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Dolphins News: Dolphins Lose to Patriots 27-24
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Dolphins News: Dolphins Lose to Patriots 27-24
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*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Nov 23, 1997: -- Dolphins Lose to Patriots 27-24 --

The Dolphins went into Foxboro stadium with high hopes today, but 3 uncharacteristic Dan Marino interceptions - 2 that were returned for touchdowns by the Patriots - ruined Miami's chances to stay atop the AFC East. Marino had the Dolphins' offense moving well throughout the game, and nearly brought the team back from a 24-3 halftime deficit, but the interceptions were just too much for the team to overcome and by the end of the game, the Dolphins had lost 27-24 to New England.

The Dolphins started the game with a 2 tight end formation, but the Dolphins' offensive line was dominated by the Patriots front 4 for most of the game. As a result, they never got much of a running game going and had to rely on Marino to try and win it. The Patriots were able to use their front 4 to get pressure on Dan that never let up and Marino didn't respond well in key situations.

The Dolphins defense played pretty well, holding the Patriots to 13 offensive points and getting the ball back late in the game when they needed it. However, they didn't get any turnovers and they weren't able to put much pressure on Bledsoe during the game. Only Jason Taylor had a sack.

The game started with neither team being able to move the ball very well against good defensive efforts by the opposition. The Dolphins started in a 2 tight end formation and went 4 plays and out on their first series, with the Patriots responding by going 6 plays and out on theirs.

The Dolphins faltered again on their second series, getting 1 first down on a pass to Charles Jordan, but with the running game going nowhere, the Dolphins were forced to punt it away again. The Patriots responded with a 51 yard drive, mostly on passes to Ben Coates, Shawn Jefferson and a 14 yard run by Curtis Martin that ended in a field goal and gave them a 3-0 lead.

The Dolphins responded with their own drive of 68 yards on passes to Jordan and some decent runs by Abdul-Jabbar that carried them to the Patriots' 7 yard line. However, the drive stalled there and the Dolphins were forced to kick a field goal and accept a 3-3 tie.

The Patriots responded by going 3 and out after Jason Taylor sacked Bledsoe on first down with a nice speed rush. The Dolphins could do nothing in response, however, and had to punt again. When the Patriots got the ball after a short punt at their 42, they moved down to the Dolphin 35, before they caught the Dolphins' defense sleeping and completed the halfback option pass from Dave Meggett to Troy Brown, who was wide open at the goal line. This gave the Patriots a 10-3 lead and was the only offensive touchdown that they would score in the game.

With time remaining now less than 3 minutes in the first half, the Dolphins got the ball back in excellent field position at their 38 after the kickoff. Marino began using the 2 minute offense to move the ball down the field, but on 3rd and 5 at the New England 45, Marino didn't see Larry Whigham in coverage for the Patriots on OJ McDuffie and as he tried to force the ball to McDuffie, Whigham stepped in front of McDuffie and picked it off, then returning it 60 yards for an easy touchdown.

With the Patriots now leading 17-3, the Dolphins took the kickoff and Marino magic drove them from their 24 down to the Patriots' 7 yard line on a series of passes to Jordan, Manning and McDuffie. However, with less than 20 seconds remaining in the half, Marino was pressured up the middle and tried to loft the ball to McDuffie in the endzone. However, he underthrew the ball and it was picked off at the goalline and returned 100 yards for a touchdown and a 24-3 Patriot lead.

The second half opened with the Patriots taking the ball on the kickoff and driving from their 33 to the Miami 10, but they stalled there and were forced to settle for a field goal and a 27-3 lead. Following the kickoff, the Dolphins abandoned the running game and drove right down the field on passes to McDuffie and Lamar Thomas and finished the drive with a 1 yard touchdown run by Karim Abdul-Jabbar that gave the Dolphins their first touchdown and cut the score to 27-10.

The Patriots responded by putting together a long drive from their 15 to the Miami 12, but the Dolphins stiffened and the Patriots missed a short field goal to leave the score 27-10. Now, with 2:59 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Marino put together another drive, starting at the Miami 20 and going down to the New England 1 yard line on passes to Drayton, McDuffie and Lamar Thomas and a little running by Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Ray Nealy. With 11:56 remaining in the game, Karim would plunge over from the 1 and cut the Patriots' lead to 27-17.

On the kickoff, the Dolphins unexpectedly faked a real kick and pulled a surprise onsides kick that was recovered by OJ Brigance and gave the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at their 39. Marino went right to work, passing to McPhail, McDuffie and Lamar Thomas and drove the Dolphins right down to the New England 1 yard line. However, after the Dolphins lost 5 yards trying to run it in twice, Marino dropped back to pass on third and goal and underthrew the ball to a well-covered Jerris McPhail in the endzone where it was picked off again.

