The day was warm and cloudy and there were periodic rain showers which made the field slippery and made the ball somewhat hard to hold on to.

FIRST QUARTER:

The game started with the Colts receiving the ball on the kickoff. Mare put the ball down to the three yard, where Aaron Bailey took the ball for the Colts, returning it to the Colts' 25. On the first series from scrimmage, the Colts started by using Marshall Faulk as their principal weapon, running him repeatedly to the outside on the first series. This was effective in moving the ball steadily down the field and after 4 runs by Faulk and a quarterback sneak on third down, the Colts had gained 21 yards up to the Colts 46.

A pass to Dawkins followed by a pass to Lamont Warren moved the ball down to the Dolphins 30 yards line, where a 6 yard draw by Faulk gave the Colts a second and 4 from the Dolphins 24. It was beginning to look like the Colts were going to drive the length of the field on their first series, but on this second and 4, the Dolphin defense strung the Colts out to the right side and Faulk was taken down for a 1 yard loss, to give the Colts a 3rd and 5. On the next play, Jason Taylor got lose and chased Harbaugh out of the pocket, forcing Harbaugh to throw the ball away, leaving the Colts with a 4th and 5 at the Dolphin 25.

The Colts attempted a field goal, but it sailed left and the game remained tied at 0-0.

The Dolphins took over at their own 33 and after a 2 yard run on first down by Abdul-Jabbar, Marino hit Drayton on a crossing route over the middle that found Drayton all alone. Drayton rumbled across the field and down the left sideline for 29 yards before he was driven out of bounds by a Colt defensive back.

With a 1st and 10 at the Colt 36, The Dolphins ran Abdul-Jabbar 3 times in a row and after gains of 3 and 5 yards on 1st and second downs, respectively, the Dolphins ran him again on 3rd and 2. Making a nice cutback on the play, Abdul-Jabbar bound an open area on the left side and raced 22 yards around the left side before being forced out at the Colts' 6 yard line.

The Dolphins, however, didn't fully capitalize on the nice run, and after Abdul-Jabbar went nowhere on 1st and goal and a timing pattern with Barnett broke down on 2nd and goal, Marino threw the ball just over McDuffie's fingertips on third and goal. This left the Dolphins with a 4th and goal at the 6 and Olindo Mare hit his first official field goal of the season from 24 yards out to give the Dolphins a 3-0 lead.

The ensuing kickoff by Mare' hit well short of Aaron Bailey, but scooted through the back of the endzone before Bailey could field it, giving the Colts a touchback.

They began at their 20 and hit Dilger on the first play for 9 yards and then ran Faulk for 4 more to give them a first down. on the next play, Jason Taylor managed to collar Marshall Faulk and drag him down for a 1 yard loss. After an underthrown pass on 2nd down was incomplete, the Dolphins called a full blitz on 3rd down, but Harbaugh read the blitz and dumped the ball off to Lamont Warren in the middle, who ran up the middle 19 yards to the Dolphins'49 and a first down.

After the Colts committed a false start on 1st and 10 from the Dolphins' 49 which moved them back to their own 46, Barron Tanner managed to tip the ball on 1st and 15, which resulted in an incompletion. Pressure from Trace Armstrong on 2nd and 15 forced Harbaugh into a bad throw that fell incomplete. However, on 3rd and 15, Jim Harbaugh called his own number and ran the quarterback draw for 18 yards to the Dolphins' 36.

With a first and 10 at the 36, Faulk carried for 3 yards and then, on 2nd and 7 from the Dolphins 33, the Colts attempted a reverse with Harbaugh handing off to Faulk who handed off to Marvin Harrison coming back from the right side. However, they bobbled the handoff and Harbaugh was forced to dive on the ball to keep Jason Taylor from recovering the fumble.

The first quarter ended with the Colts facing a 3rd and 14 from the Dolphins 40.

SECOND QUARTER:

The second quarter began with the Colts attempting a dump pass to Marshall Faulk on 3rd and 14 and it almost carried them to a first down, but he was pushed out on the Dolphins' 26 yard line and on 4th and 2 from the Dolphins' 26, the Colts were forced to try another field goal, which this time sailed wide right, leaving the Dolphins in the lead at 3-0.

