The Dolphins had an offensive explosion for 31 points today, beating the Jets 31-20 at their home stadium in the Meadowlands sports complex in New Jersey. Marino was on fire for 372 yards and 2 touchdowns for the offense and the defense shut down the Jets' Ardian Murrell and got 5 sacks on Neil O'Donnell. It was the Dolphins' best overall game of the year so far and put them into sole possession of 2nd place in the AFC East.
For this game, the Dolphins started John Bock at center in place of Tim Ruddy who was having problems with his knee. Also, Brett Perriman, Stanley Pritchett, Dewayne Dotson, Mike Crawford, Keith Sims, Brian Manning and Qadry Ismail did not dress for the game.
The Dolphins kicked off to start the game and Leon Johnson took Mare's kick at the Jets 2 and returned it 22 yards to the 24. From there, O'Donnell went to Wayne Chrebet in the right flat for 12 yards on 1st down to the 36. Then Adrian Murrell ran for 3 yards on 1st down, followed by a 2 yard run on 2nd down. On third and 5 from the Jets 41, O'Donnell tried to go to Jeff Graham, but the ball was overthrown and the Jets punted on 4th down.
Charles Jordan took the punt at the Dolphins' 9 and returned it only to the 14 before he was taken down. On 1st down, Abdul-Jabbar ran for 4 yards off left tackle and Marino tried to hit him with a pass on 2nd down, but the ball went through Abdul-Jabbar's hands. Now facing a 3rd and 6 from the 18, Marino threw a short pass toward Lamar Thomas, but the ball went over his head and the Dolphins punted on 4th and 6 from their 18. The punt was taken by Leon Johnson at the Jets' 29 and returned to the 32.
On 1st and 10 from their 32, O'Donnell dropped back to pass, but couldn't find anyone open and Tim Bowens broke free from his block and took O'Donnell down for a 3 yard sack. However, on 2nd down and 13 from their 29, O'Donnell dropped back to pass and found Wayne Chrebet on a straight seam route behind all the defenders in the middle of the field. The pass was perfectly thrown and Chrebet gathered it in in full stride, but Buckley was able to catch him from behind and take him down at the Dolphins' 1 yard line.
On the pass play, the Jets sent 2 receivers deep down the right side of the field. Chrebet was in the slot and was covered by a Dolphins' defensive back - Corey Harris, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Harris allowed Chrebet to get behind him deep in the middle. On the subsequent 1st and goal at the Dolphins' 1 yard line, Leon Johnson ran straight up the middle for a 1 yard touchdown run to give the Jets a 7-0 lead.
The ensuing kickoff was taken by Irving Spikes at the Dolphins' 2 yard line and returned to the 21. From there, the Dolphins ran Spikes twice in a row, first to the right and then to the left for 2 yards each time. This left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 6 from their 25 and when the Jets blitzed, Marino found Lamar Thomas on a middle crossing pattern for 10 yards and a 1st down.
On 1st and 10 from the 35, Spikes ran for a yard and on 2nd down, Marino hit Drayton with a short pass for 4 more. However, on 2rd and 5 from their 40, the Dolphins attempted to run spikes, but James Brown was too slow on the block of Jets' linebacker Cascadden and he caught Spikes in the backfield for a 1 yard loss.
The Dolphins punted on 4th and 6 from their 39 and the ball was downed at the Jets' 7. It looked for a moment that the Jets' Leon Johnson touched the ball when it bounced, but replay showed that he hadn't actually touched the ball, so the Jets took over from their 7 with a 7-0 lead. They started by running Murrell twice for 1 and then 2 yards, but on 3rd and 7 from their 10, O'Donnell hit Keyshawn Johnson for 21 yards and a 1st down at the 31.
Murrell was hit in the backfield as he tried to carry the ball on 1st down and managed to only get back to the line of scrimmage. On 2nd down, O'Donnell found Baxter open for 7 yards up to the 38 and then the Jets, on 3rd and 3 from their 38, opened a big hole for Leon Johnson who ran for 20 yards to the Dolphins' 42. From there, on 1st down, O'Donnell threw the ball away even though he wasn't under a lot of pressure.
On 2nd and 10, he went to his tight end Baxter again for 7 yards, but Jets' offensive guard Matt O'Dwyer was called for a personal foul for shoving Jason Taylor well after the play was over. This moved the ball back to the Jets' 43 and gave them a 2nd and 25. A draw to Anderson gained 4 yards, but on 3rd and 21, the Dolphins blitzed and O'Donnell threw the ball away under pressure.
