To preface this narrative, the Dolphins were 2-2 and coming off the bye week. They had won two tough games at home, followed by two disappointing losses on the road. For Sunday, the following players were inactive for the Dolphins: K Joe Nedney, WR Qadry Ismail, QB Damon Huard, G Keith Sims, OL Brent Smith, WR Brian Manning, FB Jim Kitts and FB Stanley Pritchett.

FIRST QUARTER:

The game began with Olindo Mare' kicking off for the Dolphins, even though he was listed as questionable as late as Saturday after pulling a hamstring on Wednesday. However, his first kickoff sailed out of the endzone in the air and the Chiefs started at their own 20 yard line after the touchback.

On their first play from scrimmage, the Chiefs pulled a play-action fake as Grbac hit the tight end Popson for 16 yards out to the Chiefs' 36. A quick 5 yard pass to Perriman on 1st down was followed by a 1 yard run by Greg Hill on 2nd down and the Chiefs faced a 3rd and 4 from their 42. On this play, Grbac hit a 14 yard pass to Anders for a 1st down at the Dolphin 44. On the next play, the Chiefs tried to run Greg Hill, but Tim Bowens broke through the block and hit Hill for a 6 yard loss back to the 50.

Now facing a 2nd and 16 from the 50, the Chiefs tried a draw to Hill which end for 5 yards and on 3rd and 11, the Chiefs went back to Anders in the left flat, but Corey Harris took him down right after the catch for a 6 yard gain that left the Chiefs with 4th and 5 from the Dolphin 39.

Showing little respect for the Dolphins, the Chiefs went for it on 4th and 5, but a screen to Kimble Anders was diagnosed perfectly by Jason Taylor who was right on top of Anders and took him down for a 6 yard loss, and giving the ball over to the Dolphins on downs.

On their first possession, starting at their own 45, the Dolphins came out passing as Marino tried to hit McDuffie on a quick inside slant, but badly underthrew the ball into the ground. On 2nd and 10, Abdul-Jabbar ran for just 1 yard and on 3rd and 9, Marino attempted to hit Jordan, but the ball was slightly behind Jordan and Jordan couldn't hold on even though he was open and got both hands on the ball.

The Dolphins punted on 4th and 9 from their 46 and the ball sailed into the endzone for a touchback. The Chiefs started from their 20 with a 4 yard run by Anders to the 24, but on 2nd and 6, Darryl Gardener got past his block and took down Greg Hill in the backfield for a 2 yard loss, leaving the Chiefs facing 3rd and 8 from their 22.

The next play was another screen pass to Kimble Anders, but this time he dropped the ball and the Chiefs punted from their own 22 on 4th down. The punt sailed high and bounced in front of Charles Jordan at the Dolphin 40, but Jordan gathered it in and attempted a return. He was taken down almost immediately, but the referees took exception to the forearm that was applied to Jordan's head by the Chiefs' Bobby Houston and the Chiefs were penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness back to their own 45.

The Dolphins started this series with a 25 yard pass to McDuffie who was crossing deep over the middle. With a 1st and 10 at the Chiefs' 20, Abdul-Jabbar could only get one yard, but even that was nullified by a holding penalty on McIver that set the Dolphins back to a 1st and 20 at the Chiefs' 30. Once again, Marino hit McDuffie for 18 yards down to the 12 and with 2nd and 2 at the 12, the Dolphins again ran Abdul-Jabbar for just one yard down to about the ten and a half yard line.

Now facing 3rd and short at the 10 and a half, the Dolphins did what they have been trying to do all year. They ran Abdul-Jabbar behind the left guard and the line opened up a hole on the left side that broke Abdul Jabbar through. He ran through 2 tackling attempts on his way straight to the endzone and the Dolphins were ahead 7-0.

Following the extra point, Mare' kicked off to Vanover, who took the ball 2 yards deep in the endzone and returned it out to about the 20, where he was hit by Sam Madison and fumbled. The ball squirted forward into a bunch of players and it first appeared that the Dolphins had it, but the Chiefs' Danan Hughes came up with the ball and gave the Chiefs a 1st and 10 at their 25.

