*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Nov 18, 1997: -- Dophins Pay Off Bills 30-13 --
The Dolphins took a big step tonight when they beat the
Buffalo Bills 30-13 in Miami to remain on top of the AFC East. The
win was a strong one and it moves the Dolphins back into a tie with
the New York Jets for first place, one game ahead of the Patriots and
2 games ahead of the Bills.
On offense, the Dolphins were effective enough running the
ball that they were able to keep some of the pressure off of Dan
Marino. At the end of the game, the Dolphins had 96 yards rushing,
which turned out to be 4 more yards than the Bills had. However, the
offense was really powered by the arm of Dan Marino and he had 2
touchdown passes in the game, one to Ed Perry and one to Troy
Drayton.
On defense, the Dolphins were effective in containing Thurman
Thomas and Antowain Smith for most of the game and managed to get two
turnovers - a fumble and a pick by George Teague. They also managed
to put some pressure on Todd Collins, who responded poorly to the
stress on him in this game.
The game began when the Dolphins took the opening kickoff and
on the strength of the passing of Dan Marino, moved down to the Bills'
19 yard line, where they stalled and were forced to kick a field goal.
On this drive, the Dolphins did try to run the ball, but Abdul-Jabbar
only got 5 yards on 3 carries. The big plays on this drive were a 21
yard completion to Charles Jordan, who promptly fumbled the ball, but
then recovered his own fumble and a 21 yard swing pass to Abdul-Jabbar
out of the backfield.
The Bills then began a drive at their own 20 and ran the ball
well, moving down to the Dolphins' 36, but Jason Taylor batted down a
pass on 4th down and the ball went over to the Dolphins.
Following a 3 and out series by Miami and a short series by
Buffalo, neither of which were particularly effective, the Bills
punted back to the Dolphins and Jordan made a fair catch at the 10.
This time, the Dolphins were able to run a little better and they put
together a 90 yard drive with 6 running plays for 33 yards and 5
passes for 57 yards, including two passes to Lamar Thomas of over 20
yards each. This drive ended with Marino hitting Ed Perry on the
quick out pattern for a touchdown from the Bills' 3. That put the
score up to 10-0.
On the next Buffalo series, Jason Taylor hit Todd Collins
right as he was releasing the ball and it floated into the arms of
George Teague for the interception. The Dolphins managed to move to
the Bills' 13, but a shovel pass on 3rd down failed miserably and the
Dolphins were forced to settle for a field goal and a 13-0 lead.
After the kickoff, the Bills drove to the Dolphins' 27, but
Shane Burton trapped Moulds on a reverse for a 6 yard loss and then
Jerry Wilson sacked Collins on a corner blitz, which moved the Bills
back out of field goal range.
Each team would go 3 and out once more in the second quarter,
but at the end of the first half, the score was 13-0 in favor of
Miami.
At the beginning of the 2nd half, however, the tide would
turn. Mare's kickoff to open the half was very short and came down
around the 20 yard line. After the Bills returned it to the 33, the
Dolphins were penalized for a low block and the Bills started the
second half with a 1st and 10 from their 48. The Bills moved swiftly
down to the Dolphins' 1 on short and medium passes to Reed and Early
and on a 16 yard draw to Thurman Thomas. Then Derrick Holmes plunged
over from the 1 to cut the score to 13-7 in favor of Miami.
Miami went 3 and out on the next series. However, on the play
after the Bills got the ball back at their 16, Antowain Smith fumbled
at the Buffalo 24 yard line and Darryl Gardener recovered. The
Dolphins then drove down to the Buffalo 16, but were stuffed on 3rd
and 2 and had to settle for a field goal and a 16-7 lead.
The Bills took the ensuing kickoff and drove down the field to
the Dolphins' 18 on short passes to Reed and Early and a long pass to
Thurman Thomas. However, Sam Madison made a great play to knock the
ball away from Andre Reed in the endzone on 3rd down and the Bills
were forced to accept a field goal and cut the lead to 16-10.
On the kickoff, Irving Spikes fumbled the ball and the Bills
recovered. Again, the Bills had great field position and drove to the
Dolphins' 6, but the Dolphins were able to keep them out of the
endzone by stopping Smith and Thomas and sacking Collins on 3rd down.
The Bills then made another field goal and the game went into the 4th
quarter with the Dolphins up 16-13.
Now it was the beginning of the 4th quarter and it was
beginning to look like another game that would be too close for
comfort. Th Dolphins took the kickoff and drove from their 38 to the
Bills' 41, but Marino made a bad choice on a pass and threw into
double coverage, resulting in an interception at the Bills' 30.
The Bills, however, went 3 and out on their next series and
punted back to the Dolphins, who started at their 39 and drove down to
the Bills' 30, mostly on a 26 yard pass to Brett Perriman and some
short runs by Abdul-Jabbar. However, after Abdul-Jabbar got stuffed
for a loss, Marino found Troy Drayton all alone at about the 15 yard
line and all Drayton had to do was to turn and run into the endzone to
give the Dolphins a 23-13 lead.
The Bills went 4 and out on their next possession, going for
it on 4th down at their own 24 after on very short pass and 2
incompletions, but Thurman Thomas dropped a 4th down catch and the
Dolphins got the ball back at the Bills' 24 with 4:19 on the
clock. From the Bills' 24, Marino just handed off to Abdul-Jabbar 4
times in a row and Abdul-Jabbar made 4 nice runs, finishing up with a
1 yard touchdown run that pushed th Dolphins up 30-13 with 3:45
remaining in the game.
The Bills made one more half-hearted attempt to put together a
drive, but it didn't appear as if their hearts were in it at this
point and the game ended when a 4th down pass from Collins fell
incomplete.
On the whole, it was a good game for the Dolphins, especially
against a defense as good as the Bills'. The only parts of the
Dolphins that didn't play well were the special teams, which had
several breakdowns, including the fumble by Spikes.
This win, coupled with the Patriots' loss on Sunday puts the
Dolphins in an excellent position to win the AFC East. Their desinty
is in their hands.
My Comments:
While I was generally very pleased with this game, I have to
admit that I was having some black thoughts at the beginning of the
4th quarter when the Bills came back to within 3 points and appeared
to have all the momentum going for them. This was exactly the kind of
situation that the Dolphins have choked on in the past.
However, this time the Dolphins got their act together and
came back strong in the 4th quarter, eventually getting two more
scores late in the game. If they can continue to play this way, they
can go far.
A word on the replacements - it looked like Dwight Hollier,
John Bock and Roosevelt Potts all played well tonight. Potts, in
particular, showed some flashes of being the kind of blocking back
that JJ desires. It will be interesting to see if he can work his
way into starting next week.
The most telling stat of this game, by the way, was the fact
that the Dolphins out-rushed the Bills, 96 to 92 yards. That speaks
volumes for how the game turned out.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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