The Jets punted on 4th and 21 from their 47 and Charles Jordan made a fair catch at the Dolphins' 19. From there, Marino started by hitting Bernie Parmalee with a dump pass that Parmalee turned into a 20 yard gain out to the 39. On 1st and 10 from the 39, Marino set up the screen to Abdul-Jabbar, who managed 7 yards on the play to the Dolphins' 46 as the 1st quarter ended.
The 2nd quarter opened with the Dolphins facing a 2nd and 3 from their 46. Abdul-Jabbar gained 4 yards on the ground to give the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at the 50. From there, a quick pass to Parmalee gained 6 yards to the Jets' 44 yard line and gave the Dolphins 2nd and 4. Abdul-Jabbar ran for 2 yards to the 42 and on 3rd and 2, ran for 1 and a half yards to the 40.
Facing 4th and less than a yard from the Jets' 40, JJ elected to go for it and a nice block by Troy Drayton helped helped open a hole for Abdul-Jabbar that he ran through for 4 yards and a 1st down at the Jets' 36.
On the next play, Marino faked a handoff to Abdul-Jabbar who ran by Marino as Marino rolled out to his right. Abdul-Jabbar slipped by the linebacker and ran down the left sideline as Marino was rolling to the right and Dan turned and threw back across the field to a wide open Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar caught the ball easily in stride and ran untouched into the endzone for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie.
The kickoff was taken by Leon Johnson at the 7 and returned to the Jets' 23 yardline, where they started. On 1st down, O'Donnell hit Jeff Graham on the quick out for 13 yards out to the 36. On the next play, O'Donnell went to Graham again, but the ball was underthrown and fell incomplete. Now with 2nd and 10, O'Donnell dropped back to pass, but was flushed from the pocket under pressure and managed to scramble forward for 3 yards before being taken down by Armstrong and Taylor.
Now facing 3rd and 7, O'Donnell found Keyshawn Johnson on a crossing pattern for 21 yards after Johnson beat Sam Madison. This gave the Jets a 1st and 10 at the Dolphin 40 and a run by Murrell on 1st down gained nothing. On 2nd and 10, the Jets ran Richie Anderson for 19 yards on a misdirection behind their left side. At the end of this run, Anderson was hit and fumbled the ball at the Dolphins' 21 - or so it seemed. Corey Harris picked up the ball and appeared to run it back to the Jets' endzone, but the referees rulled that the ball had been down before it was fumbled. Network replay seemed to indicate that Anderson did fumble the ball, so it should have been a turnover and possibly a touchdown for the Dolphins.
In any case, on 1st and 10 from the Dolphins' 21, O'Donnell's pass to Jeff Graham was incomplete, but the Jets' Matt O'Dwyer was penalized 10 yards for holding, so the Jets now had a 1st and 20 at their 31. Murrell ran for 3 yards on 1st down and on 2nd and 17, a pass to Chrebet went off his fingertips. However, on 3rd and 17, O'Donnell hit Graham on an out pattern for 21 yards and gave the Jets a 1st and goal at the Dolphins 7.
On 1st down, Zach Thomas caught Murrell for a 1 yard loss and on 2nd and goal at the 8, O'Donnell overthrew Chrebet in the endzone. However, on 3rd and goal from the 8, O'Donnell stepped back and threw the ball at Chrebet, who was crossing the back of the endzone from right to left. Chrebet was well covered, but Johnson, who was crossing the front of the endzone from left to right, reached up and grabbed the ball with one hand and hauled it down for a touchdown. It was a fine catch by Johnson and it gave the Jets a 14-7 lead. It was the last lead they would have.
The kickoff was taken by Corey Harris at the 5 and returned to the Dolphins' 25. Spikes ran off right tackle for 4 yards on 1st down to the 29 and then ran 3 more yards around right end for 3 yards, to give the Dolphins a 3rd and 3 at their 32. A stupid false start penalty on Everritt McIver moved the ball back to the 27 and gave the Dolphins a 3rd and 8, but Marino then hit Lamar Thomas for 16 yards from the shotgun for a 1st down.
From the 43, Marino dropped back and appeared initially to have thrown the ball away, but the Jets were called for defensive holding and the Dolphins got another 1st down at their 48. On the next play, Marino tried to force the ball into Barnett who was streaking down the left sideline, but the ball was slightly underthrown and Barnett had to reach back and knock the ball out of Otis Smith's hands.
On 2nd and 10 from the 48, Marino tried to hit Lamar Thomas, also down the left sideline, but Thomas couldn't hold on to the ball and dropped it while looking back into the sun. This left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 10 from their 48. Marino then rifled the ball to OJ McDuffie, who was covered by Aaron Glenn and McDuffie made a leaping grab over Glenn for 25 yards to the Jets' 27 and a 1st down.