The Chiefs started with a 7 yard pass to Andre Rison, followed by a 3 yard run by Hill for an apparent 1st down. However, a holding penalty on Perriman nullified the play and the Chiefs were faced with a 2nd and 10 from their 25. Anders managed to gain 8 yards around right end to the Chiefs' 33, but on 3rd and 2, the Dolphins had good coverage and put enough pressure on Grbac that he was forced to throw the ball away. Facing a 4th and 2, the Chiefs punted.

Aguiar's punt was taken by Jordan at the Dolphins' 27 and he returned it to the 37. The Dolphins went 3 and out on the next series when a run of 0 yards, followed by a run of -4 yards left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 14 and Marino couldn't connect with Barnett on 3rd down, so the Dolphins punted back to the Chiefs' Vanover, who returned the ball from the Chiefs' 25 to their 35.

From the 35, Darryl Gardener made a nice stop of Marcus Allen on 1st down for no gain, but the Chiefs opened up a nice hole for Allen on 2nd down and he gained 10 yards and gave the Chiefs a 1st and 10 at their own 45. They went to Allen one more time for 2 yards to give themselves a 2nd and 8 at their 47. At this point, the 1st quarter ended with the Dolphins ahead 7-0.

At this point, I was shaking my head a little. Except for a couple of passes to McDuffie and the one nice run by Abdul-Jabbar, the offense still seemed to be having the same problems. The defense was playing well, but that was to change in the 2nd quarter.

SECOND QUARTER:

The Chiefs started the 2nd quarter with a 2nd and 8 at their own 47. A quick dump pass to Anders got them 7 yards to the Dolphin 46 and on 3rd and 1, Marcus Allen dove over the top of the line for 3 yards to the 43 and a 1st down. A 1st down pass to Rison was overthrown, followed by an attempt to hit Vanover on 2nd down on the sideline deep, but he was well covered by Buckley and the pass sailed out of bounds. Facing a 3rd and 10, the Chiefs protected Grbac well and he stood in the pocket a long time until Perriman broke free and he hit Perriman for 15 yards and 1st and 10 at the Miami 28.

From there, Marcus Allen scooted for 5 yards on 1st down to the 23 and then a reverse to Vanover got 6 more yards to the Dolphin 17 and another 1st down. From there, Anders got 1 yard on a run, but on 2nd down, Grbac found Andre Rison all alone crossing the back of the endzone for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie.

Replay showed that no one was open when Grbac first looked to pass, but there was no pressure on him at all and he rolled to his right, looking for someone to get open. Rison had been going on a deep post pattern to the middle from the right to the left, but when he saw Grbac roll out, he reversed back to the right. Buckley had decent coverage on Rison until Rison reversed and Buckley's foot went out from under him, spilling him to the ground. This left Rison all alone crossing the endzone for the touchdown.

The Chiefs kicked off to Irving Spikes, who took the ball at the 6 and returned it 19 yards to the Dolphins 25, where the offense took over. On 1st down, Abdul-Jabbar ran up the middle for 4 yards, followed by a 5 yard gain for him, again up the middle on 2nd down. Now faced with a 3rd and 1 at their own 34, the Dolphins again tried to run Abdul-Jabbar outside to the left, but either Drayton or Parmalee or someone missed a block and Abdul-Jabbar was crushed in the backfield for a 3 yard loss, leaving the Dolphins with a 4th and 4 at their own 31.

Kyle Richardson shanked his punt and the ball went out of bounds after just 23 yards, giving the Chiefs a 1st and 10 at their own 46. On this play, Marcus Allen ran for 4 yards, which was followed immediately by Vanover on another reverse, this time for 17 yards down to the Miami 33.