The Dolphins took over at their own 35 and after a first down pass attempt to Troy Drayton sailed high and behind him, Marino attempted to hit McDuffie on 2nd down in the right flat. However, Marino either didn't see linebacker Alexander coming from his left or he thought he could get the ball to McDuffie anyway, but in trying to hit McDuffie, Alexander ran right in front of McDuffie, picked the ball off and raced untouched for the endzone on a 43 yard return that gave the Colts a 7-3 lead.

Fortunately for the Dolphins, it was the only touchdown the Colts would get on this afternoon.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was assessed on the touchdown against the Colts and that penalty pushed the kickoff back to the Colts' 15 yard line. The kickoff was taken by Qadry Ismail at about the Dolphins' 24 and he returned it to the 45, where the Dolphins began the drive that would get them their only touchdown of the day.

Two runs by Abdul-Jabbar on 1st and 2nd downs netted only 5 yards, but a 3rd down strike to Barnett for 8 yards kept the drive going to the Colts' 42 yard line. A run by Spikes on 1st down for 2 yards, followed by a dump pass to Spikes on 2nd down for another 7 yards left the Dolphins facing a 3rd and 1 at the Colts 33. Spikes, however, leaped over the pile for 2 more yards and gave the Dolphins a 1st down at the Colts' 31.

Spikes ran for 1 yard on 1st and 10 and Marino hit Abdul-Jabbar on 2nd down with a short pass that netted 10 more yards to the Colts 20. From there, on 1st and 10, Marino hit Fred Barnett on a quick inside slant for 11 yards, down to the Colts' 9 yard line and gave the Dolphins a 1st and goal.

On first and goal from the 9, Marino set up the formation and pitched out to Abdul-Jabbar, who ran around right end untouched into the endzone for a touchdown. Replay showed that McDuffie had pancaked the outside linebacker on that side which had been instrumental in allowing Abdul-Jabbar running room. Following Mare's kick, the Dolphins were back on top 10-7 and had scored the last touchdown by either team today.

On the kickoff, Mare' didn't hit it very deep and Bailey took the ball at the 10 yard line, returning it to the Colts' 30. A run by Faulk for 4 yards was followed by a short pass to Harrison for 7 yards ant a 1st and 10 a the Colt 41.

Then 2 more runs by Faulk for 8 and 4 yards respectively gave the Colts a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins 47 yard line. From there, a draw by Zach Crockett gave the Colts a 2nd and 5 at the Dolphins 42, but an incomplete pass attempt to Ken Dilger and a false start left the Colts with a 3rd and 10 from the Dolphin 47. On the next play, pressure from the Dolphins on a blitz forced Harbaugh to throw the ball away. He threw deep and George Teague managed to get his hands on the ball, but couldn't hold on to it.

On 4th and 10, the Colts punted and managed to down the ball on the 1 yard line, so Miami was forced to take over on their own one. From there, on first down, Marino tried to hit Fred Barnett streaking down the right sideline. However, Barnett was thrown off his timing by a hit from the Colts' pass defender and wasn't able to get to the ball. Fortunately, the Colts' cornerback was called for pass interference on the play and the Dolphins moved out to the 20.

From there, Marino attempted to hit Drayton on 1st down, but overthrew him in the middle of the field. After a draw by Karim Abdul-Jabbar netted 4 yards, Marino hit McDuffie with a 1 yard pass on 3rd and 6 and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their 25 on 4th and 5.

Stablein made a fair catch at the Colts' 31 and under pressure on 1st down, Harbaugh scramble for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Colts' 43. A quick sideline pass to Harrison netted 8 more yards as the 2 minute warning was being sounded for the first half.

On the next play, facing 2nd and 2 from the Dolphins' 49 yard line, Crockett ran the draw for 8 more yards and a 1st down at the Dolphins 41. The next play, however, was a dump pass to Crockett which Harbaugh was forced to throw under extreme pressure. Calvin Jackson made a nice play on Crockett and knocked him down for no gain.

Now facing 2nd and 10 from the Dolphins' 41 with time running out in the half, Harbaugh stepped back to pass, but the coverage was there and Harbaugh waited long enough for Trace Armstrong to shed his man and take down Harbaugh for a 5 yard sack. On the ensuing 3rd and 15 play, the Colts attempted a dump pass to Faulk, but he was taken down after only 5 yards by Corey Harris and the Colts faced a 4th and 10 at the Miami 41.