Marino, on 1st down, hit a short pass to Parmalee for 5 yards. On 2nd and 5 from the 22, Marino dropped back to pass and spotted Lamar Thomas crossing deep towards the front corner of the endzone. He lofted the ball to Thomas, who had 2 steps on the coverage and Thomas trotted into the endzone to give the Dolphins a 14-14 tie.
The kickoff was taken by Aaron Glenn at the 5 and returned to the 31, where the Jets took over on offense. O'Donnell started by hitting Graham for 5 yards to the 36. A second pass to Graham was out of bounds and on 3rd and 5, O'Donnell dropped back to pass again, but couldn't find anyone open and Jason Taylor caught O'Donnell as he was leaving the pocket, dragging him down for a sack.
Now facing 4th and 13 from their own 28 with just 2 minutes remaining in the first half, the Jets punted to Jordan, who took the ball at the 39 and returned it to the Dolphins' 45. However, a holding penalty on Spikes caused the ball to be moved back to the Dolphins' 27, where the Dolphins had a 1st and 10. The Dolphins went to the shotgun/hurry-up offense at this point and a dump pass to McPhail got the Dolphins 6 yards and a draw play to McPhail got 9 yards.
The Dolphins now had a 1st and 10 at their 42 with 57 seconds remaining in the 1st half. Again, they threw the quick out to McPhail for 8 more yards, moving the ball to the 50. On the next play, Marino tried to hit McPhail on the sideline route, but the ball was pretty high and McPhail had the ball go off his fingertips, but a defensive holding penalty moved the ball to the Jets' 45 yard line and gave the Dolphins a 1st down.
Now, with 52 seconds remaining in the half, Marino found OJ McDuffie for 13 yards to the Jets' 32. On the next play, Marino found Parmalee over the middle on a seam route and Parmalee took it down to the Jets' 3 yard line with 15 seconds left in the 1st half. Marino tried to hit McPhail on 1st down, but McPhail was completely tied up by the defensive back. However, this drew an interference call on the Jets and moved the ball to the 1 yard line.
Form there, Marino tried to hit McDuffie, but McDuffie was too well covered. Now, it was second and goal and Marino threw to Barnett in the endzone, but it was over Barnett's head and Barnett either couldn't or didn't jump to try and catch the ball and the ball fell incomplete.
The situation was now 3rd and goal at the 1 with just 6 seconds left to go in the half and Marino. for the 1st time during this drive, lined up under center. However, Marino wasn't ready when the ball was snapped and he fumbled the snap. Fortunately, he fell on the ball at the 6 and called timeout immediately, but there were only 2 seconds remaining in the half and the only thing left to do was to kick a 23 yard field goal and go into halftime with a 17-14 lead.
The Jets kicked off to start the 3rd quarter and Spikes took it at the 8 yard line, returning the ball 15 yards to the Dolphins' 23. From there, Abdul-Jabbar ran the ball 5 yards on 1st down and 2 more yards on 2nd. A little dump pass on 3rd and 3 from the Dolphins' 30 to Abdul-Jabbar gained 4 yards and gave the Dolphins a 1st down.
Now with 1st and 10 from the Dolphins' 34, Marino threw towards Lamar Thomas, who had to leap and take the ball away from Otis Smith, who had good coverage. This pass gained 9 yards and gave the Dolphins a 2nd and 1 at their 43. A 2 yard run by Abdul-Jabbar on 2nd and 1 gave the Dolphins another 1st down at their 45 yard line.
Marino looked for Troy Drayton on the next play, throwing the ball deep to Drayton on a crossing route for 21 yards to the Jets' 34 yards line. On 1st and 10 at the Jets' 34, Richmond Webb was penalized for a false start, but on 1st and 15, Marino's short pass to Parmalee gained 10 yards to the Jets' 29. On 2nd and 5, Abdul-Jabbar broke through a hole for 14 yards to the Jets' 15.
On 1st and 10 from the 15, Abdul-Jabbar got 2 yards rushing and on 2nd and 8, Marino tried to find Lamar Thomas, but Thomas had slipped and it looked like he might have been injured on the play, because he limped off the field after the ball fell incomplete. He would return later in the game, however.
Now with 3rd and 8, the Dolphins tried a screen to Abdul-Jabbar, but it never developed properly and the pass was off-target, falling to the turf. This left the Dolphins with a 4th and 8 from the Jets' 13 and Mare's 30 yard field goal attempt was about a foot to the right of the upright on the goalpost, leaving the score 17-14.