On 1st and 10, the Chiefs went to Greg Hill, but Zach made a nice play, taking him down after only 2 yards. However, on 2nd and 8, the Chiefs ran Donnell Bennett up the gut for 8 yards to the Dolphins' 23 and a 1st down. After a 2 yard run left the Chiefs with a 2nd and 8 at the Dolphins' 21, Grbac dropped back to pass, this time finding the tight end Tony Gonzalez all alone on a seam route right down the middle. Gonzalez had gotten behind Shawn Wooden and hauled in the 21 yard pass for a touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 14-7 lead.

On this play, Wooden got a little confused because the Chiefs had flooded his area and he looked like he was trying to cover two guys at once. After the play, he was pointing upfield at one of his teammates and talking as if he was trying to ask who was supposed to help out with the coverage.

In any case, it was a well executed route by their tight end, but it was a play that would come back to haunt the Chiefs because the Dolphins would use the same play later in the game to great effect.

On the kickoff, Jerris McPhail took the ball 2 yards deep in the endzone, but elected to run it out. He was stopped at the 15, but Bracey Walker was called for an illegal block on the play and the ball was placed at the Dolphins' 5 yard line. With a 1st and 10 at their 5, the Dolphins ran Abdul-Jabbar for 2 yards first and then on 2nd and 8 from their 7, Marino lofted a perfect timing pass up the left sideline and Troy Drayton ran under it with a fine catch for a 27 yard gain. It was about as pretty a pattern and throw as the Dolphins have had this year.

Now with a 1st and 10 at their 34, the Dolphins ran their own reverse to Charles Jordan who broke through for 16 yards up the left side to the 50. From there, Marino dropped back to pass and could find no one open as the pocket collapsed on him and he was sacked for a 5 yards loss. Now facing a 2nd and 15, the Dolphins tried to run a quick screen to Abdul-Jabbar, but the ball bounced off Abdul-Jabbar into the air and came down on top of Tim Ruddy for the incompletion.

However, on 3rd and 15, Marino went back to his favorite target OJ McDuffie who was open just past the 1st down marker in the right flat and the Dolphins now had a 1st and 10 at the Chiefs' 39. On the next play, Marino threw a rifle shot to a well covered Troy Drayton, but Drayton made a nice stretched out grab of the ball and came down at the 10 yard line, giving the Dolphins a 1st and 10 just outside the Chiefs' 10 as the 2 minute warning sounded for the 1st half.

On 1st down, the Dolphins again tried to run it in with Abdul-Jabbar going around left end for 4 yards. Now with 1:15 remaining, on 2nd and 6 at the 7, Marino took the snap and rolled out to his right without blocking, with all went left. Marino dumped the ball off to Bernie Parmalee at the 5, who turned and was hit at goalline, spinning him over into the endzone for the Dolphins' 2nd touchdown and a 14-14 tie.

Mare's kickoff sailed 8 yards deep into the endzone and Vanover elected not to return the ball. Starting at their 20 with 1:07 remaining in the 1st half, the Chiefs ran Anders for 5 yards on 1st down, but as they tried to pass on 2nd down, there was no one open and Grbac elected to throw the ball away. This left the Chiefs with a 3rd and 5 at their 25 with 46 seconds left and they tried a short dump pass to Anders, but Jason Taylor and Derrick Rodgers were right there and took Anders down after only a yard gain.

At this point, the Dolphins took their first timeout to force the Chiefs to punt. The Chiefs' Louis Aguiar had a terrific punt, putting the ball out of bounds at the Dolphins' 27.

Now with 28 seconds left in the half, Marino tried to find Barnett on 1st down, but Barnett dropped an easy pass and the Dolphins had a 2nd and 10 from their 27. An encroachment penalty on the Chiefs on the next play moved the ball to the 32 and on the next play, the Dolphins called the draw play from the shotgun to McPhail. McPhail did gain 12 yards to the 44 before being brought down and the Dolphins called their 2nd timeout with 14 seconds remaining. Then Marino found Lamar Thomas in the left flat for 14 more yards to the Chiefs' 42, but the Dolphins were forced to call their last timeout at this point with just 6 seconds in the half.

Now with a 1st and 10 at the 42, the Dolphins' only chance was either a Hail Mary or a quick out to put them in field goal range. Marino again found Lamar Thomas, this time near the right sideline, but Thomas turned in instead of trying to turn out and get out of bounds and time ran out on the first half.

