved, on a series of passes up the field to the Dolphins 31 yard line. However, on third and 1 at the Dolphins 31, the Patriots decided to go for the touchdown. However, the receiver ran the wrong pattern and the play fake fooled no one, so when Bledsoe lofted the ball into the corner of the endzone, Troy Vincent was there to pick it off and end the Patriots threat.

The Dolphins started the next series by letting Bert Weidner sit down and putting Chris Gray in at right guard. They ran the ball 9 times in a row ( 4 times by Parmalee, once by Byars and 3 times by Spikes - and a shovel pass to Parmalee) and were moving pretty well, but a holding call on Gray stopped the drive at the Dolphins 42 yard line.

The Dolphins punted back to the Patriots, who replaced Bledsoe with Scott Zolak at this point and tried to put something together with the new quarterback. The best they could do was to move 21 yards down to the Dolphins 45 yard line, where an incomplete pass ended the Patriots possession on 4th down.

With time running out, Bernie Kosar and Cleveland Gary came in for the Dolphins, and Kosar handed off to Gary 4 times in a row for 8 yards, finally turning the ball over on downs with only 30 seconds left in the game.

The Patriots ran 3 more plays before the clock ran out, but they didn't even try the hail mary pass, instead opting to throw 3 short passes, two of which fell incomplete.

The game ended with a 23-3 Miami victory that left Bill Parcells saying that he was "embarassed" by the way his team had played. They were completely dominated in almost every aspect of the game. The only thing that they managed to do well was to take the Dolphins' wide receivers out of the game. Dolphins wide receivers totalled just 3 catches for 54 yards. Ingram and McDuffie were without any catches and Fryar had only 2.

However, Keith Byars and Keith Jackson combined for 14 receptions, 123 yards and 1 touchdown. And, of course, Bernie Parmalee ran for 123 yards and caught passes for another 21. Parmalee now owns the Dolphins' record for most rushing yards gained in two consecutive games with 273. The previous record was held by Mercury Morris. That's damn good company.

The defense continued to play well, with Cox becoming more comfortable at middle linebacker and Troy Vincent obviously having recovered fully from his injury. And once again, the defensive line had a fine game, putting pressure up the middle and getting in Bledsoe's face all day - not to mention the tipped ball and interception by Jeff Cross. The defense held the best passing offense in the league to 142 yards passing and came up with 3 interceptions.

As for injuries - I held my breath in the fourth quarter when I heard the announcers say that J.B.Brown was down on the field, but he came back to play later in the game, so he is all right. There didn't seem to be any serious injuries in this game.

In this game, the Dolphins overcame a slow offensive start to out-muscle and play the Patriots. The defense really is starting to play like they should and the offense has shown that they are no longer dependant on just one aspect of the game. Now they have Bernie Parmalee, who probably will get another game ball this week for his performance yesterday - although you could also give it to Keith Byars.

All in all, it was a complete win against a division rival and another step on the road to the playoffs.

Curt

Curt (go indy) Fennell, ABB "DOLFAN in New England" '72 Dolphins - 17-0 -- Dolphins Mailing List Subscriptions = dolphins-request@ai.mit.edu