OVERALL SUMMARY:

The Dolphins got a little revenge for last year's losses today as they used their tremendous defense and just enough Dan Marino magic to beat the New England Patriots in overtime in Miami today. Neither team was able to score a touchdown as defense was the order of the afternoon for both teams. The Patriots actually won the turnover battle, but when crunch time came at the end of the game, they couldn't stop Dan Marino and he carried the Dolphins to victory as he has so many times before.

The day in Miami was sunny and 80 degrees with a brisk wind that swirled and gusted to 25 miles per hour. Inactive for the Dolphins were Ron Moore, Horace Copeland, Anthony Harris, Danny Stubbs, Mike Sheldon, Brent Smith and Hendrick Lusk.

The game started with John Avery fumbling the kickoff and Brock Marion picking up the loose ball and getting back to the 8 before he was stopped. A short run by Karim, followed by a quick slant to McDuffie gave the Dolphins a 3rd and 1 at their 17 and on the next play, Karim had his longest run of the afternoon, going right up the middle and bouncing outside for 23 yards to the 40.

However, after Karim was nailed in the backfield on a dump pass on first down, he got only two yards on second down and Marino was sacked on 3rd down when he was hit and fumbled the ball. Mark Dixon recovered and the Dolphins punted away to Chris Canty, who took the ball at the Patriots' 23 and made an excellent return all the way to the Dolphins' 41 before being taken down by Bernie Parmalee.

With outstanding field position, the Patriots tried to run Robert Edwards twice in a row, but after runs of -1 and 3 yards, the Patriots went to the air on 3rd down and Patrick Surtain deflected a pass meant for new Patriots' receiver Alan Ladd and the Patriots punted. The ball bounced into the endzone and the Dolphins started from their 20. On first down, Marion faked the handoff and rolled out to his left, throwing to an open Lamar Thomas for a 21 yard gain.

However, on first down at their 41, Avery was nailed for a 1 yard loss and on second down, Marino was sacked on a blitz. On third down, Marino tried to pass short to his right, but the ball was slightly deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Larry Whigham at the Dolphins 45.

On the next series, the Dolphins pass rush put such consistent pressure on Bledsoe that he was forced to throw the ball away on first down and on second down, he overthrew Shawn Jefferson under pressure. Then, on third down, Bledsoe threw the ball away under pressure from Darryl Gardener and was called for intentional grounding. This resulted in the ball moving back to the Patriots' 42 and they punted. The ball bounced at the one and almost didn't go into the endzone, but after bouncing around a couple of times, the ball wend into the endzone for the touchback.

The Dolphins started at their 20 with a 5 yard run by Karim and a 13 yard completion to Perry. On first and 10 from their 38, a pass to Gadsden was knocked away at the last second and after Karim ran for 2 yards, Marino tried to go deep to McDuffie on a deep in route. However, the ball sailed a little and McDuffie pulled up short and the ball went deep to Patriots' safety Willie Clay who made the interception.

Clay returned the ball to the Dolphins' 45 and after Edwards gained 5 yards up the middle on first down, he was nailed in the backfield for a 5 yard loss on second down by Madison and Rodgers. On third down, Bledsoe tried to hit Ladd deep down the right side and overthrew him, which was lucky for the Dolphins, because Ladd had 2 steps on Buckley. The ensuing punt was caught by McDuffie, who made a fair catch at the Dolphins' 10. From there, Karim made 5 yards on first down, but lost 3 on second down when he was hit in the backfield. On third down and 8, the Patriots blitzed again, but Marino hit Parmalee with a short pass that Bernie turned into a 20 yard gain, moving to the Dolphins' 32. On first down, Karim was nailed for a 5 yard loss as the first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.

Facing a 2nd and 15 at their own 27, a dump pass to Karim picked up 10 yards and a quick pass to McDuffie on 3rd and 5 added 12 yards and a first down at the Dolphins' 49. Avery ran for no gain on first down and after a timeout, the Patriots blitzed on second down, but Dan hit McDuffie on a crossing route for 18 yards to the Patriot 34. A short run by Karim and a 2 yard pass to Perry left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 7 at the Patriots 31, but when Marino tried to hit McDuffie, the ball was knocked away.