Starting with a 1st and 10 from their own 21, O'Donnell tossed a pitchout to Murrell, who got 4 yards before he was pushed out by Derrick Rodgers. On 2nd and 6 from the 25, O'Donnell's pass to Graham gained 10 yards to the 35. Now with another 1st down, Murrell ran again for 3 yards and on 2nd and 7 from the 38, a little dump pass to Murrell picked up 11 yards to the Jets' 49 and gave them a 1st down.
They tried to run Murrell again and he gained another 3 yards down to the Dolphins 48. On the next play, O'Donnell overthrew Jeff Graham on a straight pattern in the endzone and then, on 3rd and 7 at the Dolphins' 48, O'Donnell dropped back to pass, but Shane Burton came charging through the line and managed to get a big hand out and snag O'Donnell by the ankle and trip him up for the sack.
With a 4th and 15 at their 44, the Jets punted to Charles Jordan, who made a fair catch at the Dolphins' 16. Now, on 1st and 10 at the 16, Abdul-Jabbar ran around right tackle for 7 yards. However, on 2nd down, a false start penalty on McIver took back most of those yards and gave the Dolphins a 2nd and 8 at the 18. A quick pass to Ed Perry could only gain 1 yard and on 3rd and 7, Marino threw low and behind Charles Jordan on a short crossing route for an incompletion. The Dolphins punted the ball back to the Jets on 4th and 7 from their 19.
The punt was taken by Leon Johnson at the Jets' 42 and he returned it to the Dolphins' 47. From there, on 1st down, O'Donnell tossed a short pass to Richie Anderson for 4 yards and then ran Anderson for 3 more yards to the Dolphins' 40. Now facing a 3rd and 3, the Jets ran Murrell for 2 yards, which left them with a 4th and 1 at the Miami 38. The Jets elected to go for it and O'Donnell hit Graham on a quick slant in for 11 yards and a 1st down to the Dolphins' 27.
On 1st and 10 from the 27, the Jets' ran Murrell to the right, but Darryl Gardener got loose and dragged down Murrell after 2 yards. On 2nd and 8, O'Donnell hit Graham on the quick out pattern for 6 yards and on 3rd and 2 at the Dolphins' 19, Murrell ran up the middle for 4 yards and a 1st down at the Dolphins' 15.
The 3rd quarter ended at this point, with the Dolphins still up 17-14.
The 4th quarter opened with the Jets having a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins' 15. O'Donnell looked downfield and saw no one open, so he tossed the ball to Murrell in the backfield near the left sidline, but Dwight Hollier was there and tackled Murrell immediately for a 5 yard loss to the 20. An attempted pass to Jeff Graham in the endzone sailed out of the endzone and on 3rd and 15, a dump pass to Leon Johnson could only gain 7 of the 15 yards needed for a 1st down.
Now facing 4th and 8 from the Dolphins' 13, the Jets attempted to field goal, but the ball sailed a little and the kick was slightly wide right, even closer than Mare's kick was. The score remained 17-14.
The Dolphins took over after the field goal at their 21 and started by running Abdul-Jabbar for just 1 yard on 1st and 10. On 2nd down, however, Marino hit Drayton on the sideline route and Drayton rumbled for a total of 27 yards on the play to the Dolphins' 49. A first down run of 4 yards from the 49 was negated by a holding penalty on Bernie Parmalee.
Now faced with a 1st and 20 from their own 39, the Dolphins ran Abdul-Jabbar for 2 yards on 1st down and Troy Drayton caught a Marino pass for 13 yards on 2nd down. This put the ball at the Jets' 46 with 3rd down and 5 yards to go. The Dolphins tried a little swing pass to McPhail on the next play, but the play was well defensed and he was pushed out at the 44, leaving the Dolphins with a 4th and 3. JJ elected to punt and Leon Johnson called for a fair catch at the Jets' 15.
On 1st down from their 15, O'Donnell found Jeff Graham for 11 yards and a 1st down. However, on the next play, the pass coverage was good and the pass rush forced O'Donnell to throw it early. The dump pass to Murrell was incomplete. This left the Jets with a 2nd and 10 at their 26, so O'Donnell threw another sideline pattern to Ward for 6 yards to the 32. O'Donnell then dropped back to pass, but Derrick Rodgers, rushing from the outside, managed to get around his blocker and take down O'Donnell for the sack.