With just 7 seconds remaining in the half, the Colts elected to try a 58 yard field goal, but the ball was not only short, but to the left and the first half ended with the Dolphins on top 10-7.

THIRD QUARTER:

The 3rd quarter started with the Colts kicking off to the Dolphins and Ismail took the ball at the Dolphins' 2 and raced 59 yards up the right sideline to the Colts' 39, but 2 holding penalties on the Dolphins forced the Dolphins to start at their own 10 yard line.

A first down run of 4 yards by Abdul-Jabbar was negated by a facemask penalty on Keith Sims, moving the ball back to a first and 15 at the Dolphins' 5. A short run by Abdul-Jabbar, followed by an even shorter run by Pritchett left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 10 at their own 10. Marino tried to hit McDuffie on third, but it was a poor throw and the Dolphins were forced to punt.

At this point, Olindo Mare' came in to punt for the Dolphins, because Kidd had sustained a pulled hamstring in the first half. Mare did a credible job throughout the game after he was thrown into the punting duties. On this punt, the kick was short, but Stablein didn't try to field it and it rolled about 20 yards, putting the Colts at their own 37.

The Colts' first two plays of the 2nd half were both short passes to Zack Crockett, who gained 6 yards and then 5 yards respectively, out to the Colts' 48 yard line. From there, on 1st and 10, Tim Bowens knocked Faulk back for a yard on a first down run and after a little draw by Faulk netted only 3 yards, the Colts were faced with a 3rd and 8 from the 50. A false start on their part pushed them back another 5 yards and, on 3rd and 13 from their 45, Harbaugh attempted to hit Aaron Bailey, but pressure from the Dolphins forced him to scramble and good containment forced him to throw the ball poorly and prevented him from scrambling up field.

Following the 3rd down incompletion, the Colts punted on 4th and 13 from their 45 to Charles Jordan who returned the ball from the 8 to the Dolphins' 24 yard line.

From there, the Dolphins tried running Abdul-Jabbar for 1 yard and after a false start which was charged to Tim Ruddy, Marino hit McDuffie with an 18 yard pass which McDuffie made while sliding across the wet grass. Unfortunately, Abdul-Jabbar was thrown for a loss on 1st and 10 from the Dolphins 38 and a 2nd down pass to Barnett fell incomplete. Marino went back to Barnett on 3rd and 11 from the 37, but Barnett could only come up with 9 yards and on 4th and 2 from the Dolphins' 26, Olindo Mare' punted.

The punt hit the ground inside the Colts' 10 and bounced down towards the endzone. However, Tim Jacobs made a leap into the endzone and batted the ball in the air back to the one yard line where Jerry Wilson caught the ball. The result was that the Colts were facing a 1st and 10 from their own 1.

After Faulk carried for 2 yards and Harbaugh completed a pass to Pollard for 7 more, the Colts faced a 3rd and 1 at their own 10. They tried to run Faulk off-tackle to the left and as Faulk was trying to squirt through the hole, he lost his hold on the football after colliding with a teammate and the ball popped into the air where Shawn Wooden saw it and dove on it to recover the fumble.

The stats give Derrick Rodgers credit for forcing this fumble, but I didn't see it that way. It looked to me like Faulk just lost his grip when he bumped into his blocker.

Starting with a 1st and 10 at the Colts' 15, the Dolphins tried to run to the right with Abdul-Jabbar, but the slippery turf caused him to slip and he was buried for a 1 yard loss. On 2nd and 11, a pass to Spikes was dropped by him and then an attempt to Fred Barnett on 3rd and 11 was overthrown. Facing a 4th and 11 from the Colts' 16, Olindo Mare made a 34 yard field goal to boost the Dolphins' lead to 13-7.

The ensuing kickoff was taken by Bailey at the 14 and he ran it back to the Dolphins' 30 yard line. A first down carry by Faulk for 3 yards was negated by a holding penalty that pushed the Colts back to a 1st and 20 at their own 20. On this play, the Colts attempted to go deep to Marvin Harrison down the middle, but Calvin Jackson had position on this play and knocked the ball away with one hand.