Now facing a 4th and 7 on the Patriots' 31, the Dolphins sent in Olindo Mare', who made the 48 yard field goal look easy and gave the Dolphins a 3-0 lead. On his ensuing kickoff, the ball went low and bounced before being picked up by Cullors at the 11 and he returned it to the Patriots' 24.

On first down, the Dolphins blitzed and when the center and guard went to the right to handle the blitz and the tackle to the left, Darryl Gardener was unblocked and ran Bledsoe down for a 9 yard sack. However, on the next play, which was an in complete pass, Sam Madison was called for defensive holding, giving the Patriots a first and 10 at their 20.

After stuffing an Edwards run for a 1 yard loss on first down, Bledsoe tossed an 8 yard pass to him on second down, leaving the Patriots with a 3rd and 3 at their 27. On this play, the Patriots ran a crossing play and Madison got hung up just past the line of scrimmage with a Patriots receiver and another defensive back as he was trying to stay with Jefferson. This allowed Shawn Jefferson to get wide open deep down the middle and Bledsoe hit him in stride. He got 58 yards to the Dolphins' 19 before Buckley knocked him out.

A dump pass to Ben Coates gained 11 yards and gave the Patriots a first and goal at the Dolphins' 8 yard line. On first down, Edwards tried to run, but was stuffed by Bowens for no gain. On second down, Bowens appeared to get through and sack Bledsoe for a big loss, but the Patriots were penalized for a false start, giving them a 2nd and goal from the 13. On this play, Bledsoe threw the fade route to Coates on the left side of the endzone, but Coates couldn't hold on and dropped the ball. Calvin Jackson may have knocked his arm during the catch.

This left the Patriots with a 3rd and goal from the 13 and Bledsoe overthrew Jefferson, who was well covered in the endzone. On the play, the Patriots drew a holding penalty and a personal foul after the play. Left tackle Bruce Armstrong was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for getting into an argument with Jason Taylor and the Patriots were pushed back to the 28. They also lost the down because the penalty happened after the play.

Now with a 4th and goal at the Dolphins' 28, the Patriots attempted a field goal, but the ball sailed wide right and the score remained 3-0. The Dolphins took over at their 36 and Karim was stuffed on first down, but picked up 7 on 2nd down and then Marino found Gadsden for 12 yards on 3rd down to the Patriots 46.

Then, Karim picked up 7 more yards on first down to the 39, but after no gain on 2nd down, Marino tried to hit McDuffie on third down, but the ball was knocked away at the catch. The Dolphins punted and the ball was downed at the Patriots' 10. Now, the Patriots ran Edwards for 4 yards and then, after the 2 minute warning, Edwards got his longest run of the day outside for 15 yards to the 29.

On first down, Bledsoe hit Jefferson for 15 yards to the Patriots' 44. Then, on first down, Shane Burton knocked the ball out of Bledsoe's hand as he was rushing and even though he recovered the ball, he lost 6 yards. On 2nd and 16, Bledsoe went to hand off to Edwards, but the Dolphins knocked the ball loose again and the Patriots Bruce Armstrong recoverd. Now facing 3rd and 20, Bledsoe's pass fell incomplete, but Buckley was penalized for holding, giving the Patriots a first down at their 41.

Bledsoe hit Coates for 14 yards on first down to the Dolphins 45 and after an offsides penalty on Jason Taylor, they moved down to the 40. However, on the next play, pressure on Bledsoe caused him to overthrow his receiver and safety Brian Walker made a diving catch for the interception at the Dolphins 22. Marino then knelt down to end the first half.

At the end of the first half, the Patriots had 20 yards rushing and about 100 yards passing, although 58 of those yards were on one play. The Dolphins weren't doing much better, having gained 44 yards rushing and 110 yards passing, but had turned the ball over twice.