Now, with 6:45 remaining in the game, the Patriots started at their 20 and were able to move with Curtis Martin and a 25 yard pass to Shawn Jefferson. However, at the Dolphins' 29, the Patriots were unable to convert a 3rd and 1 and tried again on 4th and 1 and were stuffed.

Marino took over with 2:39 remaining and drove the team down the field with passes to Manning, McPhail, OJ McDuffie and Lamar Thomas until they were down to the New England 1 yard line with just 13 seconds remaining in the game. The Dolphins had a 4th down and Abdul-Jabbar dove over for a touchdown with just 10 seconds left in the game to cut the score to 27-24.

On the kickoff, the Dolphins at first appeared to have recovered the onsides kick, but were penalized for having a man touch the kick before it had traveled 10 yards. However, Keith Byars was also called for unnecessary roughness and was ejected from the game when he got into a heated argument with a ref. With offsetting penalties, the ball was kicked again and this time the Dolphins legally recovered the ball when Jerry Wilson fell on it as it squirted free.

With a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins 42, Marino tried to hit Lamar Thomas on a deep sideline route, but the ball was badly thrown and it was easily deflected. With time for just one more play, Marino threw the ball high as a hail-mary type pass, but it came down in a crowd at the 20 yard line and was batted down by a Patriots' player to end the game.

For the most part, the Dolphins played well in this game. The defense held the Patriots' offense in check for most of the game and gave up just 13 points. They are still having problems finding a pass rush, but for the most part, they did a good job.

The Dolphins' special teams played well, recovering 3 onsides kicks and providing good coverage. The only real disappointment for them was the poor kicking of John Kidd, who shanked several punts and wasn't hitting the ball well at all.

The offense gets mixed reviews, however. The offensive line was unusually bad this game, allowing the Patriots' defensive front to put constant pressure on Marino and sack him 3 times. To be fair, the Dolphins tried several different combinations of players on the offensive line, with Keith Sims filling in for John Bock at one point and then, when Richmond Webb left the game for a while with a minor knee injury, Sims went back to left guard and Buckey went to left tackle.

Still, that doesn't entirely excuse the poor pass protection or the lack of running yardage. Abdul-Jabbar ended the day with just 33 yards on 18 carries, although he did score 3 times. The Dolphins' offensive line should have played better than it did.

But by far the worst performance of the game was by Dan Marino. Each of the interceptions that he threw were bad choices by him and 2 of them were underthrown balls as well. Marino ended the day with nearly a 70% completion rate and 389 yards, but he had no scores and he had 3 very costly interceptions.

The coaches must take some blame for this loss also. The Dolphins didn't go after Drew Bledsoe enough in the early part of the game with blitzes. As a result, even though Bledsoe didn't put up any points, he was steady in the pocket and didn't turn the ball over.

The Dolphins are now 7-5 and tied with New England for 2nd place in the AFC East. The New York Jets beat Minnesota today to take sole possession of first place in the East.

My Comments:

I do not like to have to say it, because I am a Dan Marino fan, but the unfortunate truth is that Dan cost the Dolphins the game today. Sure, you can argue that they wouldn't have been in the game at the end if Dan hadn't been the quarterback and maybe that is true.

But you can't deny that Dan made 3 critical mistakes today that resulted in 14 points for the Patriots and ended 2 Dolphins' drives at the Patriots' goal line.

I am not sure what to make of his performance. Perhaps the cold affects his throwing arm, which has been sore all year. Or maybe it's just that he had to throw 60 passes today. By the end of the day, the passes didn't have the authority or zip on them that they have had in the past.

Still, for all of Dan's mistakes, the Dolphins almost won this game. And I don't have any problem with the rematch in Miami, because I think that the Dolphins showed that they can beat the Patriots. They have the talent, but they just can't make the mistakes.

As for Dan Marino, I don't really know what to say. I'm sure that Dan feels worse right now than I do. And I don't think that his playing days are over, by any means.

But today, he was not the Dan Marino that we have come to rely on to win games for the Dolphins.

On a personal note, due to a number of commitments that I've got to fulfill for this Thanksgiving week, there will be no Game Analysis this week. What little I've got to say has been said above.

The preview of the upcoming game against the Raidahs will be available by noon on Friday.

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Curt Fennell, curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
     
   

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DOLFAN in New England