Historic Dolphin losses

[Kivam]

Given that we're all about the evil, I figured we should look at some of the horrible collapses, the "I can't believe you lost *that* game you had won" in Miami Dolphins history, and mock the fans of the teams in question.

 

First up - the Monday Night Miracle.  Everyone point and laugh at the Dolphin fans.

 

For those who don't know it, the Monday Night Miracle - the October 23, 2000 game between the Jets and the Dolphins - was voted the greatest game in Monday Night Football history.  It didn't start out that way.

 

The Dolphins were coming to NY to play the Jets, with the winner of the game taking sole possession of first place in the division.  It did not start out well for the Jets.  Miami busted out to 30-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.  Dolphins QB walked over to star defensive end Jason Taylor (best known for Dancing With the Stars and crying after games) and said "it's over." Legions of Jets fans went streaming for the exits.

 

And then . . . everything changed.  Early in the fourth quarter, Vinny Testaverde hits Laveraneus Coles with a 30 yard touchdown, and it's 30-14.  Then a 1 yard Jermaine Wiggins TD (and failed 2 point conversion attempt) made it 30-20.  Then John Hall hit a field goal to cut the lead to seven - a single score - and you could see the heart going right out of the Dolphins (who have been a gutless team for a long time).  By now, the fans had all come back, the stadium was full and rocking . . .

 

And then . . .

 

 

Wayne Chrebet ties the game at 30.  (Interesting side note - at half time, the announcers bring Arnold Schwartzennegger in for an interview.  Perhaps because Arnie isn't a fan of teams that have no spine, he says the Jets will win, the Dolphins will be "terminated" by Wayne Chrebet.  Now, nearly 30 game minutes later . . . Chrebet drives a spike through Miami fans' hearts.  Or, well, the location where the heart would be in a normal human being, anyway).

 

Just to drive the dagger home, the Jets let Miami score to take a 37-30 lead . . . and promptly march down the field to tie the game up, with 40 seconds left, on a throw to left tackle Jumbo Elliot (for all you non-football fans out there . . . left tackles are 300+ pound blockers who never, never, never catch the ball.  Yet Miami essentially gave up the game by letting one do just that).  It was a moment of joy in New York.

 

 

 

After that, the rest was a formality.  To overtime they went, the Jets taking the ball and putting the Dolphins (though not their fans) out of their misery with a game winning field goal.  Down 30-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Jets had taken away a game that any competent NFL team would have won.  Luckily, the Jets weren't playing a competent NFL team.  They were playing the Dolphins.  And the rest - as they say - is history.

 

That's all for tonight.  Tomorrow, we'll talk about how the Dolphins managed to hold the ball for 45 minutes of a 60 minute game - and still lose

 

[Far Dareis Mai]

What's a football?

 

<.<

[Cadsuane]

I dunno, but the green and white costumes are pretty. That number 76 does have a nice bicep, though... ^_^

[claireducky]

Foosball is the devil!

 

....

 

 

[Haxorsist]

Awesome. *points and laughs*

[Ashaman DeRouge]

Seriously, thats what they get for being called Dolphins.

[Haxorsist]

Oh and the LT caught the pass? I didn't think they were allowed to catch passes.

[Kivam]

They usually aren't.  They have to specifically go over to the referee and say "hi, I'm going to try to catch a pass this play", and the ref then announces it to the whole stadium (everyone, the left tackle is eligible to catch a pass this play)

 

Despite having heard this announcement, the Dolphins didn't bother trying to cover him

[WWWwombat]

In 1994, the Jets found themselves one game back of the Dolphins for the AFC East division lead heading into their November 27 match at the Meadowlands. In a game with first place on the line, the Jets held a 24-6 lead, outplaying the Dolphins for three quarters. However, Dan Marino led the Dolphins back with two touchdowns, cutting the score to 24-21. Marino got the ball one last time and drove the Dolphins down the field to within the Jets' five-yard line. With thirty seconds remaining, and the clock continuing to wind down, it appeared Marino was going to spike the ball to stop the clock and send out the field goal unit to tie the game. Instead, Marino took the snap from center, and after motioning as if he would spike the ball, fired the ball in the corner of the end zone past Aaron Glenn and into the hands of Mark Ingram. It was Ingram's fourth touchdown catch of the game, which tied a club record with former Dolphins wide receiver Paul Warfield. The touchdown gave the Dolphins a 28-24 victory, and Miami went on to win the division. The Jets went into a spiral after that play, losing all of their remaining games. Indeed, the game marked the beginning of a period of ignominy for the Jets as they compiled a record of 4-33 from that game to the end of the 1996 season.