The second half began with the Patriots taking the kickoff and returning it to their 20. They then went 3 and out on a short run by Edwards, a pass to Edwards and another run for no gain by Edwards on 3rd and 1 at the Patriots' 29. Their punt was downed at the Dolphins' 32, but a holding penalty on Miami pushed the ball back to their 23.

From there, Karim ran for 2 yards on first down and McDuffie added 8 yards on 2nd down. Karim was stuffed on 1st down at the 33 and after a pass to McDuffie on 2nd down was knocked away, Marino went to Gadsden on 3rd down, but he only picked up 9 yards and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their 42. On the punt, Jacquet tackled Chris Canty at the Patriots' 9, but the Dolphins were penalized for an illegal man downfield and had to kick again. This time, Canty returned the ball to the 31.

Again, the Patriots went 3 and out with Bledsoe throwing too far outside on first down and after a handoff to Sedrick Shaw was stuffed on 2nd down, a pass to Edwards on 3rd down was stopped a yard short and the Patriots punted to McDuffie, who returned the ball 13 yards to the Dolphins' 28. But Larry Izzo was penalized for 10 yards for an illegal block and the Dolphins started at their 18.

On the next play, Marino tried to hit McDuffie on a crossing pattern, but Ty Law stepped in front of the ball and picked it off for the third interception of Marino in the game. He was tackled immediately, but the Patriots had a 1st and 10 at the Dolphins' 28. Two runs by Edwards got 4 yards and no yards and on 3rd down, pressure by the Dolphins forced an early throw by Bledsoe and the ball was high and incomplete. This time, however, the Patriots hit the field goal and tied the score at 3-3 in the middle of the third quarter.

The kickoff was short and Avery took it from the 13 to the 33 with a nice return. From there, Avery ran outside for 11 yards to the 44 and add 5 more to the 49. But on 2nd and 5, Marino overthrew Karim and on 3rd down, pressure forced Marino to throw the ball away. The Dolphins punted from their 49 and the ball was almost blocked, but sailed into the endzone for a touchback.

The Patriots went 3 and out again after Edwards was stuffed on first down after 2 yards and Bledsoe's pass was too low on 2nd down to get to Coates. On 3rd down, Patrick Surtain cut in front of Ben Coates and had the ball in his hands, but dropped a sure interception at the Patriots' 28 and the Patriots punted.

The punt went out of bounds at the 29, and the Dolphins ran Avery on first down for 1, but got a 7 yard pass to him on 2nd down. However, on 3rd and 2, Marino threw behind Gadsden and Gadsden uncharacteristically dropped the pass, forcing the Dolphins to punt.

The punt was returned from the 9 to the 16 and the Patriots tried to go to Edwards on first down, but the ball fell incomplete. However, Buckley was penalized for holding and the ball was moved to the 21. Then the Patriots were penalized for delay of game and moved back to their 16 with a 1st and 15.

Two quick passes to Coates for 7 and then 17 yards moved the ball out to the 40 and then Bledsoe tried to go deep to Shawn Jefferson, who had beaten Sam Madison, but the ball was well overthrown. Then Robert Edwards picked up 4 yards on 2nd down as the 3rd quarter ended.

At the beginning of the 4th quarter, the score was tied 3-3 and neither team was moving the ball all that well. To start the 4th quarter, Bledsoe tried to go to Ladd, but the ball fell incomplete and the Patriots punted again. The ball was taken by Buckley at the 13, where he had a little trouble holding on to the punt, but he returned it to the Dolphins' 26.

From there, Karim ran for nothing on first down, but Marino found Drayton for 17 yards down the middle on 2nd down to the 43. Karim then ran for 1 yard on first down and McDuffie dropped a pass on 2nd down. Then a third down pass to McDuffie was overthrown and the Dolphins punted again to Chris Canty, who made a fair catch at the 16.