At this point in the game, the Dolphins' offense was looking better, but the defense had gotten abused in the 2nd quarter. The Chiefs had 77 yards rushing and 103 yards passing in the first half, including 2 touchdowns, while the Dolphins had 48 yards rushing with 144 yards passing and 2 touchdowns of their own. The Chiefs had controlled the clock, holding the ball for 17:49 as compared to 12:11 for the Dolphins.

THIRD QUARTER:

The Chiefs' Pete Stoyanovich opened the 3rd quarter by kicking off short with the ball bouncing at the Dolphins' 18 and McPhail taking it on the hop at the 16 and returning it to the Dolphins' 30. From there, the Dolphins started by running Abdul-Jabbar for 6 yards on 1st down, followed by a little swing pass to Parmalee for 10 more yards on 2nd down. This put the Dolphins out to their 46 with a 1st down.

From there, Marino tried to hit McDuffie on 1st down, but the pass went incomplete, so Marino went right back to McDuffie on 2nd and 10 and this time he completed it to the Chiefs' 40 yard line. Now, on 1st and 10 from the Chiefs 40, Marino couldn't get Parmalee and Abdul-Jabbar set in the right place in the backfield and called a timeout.

When they did run the play, Abdul-Jabbar got stuffed at the line of scrimmage as he tried to run behind the right side on 1st down. Then, on 2nd down, Marino's pass was just a little too long and sailed over the fingertips of Drayton. However, on 3rd down, Marino found McDuffie on the left side about 8 yards deep and McDuffie lunged forward through a couple of tackles to pick up 13 yards and get the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at the Chiefs' 27.

However, after Abdul-Jabbar was stuffed for a loss of 2 yards on 1st down, things began to fall apart. With a 2nd and 12 at the 29, James Brown jumped early pushing the Dolphins back to the 34 and then Marino couldn't get the play off on time to give the Dolphins another penalty back to the 39. Now faced with a 2nd and 22 from the 39, Marino tried to hit Barnett, but the ball sailed behind Fred and the Dolphins now had a 3rd and 22. This time, Marino found Lamar Thomas again on the ride side, but despite a good catch by Thomas and a good try, Thomas only got 15 yards to the 24, leaving the Dolphins with a 4th and 7.

The Dolphins elected to try a 42 yard field goal, but Mare' hit it poorly and the ball sailed wide right, leaving the score tied at 14-14.

The Chiefs took over at their own 32 and a quick dump pass to Rison got 6 yards, followed by a 7 yard run by Greg Hill to the Chiefs' 45. Now facing a 1st and 10 from their 45, Grbac had to hurry his throw while under pressure, but Vanover dropped a catchable pass about 5 yards downfield. On 2nd and 10, Tim Bowens got free and stuffed Kimble Anders at the line of scrimmage and set up a 3rd and 10 from the Chiefs' 45. On this play, pressure flushed Grbac from the pocket and while he was able to complete the pass to Rison, it was only for 6 yards and not enough for the 1st.

Now the Chiefs had a 4th and 4 from the Dolphin 49, but they lined up as though they were going to go for it. However, they called a timeout while trying to decide what to do and ended up punting instead.

So the Chiefs punted from the Dolphins' 49 yardline and the ball bounced into the endzone for a touchback. Starting now at their own 20, Marino dropped back to pass on 1st down, but his arm was hit by the Chiefs' defensive end just as he was throwing and the ball sailed up into the air and fell to the ground with no one near it. Then, on 2nd and 10, the Dolphins tried to run Abdul-Jabbar again, but could only manage 2 yards and the Dolphins were faced with a 3rd and 8 from their 22.

Marino stepped back into the shotgun, but Ruddy snapped the ball high and while Marino was able to jump up and bring the ball down, the timing of the play was disrupted and Marino had to dump the ball off to an outlet back. McPhail received the pass and did managed to get 7 yards, but that left the Dolphins with a 4th and 1 at their 29 and they elected to punt.