It was now 4th and 7 from the 29 and John Hall punted for the Jets all the way to the Dolphins' 13, where Charles Jordan picked the ball up and returned it 23 yards to the 36. From there, on 1st down, Marino hit Lamar Thomas on a quick comeback route for 18 yards and another 1st down. This moved the ball to the Jets' 46, where Abdul-Jabbar ran for 5 yards on 1st down to the 41 and again on 2nd down for 2 yards to the 39. This left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 3 and as Marino lined up to get the play off, he couldn't make changes due to the noise at the stadium, so he called a timeout for the Dolphins.
When play resumed, Marino hit McDuffe in the right flat for 6 yards and a 1st down to the Jets' 33. On 1st and 10, Marino again went back to McDuffie for 11 yards and another 1st down at the 22 yardline. On 1st down, Abdul-Jabbar ran for 1 yard to the 21. Then, on 2nd down, Marino tried to hit Lamar Thomas down the sideline, but the ball was well underthrown. On 3rd and 9 from the 21, Marino appeared to overthrow Fred Barnett in the endzone. However, the referees said that the Dolphins didn't get the play off on time and penalized them 5 yards for delay of game.
This gave Marino another chance. On 3rd and 14 from the 26, Marino hits Jordan on a slant-in pattern and while running towards the endzone, the Jets' Ray Mickens hit Jordan from behind, jarring the ball loose at about the 4 yard line. However, OJ McDuffie was coming in from the other direction and managed to get there, scoop up the fumble and dive into the endzone for a touchdown and a 24-14 Dolphins' lead.
At this point, the clock was ticking down to about minutes remaining in the game. Mare' kickoff was taken by Aaron Glenn at the 4 and returned 18 yards to the Jets' 22. From there, with 4:09 remaining on the clock, the Dolphins went into their prevent defense and the Jets adopted a hurry-up offense.
On 1st and 10 from their 22, O'Donnell connected with Chrebet for almost 10 yards, leaving the Jets with 2nd and less than a yard from the 32. Then Jason Taylor batted a Neil O'Donnell pass in the air, but on 3rd and inches, O'Donnell completed a pass to Leon Johnson for 8 yards and a 1st down.
Finding themselses with a 1st and 10 from the 40, O'Donnell went to Chrebet for 5 yards to the 45. He then attempted a pass to Leon Johnson, but the ball fell incomplete and that left the Jets with a 3rd and 5. On this play from the Jets' 45, Derrick Rodgers came loose around the Jets' right end and got his hand out and swatted the ball away from O'Donnell as O'Donnell was wtrying to set up for the pass. Trace Arsmtrong fell on the loose ball for a fumble recovery for the Dolphins with just 3:16 left in the game.
Now finding themselves up by 10 points, the Dolphins ran Abdul-Jabbar on 1st down from the Jets' 36 for 2 yards. Abdul-Jabbar got the call again and gained another yard on 2nd down, but the team now faced 3rd and 7 from the Jets' 33 yard line. On this next play, Marino dropped back to pass and got pressure as the pocket began to close around him. Marino took a few steps forward and then used a backhanded toss to get the ball to Bernie Parmalee about 5 yards downfield on the shovel pass. Parmalee turned and ran down 16 more yards to the Jets 12' for a first down.
Now with the Dolphins at the Jets' 12, Spikes got the call and carried the ball for 4 yards on 1st down. After this play, the referrees called the 2 minute warning.
On 2nd down and 6 at the Jets' 8, Spikes ran off right tackle behind McIver, blasting through a hole on the right side and going into the endzone for a touchdown. This boosted the score to 31-14, in favor of the Dolphins, with just 1:56 remaining in the game.
The ensuing kickoff bounced and went 5 yards deep into the endzone for the touchback. O'Donnell came out and missed Keyshawn Johnson on the out pattern to the left on 1st down, but the Dolphins' Tim Jacobs was called for pass intereference and that moved the ball out to the 41 and gave the Jets a 1st and 10.
On the next play, O'Donnell connected with Keyshawn Johnson again for 31 more yards and another 1st down at the Dolphins' 28. On the next play, from the Dolphins' 28 yard line, O'Donnell tried to go deep but badly overthrew everyone. Then, on 2nd down, O'Donnell found Leon Johnson again for 20 more yards and a 1st and goal at the Dolphins' 8 yard line. O'Donnell this time went for Chrebet in the endzone and he caught the ball for a touchdown. This cut the Dolphins' lead to 31-20 with 1:03 remaining.
The Jets first tried a 2-point conversion, but a full blitz by the Dolphins forced O'Donnell to throw the ball away. On the ensuing kickoff, the Jets tried an onsides kick, but after the ball squirted out of the first pile, Shawn Wooden covered the ball and recovered it for the Dolphins. At this point, all Marino had to do was to kneel down twice and the game was over, with the Dolphins winning 31-20.