From there, the Patriots tried running Edwards, but he was stuffed for a 2 yard loss. A pass on 2nd down was batted down at the line of scrimmage by Jason Taylor, but on third down, Bledsoe had all day to throw and Shawn Jefferson went deep and came back to the ball, beating Patrick Surtain for a 36 yard gain to the Dolphins' 49. On the next play, Bledsoe tried to hit Jefferson deep down the right sideline, but overthrew the ball. However, Buckley was called for pass interference because of some incidental contact while running. This was probably a bad call by the officials, but it gave the Patriots the ball at the Dolphins' 11.

On first down, Edwards was stuffed for a 2 yard loss by Robert Jones and Bledsoe had to throw the ball away on 2nd down under pressure from Kenny Mixon, who refused to be fooled by the play fake. Then, on 3rd down, Edwards tried to run and was stuffed again, leaving the Patriots with a 4th and 12 at the Dolphins 13. They kicked the field goal from there, taking a 6-3 lead on the Dolphins.

On the kickoff, Avery took the ball at the 14 and ran straight up the middle. It looked like he might go the distance, but was tripped up from behind at the Dolphins' 46 by the last man who had a chance at him. Now, there was 9:10 remaining in the game and Marino started to work his magic. From the 46, he passed to Karim for 6 yards and then to McDuffie for 7 yards to the Patriots 41.

On first down, Marino found Drayton open over the middle and he rumbled down to the Patriots' 23. From there, Avery ran for a yard on first down and Marino hit Lamar Thomas for 7 yards on 2nd down to the 15, but on third down a perfectly timed blitz sacked Marino at the Patriots' 21. Now facing a 4th and 8 at the 21, Olindo Mare' hit a 38 yard field goal to tie the score again at 6-6.

On this drive, Marino was 4 for 4 for 37 yards and was sacked once.

The kickoff was returned by the Patriots to their 21 with 5:07 remaining in the game and after a 1 yard pass on 1st down, Robert Edwards dropped a short pass on 2nd down but Bledsoe found Shawn Jefferson on 3rd down for 11 yards to the Patriots' 34. From there, Bledsoe was forced to throw the ball away under pressure from Baron Tanner and on 2nd down the Patriots ran Edwards up the middle for 2 yards.

Now, facing 3rd and 8 from their 36, Bledsoe went to Simmons down the right sideline and Simmons had a step on Terrell Buckley. The ball was perfectly placed and Simmons was pushed out of bounds at the Dolphins' 17. With under 3 minutes remaining in the game, the Patriots ran Edwards for a 1 yard loss on first down and after the Dolphins called their first time out, a pass towards Jefferson was overthrown on 2nd down and Bledsoe tried to go to Simmons again on 3rd down, but pressure forced a poor throw and once more, the Patriots had a 4th down at the Dolphins 18. However, their field goal was good and they took the lead 9-6 with 2:13 left in the game.

The Patriots kicked off and Avery muffed the kick at the 4, but recovered and raced through the Patriots for 37 yards to the 41. With a first down and exactly 2 minutes to go in the game, Marino hit Ed Perry for 10 yards to the sideline and a first down at the Patriots 49. His first pass from there was dropped by Lamar Thomas, but on 2nd down, Marino hit a leaping Oronde Gadsden at about the 32, but Gadsden spun and dragged Canty to the 21.

Now, with 1:37 remaining, Marino missed McDuffie on first down, but found Bernie Parmalee in the flat on 2nd down and Bernie ran down to the 5 before he was knocked out of bounds. From the 5, the Dolphins ran the draw from the shotgun, but the Patriots weren't fooled and knocked Parmalee down for a 2 yard loss. On 2nd and goal, a pass to Gadsden in the endzone was deliberately very high and it was a little too high for him and went incomplete. On third and goal, the blitz forced Dan to throw the ball away, but with 53 seconds left, Olindo Mare' hit a 25 yard field goal to tie the game at 9-9.

The kickoff was taken by Cullors in the endzone and returned to the 21, but the Patriots were penalized for holding and had to start at their 11 with 43 seconds remaining. They elected to kneel down and go into overtime.