On 2nd and 20, Harbaugh attempted to hit Dawkins over the middle, but a nice hit by Hollier just as the ball arrived jarred it loose and the ball fell incomplete. On third and 20, Trace Armstrong hurdled his defender and was able to get his hands around Harbaugh's ankles as Harbaugh tried to throw to the back in the right flat. Harbaugh managed to get the ball away and avoid the sack, but Armstrong's pressure messed up the play and the ball sailed out of bounds.

The Colts were forced to punt from their 20 and Charles Jordan made a fair catch at the Dolphins' 41 yard line. From there, Irving Spikes ran 4 yards and then 3 yards to give the Dolphins a 3rd and 3 from their own 48, but the ref ruled that Fred Barnett trapped Marino's pass on third and 3, so the Dolphins punted again from their 47 and again, Tim Jacobs downed the ball at the 3 yard line, again with help from Jerry Wilson.

From their 3, the Colts ran Faulk for 7 yards and it appeared that he had fumbled again, but the referees ruled that he was down by contact even though instant replay seemed to confirm that he had fumbled. With a 2nd and 3 at their 10, Faulk ran for 7 more yards, out to the 17 and a first down. The next play was a draw by Crockett, but Taylor and Gardener stuffed him for a 2 yards loss and the Colts faced a 2nd and 12 at their 15 as the third quarter ended.

FOURTH QUARTER:

The fourth quarter opened with the Colts facing a 2nd and 12 from their 15. On this play, Harbaugh was again pressured in the backfield and he attempted to hit Lamont Warren to his right. However, the ball was badly thrown and sailed over Warren's head where Shawn Wooden was waiting and picked the ball off. On his return, he ran back and forth across the field and fumbled when hit by Sean Dawkins, but Calvin Jackson saved him by getting to the ball before anyone else.

The Dolphins took over at the Colt 31 and a 6 yard pass to McDuffie on 1st down was followed by a 9 yard run by Spikes on 2nd down to the Colts' 16. Another 6 yard pass to McDuffie was followed by a 7 yard run by Spikes down to the Colts' 3 yard line.

From there, with a 1st and goal at the 3, Marino threw the first pass away when there was no one open. On 2nd and goal, Spikes tried to dive over, but only got 2 yards and then, on 3rd and goal from the 1, Spikes was stuffed at the line of scrimmage when he tried to dive over again. This left the Dolphins with a 4th and goal at the 2 and Mare' made the field goal, extending the Dolphins' lead to 16-7.

The kickoff was deep and was taken by Aaron Bailey who returned it from 5 yards deep in the endzone to the Colts' 27 yard line. A 7 yard pass to Dawkins was followed by a 22 yard pitch out to Marshall Faulk, which moved the ball to the Dolphins' 43 yard line. Then a 1st down pass to Crockett fell incomplete and that was followed by a 4 yard pass to Crockett that was well defended by Tim Jacobs.

On 3rd and 6 from the Dolphin 39, Harbaugh tried to go to Harrison, but Buckley stepped in front of Harrison and almost had the interception, but Harrison broke it up. On the 4th down punt, the ball was downed by Gray at the Dolphins' 2 yard line.

The Dolphins started with 2 passes to Karim Abdul-Jabbar, but both were poorly thrown balls and Abdul-Jabbar had no chance on either. Following a 3rd down pass attempt to Charles Jordan streaking on the right side which was overthrown, the Dolphins were forced to punt once more and the ball went out of bounds at the Dolphins' 45 yard line.

On first and 10 from the Dolphins 45, Harbaugh attempted to hit Dilger on a tight end screen, but while coming under pressure, he lofted the ball too much and Shawn Wooden was in good position and was able to jump and take the ball from Dilger. Wooden was able to return the ball to the Colts 45 and hold on to it this time.

From the Colts 45, Irving Spikes ran twice to give the Dolphins a 3rd and 4 at the Colts 39, but after Marino underthrew a timing pattern on 3rd down, the Dolphins went for it on 4th and 4. Marino hit a diving Barnett in the hands, but Barnett couldn't hang on and the ball went over to Indy on downs.