The ball was taken by Vanover at the Chiefs' 24 and returned to their 35, where the Chiefs started on 1st down. Grbac hit a short pass to Walker for 6 yards to the 41, but a pass attempt to Rison on 2nd down was broken up and almost picked by Derrick Rodgers and when the Chiefs hit Anders with a little dump pass on 3rd and 4, Calvin Jackson made a very athletic shoestring tackle to just barely deny Anders the 1st down and force the Chiefs into a 4th and short situation.

The Chiefs lined up again as though they were going to go for it, but after a few seconds it was a pretty obvious attempt to draw the Dolphins offsides, as Grbac barked out the signals and bobbed his head. But the Dolphins didn't jump and the Chiefs took a delay-of-game penalty, setting them back to their 40. Now facing a 4th and 5, Aguiar punted for the Chiefs to Jordan who made a fair catch at the Dolphins' 11.

From there, on 1st down, Marino finally connected with Fred Barnett who made a catch on a quick 6 yard slant in and carried a couple of defensive backs about 4 more yards to give the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at the 21. The Dolphins then ran Abdul-Jabbar, who picked up 8 yards on the left side to give the Dolphins a 2nd and 2, but another carry by Abdul-Jabbar netted only 1 yard and left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 1 at their 30. This time, however, instead of running, they tossed a short pass to Drayton who got 2 yards and gave the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at the 32.

The next play was a designed rollout for Marino, who hit Ed Perry short, but Perry was taken down after only 2 yards and as the 3rd quarter ended, the game was still tied 14-14, with the Dolphins facing a 2nd and 8 from their own 34.

At this point, things were looking better for the Dolphins, with the offense still moving the ball and the defense having come out from halftime a little more charged up.

FOURTH QUARTER:

On a 2nd and 8 from their 34, Marino faced an all-out blitz from the Chiefs, but properly dumped it off to Parmalee, who picked up 7 to the 41. However, that was not enough for the 1st down and after Spikes lost a yard running on 3rd and 1, the Dolphins punted on 4th and 2 from their 40.

The punt was a poor punt by Richardson and the ball took a bad bounce for the Dolphins, so they downed the ball at the Chiefs' 27 yard line. The Chiefs stared by running Donnell Bennett for 5 yards on 1st down to the 32, followed by 5 yards on a short pass to Rison on 2nd down. This gave the Chiefs a 1st and 10 at their 37 and after they ran Greg Hill off left tackle for 4 yards, they tried a play-action fake. However, Shane Burton, rushing from the left defensive end position, wasn't fooled at all and bore down on Grbac, catching him unblocked in the backfield for a big 8 yard sack.

This left the Chiefs with a 3rd and 14 at their own 33 and when they tried to use the short pass to Anders again, Anthony Harris was there and stopped Anders after only a 2 yard gain. This left the Chiefs with a 4th and 12 at their 35 and they called on Aguiar to punt once more to Jordan who made a fair catch at the Dolphins' 31.

Marino started the next series by trying to hit Abdul-Jabbar with short pass, but the ball was a little underthrown and Abdul-Jabbar couldn't hang on to it. Now with a 2nd and 10 at their own 31, the Dolphins sent Drayton on the seam route down the middle and Marino drilled him for 23 yards and a 1st and 10 at the Chiefs' 46.

Abdul-Jabbar picked up 1 yard on the next play, but offsides on the defense negated the play and gave the Dolphins a 1st and 5 at the Chiefs' 41. The next play was a draw to Bernie Parmalee, who got 6 yards and a 1st and 10 at the Chiefs' 35. Abdul-Jabbar ran for 2 yards on 1st down and Spikes ran for 4 more on 2nd and 8, to give the Dolphins a 3rd and 4 at the Chiefs' 29.

Again, Marino found Parmalee on a little dump pass that he turned into 8 yards and a 1st and 10 at the Chiefs' 21. On the next play, the right side of the offensive line opened a hole the size of Montana and Spikes zipped through for 14 yards before he was taken down at the 7 yard line.