The Dolphins won the toss in overtime and took the kickoff. Unlike the other kickoffs, Avery was hit and dropped at the 15 by some great coverage by the Patriots. Marino tried to hit McDuffie on first down, but the ball was knocked away by Ty Law. On 2nd down, Marino went back to McDuffie again, but this time he dropped the ball. Then, on third down, Marino went to Lamar Thomas on the out pattern to the left and the ball fell incomplete outside of Thomas, but Ty Law was called for pass interference after some serious contact with Lamar Thomas. It was a controversial call, but there was clearly some contact and Thomas couldn't get back to the ball.

With a first and 10 at their own 31, Karim ran 4 yards on first down and then Marino hit McDuffie down the left sideline on a straight sideline route for 25 yards to the Patriots' 40. Karim ran for 2 yards from there on first down and then Marino hit Gadsden on a short crossing route that Gadsden turned into a first down with some hard running to the Patriots' 28.

Now, Karim ran for 3 yards on first down to the 25, but lost a yard on 2nd down back to the 26. On 3rd down, Marino tried to go to Gadsden again, but the pass was incomplete and that left the Dolphins with a 4th and 8 from the Patriots' 26. So, with 4:36 elapsed in overtime, Olindo Mare' was called on and responded by hitting a perfect 43 yard field goal to give the Dolphins a 12-9 victory.

All in all, it was a hard fought defensive struggle. There is no doubt that the Dolphins have a first rate defense, but it took the experience of Dan Marino to pull the game out at the end.

This was an important game for the Dolphins to win and even though it was close and tough, the Dolphins came away with a well deserved win. The team still needs to get some more offense, but this game was a milestone in the season.

GOOD STUFF:

The defense was outstanding again, especially against the run, holding the Patriots to 26 total rushing yards. Robert Edwards had nowhere to go all day long.

The pass defense gave up some big plays, but didn't give up any touchdowns and the combination of pressure and coverage ended up holding Drew Bledsoe to a completion percentage of less than 40%.

The offense was spotty at best, but at the end of the game, when they needed it most, the offense came through enough to win the game.

The passing game was at it's best at the end of the game and the offensive line did a much better job this game of keeping the Patriots off of Marino's back.

Punt and kick coverage did a good job in the game, restricting the AFC's leading kickoff returner and keeping him from giving the Patriots good field position and except for one punt return, restricting Chris Canty.

The punt returns were pretty good, although there seemed to be too many penalties.

The kickoff returns were excellent and Avery almost broke two at the end of the game. Now, if he'll just concentrate on catching the ball first, he'll be great.

And the kicking game had it's best day so far. Wilmsmeyer had his best day this year and Olindo Mare' was perfect while under a lot of pressure, making all 4 field goals to win the game.

THINGS TO WORK ON:

Obviously, the big problem with the defense is their penchant for giving up the big play now and then. Surtain, Madison and Buckley all gave up big passes today. If they can fix that, the defense will be just about perfect.

The running game didn't go very far today and I still wish that they would give Avery more carries. The run blocking needs to be more aggressive and move defensive linemen out of the way.

There were still too many dropped passes today, especially by McDuffie, who is supposed to be the most reliable receiver.

There were too many penalties on special teams.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

Dan Marino did not have his best game ever and it looked like he was having some trouble with the wind. However, with the game on the line, he was superb. He ended the day completing 23 of 42 for 279 yards, with no touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar ran 21 times for 56 yards, a 2.7 ypc average and most of that was on one 23 yard carry. However, he was tough, he didn't fumble and he also caught 3 passes for 12 yards with a drop.

John Avery had 6 carries for 17 yards and caught 1 pass for 7 yards. However, he returned 5 kickoffs for 104 yards and had 2 outstanding returns at the end of the game for 68 yards that gave the Dolphins great field position when they needed it most.

Bernie Parmalee continues to make plays. He only had one carry for -2 yards, but caught 2 passes for 36 yards, including the 16 yard reception deep in the Patriots end late in the game. He also had 2 special teams tackles.