[Far Dareis Mai]

I'd want to be on the dolphins team because i like dolphins and they are smart and pretty and i watched Flipper when i was a kid.

[claireducky]

I'd want to be on the dolphins team because i like dolphins and they are smart and pretty and i watched Flipper when i was a kid.

 

I bet you've got a Dolphin and rainbow tattoo on your ankle, don't you?

[Kivam]

Wrong thread, Wombat.  But I'm glad you brought up Dan Marino.  Because if there's any one player who epitomizes the emptiness and futility of the Dolphins, it's Marino.  The man was one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time - easily top 5 (Unitas, Montana, Elway, Marino, Graham, in some order) - yet the Dolphins couldn't build a team around him to save their lives, and he retired without a championship.  In fact, of the ten greatest QBs in NFL history - those 5, plus Peyton Manning, Sammy Baugh, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach and Steve Young (IMO) - he's the only one who never won a championship.

 

Worse, the great QB will always remember that his final game was a 62-7 thrashing by a mediocre Jacksonville team.  Marino went a poor 11 for 25 (a horrific 44% completion rate), for 95 yards, a TD, and 2 interceptions, before being benched for the immortal Damon Huard, as the Dolphins received one of the worst beatings in modern football history.

 

Of course, ending his career that way was fitting, since he was a Dolphin - but Marino will always be remembered as a great player who had the misfortune of being selected by a team that didn't deserve him, and proceeded to waste his talents.

[WWWwombat]

I wouldn't put a guy who threw more picks than touchdowns in the top 5.  Also, Brady should be on one of those lists.

[Far Dareis Mai]

I'd want to be on the dolphins team because i like dolphins and they are smart and pretty and i watched Flipper when i was a kid.

 

I bet you've got a Dolphin and rainbow tattoo on your ankle, don't you?

 

Actually, I'm very much a piercings girl. Tattoos are a little too permanent for my taste. :P But yeah, I should find a dolphin nose stud. I would be sooo sexay! :P

[Kivam]

I wouldn't put a guy who threw more picks than touchdowns in the top 5.  Also, Brady should be on one of those lists.

 

Which of the top 5 threw more picks than TDs?

 

Elway - 300 TD, 226 INT

Graham - 174, 135

Unitas - 290, 253

Marino - 420, 252

Montana - 273, 139

 

Yeah, Brady probably takes out Steve Young

[Verbal32]

I hate you Kivam.

[WWWwombat]

I forgot to include Graham's AAFC stats >.<

 

It's really hard to judge how good Steve Young was because if you look at the stats he looks like the best ever, but you don't know how much of that was the system.  I wonder what the sabermetrics people would say.

[cosmicpanda]

I hate you Kivam.

 

8)

[Haxorsist]

They usually aren't.  They have to specifically go over to the referee and say "hi, I'm going to try to catch a pass this play", and the ref then announces it to the whole stadium (everyone, the left tackle is eligible to catch a pass this play)

 

Despite having heard this announcement, the Dolphins didn't bother trying to cover him

 

I didn't know that. Why isn't this done more often to throw the defense off?

[Kivam]

They usually aren't.  They have to specifically go over to the referee and say "hi, I'm going to try to catch a pass this play", and the ref then announces it to the whole stadium (everyone, the left tackle is eligible to catch a pass this play)

 

Despite having heard this announcement, the Dolphins didn't bother trying to cover him

 

I didn't know that. Why isn't this done more often to throw the defense off?

 

Because most offensive linemen aren't real pass catching threats, and your 5 men along the line of scrimmage cannot be eligible (so if an OL is eligible, he takes another WR off the field).  It usually happens when a 6th OL is brought in as an extra blocker on running downs; if he catches a pass, its usually off play-action (they fake the run, then pass)