Following his success on that play, however, Spikes was stuffed for a 2 yard loss on 1st and goal as he tried to go around right end. On 2nd and goal from the 9, Marino tried to hit Drayton crossing the back of the endzone, even though Drayton was doubled covered. Marino threaded the ball between the defenders, but it was behind Drayton and as Drayton turned around to try and get his hands on the ball, he was smacked from both sides. If he had caught and held on to that ball, it would have been one of the greatest catches that I have ever seen.

In any case, the ball fell incomplete and the Dolphins were facing 3rd and goal from the 9. Then Marino hit Jordan in the stomach with the ball at about the 5 yard line, but Jordan dropped the ball. It is doubtful that he would have gotten into the endzone anyway, because there were a lot of Chiefs between him and the endzone.

Following Jordan's drop, the Dolphins called on Mare', who made a 26 yard field goal and gave the Dolphins a 17-14 lead with 5:40 remaining in the game.

The kickoff came down at the 5 and Vanover took the ball and made a nice return to the Chiefs' 29 yardline. A quick pass to Rison moved the Chiefs 9 yards to their 38 and a short run by Anders on 2nd and 1 gave them a 1st and 10 at their 41. A run by Marcus Allen was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by Dunstan Anderson and on 2nd and 10, the Chiefs were penalized 5 yards for a false start.

This gave them a 2nd and 15 from their 36 and after a screen pass to Marcus Allen was perfectly read by Anthony Harris and stopped immediately for no gain, the Chiefs were facing 3rd and 15 from their own 35. The next play found Rison open in the middle of the field for 19 yards and gave the Chiefs a 1st and 10 at the Dolphin 46. For reason known only to the coaching staff, the Dolphins were playing a soft zone under these conditions and Rison was easily able to find the open areas.

With a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins' 46, Grbac hit tight end Popson for a yard to the 45 as the 2 minute warning was called. Now facing a 2nd and 9 with under 2 minutes remaining, Grbac dropped back to pass and tripped and fell. Bowens covered him up immediately for a sack and a 6 yard loss.

On this play, Bowens was collapsing the pocket rapidly and it wasn't clear from the tape I have whether Tim Bowens pushed the guard back into Grbac or whether Grbac just tripped on his own two feet, but he did trip and fall and Bowens was right there to cover him up.

The Chiefs called their 2nd timeout after the sack and as they lined up for 3rd and 15 at their own 49, they were flagged for a false start as left tackle Jeff Criswell shifted his head around after he had been set. The moved the Chiefs back to a 3rd and 20 at their 44 with 1:50 remaining.

On the next play, the Dolphins went back to their soft zone coverage and allowed Rison to get open in the middle of the field, but he was short of the first down where Grbac found him. Shawn Wooden tackled him almost immediately after he caught the ball for a 17 yard gain, but this left the Chiefs with a 4th and 3 at the Dolphin 39. The Chiefs then called their last timeout to discuss the play.

With 1:45 remaining, the Chiefs lined up at the Dolphin 39 to attempt the 1st down. A field goal from this position would have been a 56 yard attempt and was not tried. On the play, Grbac dropped back and pretty quickly tossed the ball to Marcus Allen, who was coming out of the backfield to the right side. With the ball thrown slightly behind him, Allen was forced to turn to make the catch and he bobbled the ball up in the air, but then came down with it.

However, Dolphins' linebacker Anthony Harris was closing on Allen all this time and hit Allen just as he secured the ball, tackling him after a 1 yard gain, well short of the 1st down. The ball went over to the Dolphins on downs and all Marino had to do with 1:39 remaining was to kneel down 3 times to preserve the victory.

The Dolphins played much better on defense in the 2nd half than they did in the first, allowing the Chiefs just 79 total yards of offense in the 2nd half. They also controlled the ball for over 18 minutes of the 2nd half, just the reverse of what they did in the first half. However, they didn't score any touchdowns, despite 2 long drives and the running game was still inconsistent.

All in all, it was a needed victory for the Dolphins and while the team still has problems, it looks like they are slowly improving as the season progresses.