Stanley Pritchett didn't touch the ball this game, but was pretty good blocking.

OJ McDuffie caught 6 passes for 77 yards, but also dropped a couple. His longest catch of the day was 25 yards during the overtime period, which was an excellent reception.

Oronde Gadsden caught 4 passes for 59 yards and made two crucial catches late in the game. However, he did drop one, costing the Dolphins a first down, which is unusual for him.

Ed Perry caught 3 for 25 yards and continues to play well.

Troy Drayton only caught 2 passes, but they were both important and gained a total of 35 yards.

Lamar Thomas dropped a pass, but caught 2 for 28 yards.

The offensive line had a pretty good day blocking and certainly has improved since last year, but was not as dominating as it has been.

Zach Thomas led the team in tackles, with 12 total. He was instrumental in helping to hold the Patriots running game down.

Jason Taylor was second in tackles with 6 and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from Bruce Armstrong. He didn't get any sacks today, but he did make a number of nice tackles, was all over the field and knocked down a pass.

Terrell Buckley also had 6 tackles but gave up a deep pass. He had a couple of holding calls, also. He did a good job returning punts, returning 2 for 26 yards.

Darryl Gardener had 4 tackles, a terrific sack and knocked down a Bledsoe pass.

Robert Jones had 4 regular tackles and a special teams tackle. However, he did get a silly penalty on punt coverage.

Derrick Rodgers also had 4 tackles today and made a couple of stops for a loss.

Calvin Jackson had 3 tackles and may have helped save a touchdown by knocking the ball away from Ben Coates in the endzone, although it's not clear if he hit Coates' arm or if Coates just dropped the ball.

Shane Burton had 2 tackles and a sack, plus he knocked the ball out of Bledsoe's hands on the sack, forcing a fumble.

Sam Madison had 2 tackles, but was beaten on the 58 yard pass to Jefferson in the second quarter.

Tim Bowens only had one tackle and knocked down a pass, but was terrific at shutting down the middle and pressuring Bledsoe.

Brock Marion had only one tackle and recovered Avery's fumble on the first kickoff.

Lorenzo Bromell had only one assist in tackles today.

Kenny Mixon also had only one assist in tackles today, but a couple of times put pressure on Bledsoe, forcing incompletions. He had a good game today.

Patrick Surtain didn't have any tackles, but did knock down two passes and if hadn't dropped the ball, he'd have had an interception.

Brian Walker had the only Dolphins' interception of the day on an overthrown Bledsoe pass.

And Baron Tanner got credit for batting down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

Klaus Wilmsmeyer had a very good day punting the ball, averaging 45.7 yards per punt and putting 3 inside the 20 yard line.

Olindo Mare' hit all 4 of his field goal attempts, including the 43 yard game winner in overtime. His kickoffs were not quite as good, but were good enough.

INJURIES:

The Dolphins had no serious injuries today.

My Comments:

I really hate games that are this close.

The reason is, of course, that I am a fan of the Miami Dolphins first and a football fan second. I like close games - as long as they don't involve the Dolphins.

But, at the final gun, if the Dolphins win, I guess I can stand them.

The Dolphins won the game today in all the statistical categories and on the scoreboard. The only place they didn't win is in the turnover department and that was disappointing, because it brought back shades of last year.

And when they don't win the turnover battle, they don't usually win the game.

But the defense continued to be awesome and there was nothing the Patriots could do about it. And when it really counted, Dan Marino was back to his old form.

This win was necessary if the Dolphins are to continue to have any serious hope of winning the division this year. Now, they're one game ahead of everyone else in the division and going into Buffalo for another tough game next Sunday.

However, most important of all, the Dolphins have knocked the reigning division champions off their throne. And that's the first real step to winning the division.

Related Info:

• Dolphins Endzone: From the Game
• NFL.com: Gamebook
• ESPN.com: Dolphins finally boot Pats in OT