Now, with 6:17 remaining and the Dolphins up by 9, the Colts started at their own 39. Jason Taylor was offsides on the first play, so the Colts got 5 yards and started again with 1st and 5 at their 44. On the next play, Harbaugh was pressured and was forced to throw the ball away. Then, on 2nd and 5, Harbaugh was pressured again and scrambled for 4 yards, but that play was negated by offensive holding.

Now facing 2nd and 15, Jason Taylor came around the tackle and collared Harbaugh for an 8 yard loss. Following that, on 3rd and 23, Daniel Stubbs got into the backfield and took down Harbaugh on a coverage sack for 3 more yards. With a 4th and 26 from their 23, the Colts punted to Charles Jordan, who ran left and then right, but ended up getting tackled for no gain at the Dolphins 28.

The Dolphins ran Irving Spikes 3 times in a row from their 28, but could only manage a total of 7 yards and faced a 4th and 3 from their 35. During this series, the Colts used up all their timeouts and, following the punt back to Stablein at the Colts' 32, had 3:38 left with no timeouts on the board.

At this point, the Colts replaced Jim Harbaugh with Paul Justin at quarterback. It later turned out that Harbaugh was pulled because he wasn't getting the job done, although at the time, there was speculation that he might be injured. His first pass was incomplete and his second pass to Dawkins netted just 3 yards, but his third pass to Bailey gained 20 yards to the Dolphins' 45 and gave the Colts a first down.

With the clock running, Justin hit Stablein for 19 yards to the Dolphins 26 and looked like he was moving the team well. From the Dolphins' 26, Justin hit Faulk for 3 yards and then the 2 minute warning was called.

With 1:56 on the clock and the Colts having a 2nd and 7 from the Dolphins' 23, Justin hit Bailey, but Corey Harris knocked the ball loose and the Colts were faced with a 3rd and 7 at the Dolphins 23, trailing 16-7 with 1:47 remaining. They would need at least a touchdown and a field goal to win the game.

At this point, the Dolphins were charged a timeout because of an injury to Daniel Stubbs. It looked like his leg, but there was no announcement at the time about his injury.

On 3rd and 7, Justin hit Sean Dawkins short of the first down, but the two Dolphins who tried to tackle Dawkins ran into each other and let Dawkins get away for 9 yards to the 14. With a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins 14, Justin dropped back to pass, but Tim Bowens got loose and chased Justin back 14 yards and dropped him at the 28 for a sack.

This left the Colts at a 2nd and 26 at the Dolphin 28 and a 10 yard pass to Faulk gained some of the yardage back, but on 3rd and 14 pass was batted at the line of scrimmage by Calvin Jackson and the Colts were forced to settle for a field goal attempt on 4th and 14 from the Dolphins' 18. The field goal was good and the score was now 16-10 in favor of Miami.

With just 1:04 remaining, the Colts attempted an onsides kick. The kick squirmed into the middle of a group of Dolphins who dove for the ball, but couldn't hold on. It looked as if Corey Harris had finally gotten a hold of the ball, but a group of Colts dove into the pile and the refs ruled that the Colts had recovered the ball.

The Colts started their final drive from the 50 and, under pressure from the Dolphins' offensive line, Justin attempted to hit Faulk, but the ball was almost intercepted. On 2nd down, with 56 seconds left, Dawkins couldn't quite hold on to the ball as he slid out of bounds and that gave the Colts a 3rd and 10 at the 50. On the next play, Justin hit Stablein at the Dolphins' 34 in the middle of the field.

With 25 seconds remaining, Justin attempted to pass, but Derrick Rodgers got to him and dragged him down for an 11 yard loss. Now, with just 15 seconds remaining and the ball on the Dolphin 45, Justin was able to complete one more pass over the middle to Bailey at the Dolphins' 25, but since they had no timeouts, Justin could only try and spike the ball at the Dolphins' 25.

However, when he tried to spike the ball, the team couldn't get set in time and even though Justin went through the motions, the refs ruled that time had run out and the Dolphins won 16-10.

Overall, it was a tough game, with lots of good defense on both sides, but not much offense to feel good about. For some unknown reason, Dan was having a real tough time getting the ball to the receivers. Perhaps the ball was too slick or maybe his arm is sore, but Marino didn't play well today and that has to worry Dolphins fans - including me.