| 
 1999
|
Regular
Season October
4,
1999 Bills 23
Miami 18
Attendance: 74,073
MIAMI (AP) -- Harried by the Buffalo Bills, Dan Marino and the
Miami Dolphins looked awful on third down and not too good on the
other downs.
| Scoring
Summary |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| Bills |
3 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
23 |
| Miami |
6 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
18 |
First Quarter
BUF FG, STEVE CHRISTIE 26 YD, 4:14. Drive: 6 plays, 51
yards in 3:12. Key plays: Flutie 24-yard pass
to Riemersma to Miami 35; A Smith 15-yard run
to Miami 15.
MIA FG, OLINDO MARE 30 YD, 8:14. Drive: 5 plays, 29
yards in 1:25. Key plays: Wooden fumble
recovery at Buffalo 42; Marino 25-yard pass to
Konrad to Buffalo 16.
MIA FG, OLINDO MARE 44 YD, 13:03. Drive: 7 plays, 35
yards in 3:34. Key plays: Marino 21-yard pass
to McDuffie to Buffalo 29.
Second Quarter
BUF FG, STEVE CHRISTIE 52 YD, 2:02. Drive: 8 plays, 47
yards in 3:59. Key plays: Flutie 17-yard run on
3rd-and-8 to Buffalo 38; Flutie 38-yard pass to
Riemersma to Miami 24.
BUF TD, GABE NORTHERN 59 YD FUMBLE RETURN (STEVE
CHRISTIE KICK), 10:29.
MIA FG, OLINDO MARE 26 YD, 15:00. Drive: 8 plays, 74
yards in 1:41. Key plays: Marino 18-yard pass
to Pritchett to Miami 36; Marino 36-yard pass
to Gadsden to Buffalo 28; Marino 6-for-7 for 79
yards.
Fourth Quarter
MIA FG, OLINDO MARE 26 YD, 1:37. Drive: 13 plays, 65
yards in 6:14. Key plays: Marino 17-yard pass
to Martin to Miami 44; Collins 2-yard run on
4th-and-1 to Buffalo 45; Gogan recovery of
Marino fumble on Miami 44; 24-yard pass
interference penalty on Bills' T Smith on
3rd-and-8 at Buffalo 19.
BUF TD, ERIC MOULDS 6 YD PASS FROM DOUG FLUTIE (STEVE
CHRISTIE KICK), 4:58. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards
in 3:21. Key plays: Flutie 40-yard pass to
Moulds to Miami 40; Flutie 16-yard pass to
Riemersma to Miami 34; Flutie 5-yard pass to
Moulds on 3rd-and-4 to Miami 23; Flutie 23-yard
pass to K Williams to Miami 6; Flutie 5-for-6
for 80 yards.
BUF FG, STEVE CHRISTIE 31 YD, 8:04. Drive: 4 plays, 6
yards in 1:27. Key plays: Holecek 35-yard
interception return to the Miami 19.
MIA TD, O.J. MCDUFFIE 9 YD PASS FROM DAN MARINO
(TWO-POINT CONVERSION FAILED), 9:47. Drive: 3
plays, 4 yards in 1:43. Key plays: Marion
93-yard kickoff return to Buffalo 4.
|
Miami converted only one of 14 third-down situations, and
Buffalo forced three Marino turnovers to win 23-18 Monday night.
"This could really be a big one for us," Bills coach Wade
Phillips said. "Our defense was outstanding. Everybody talks about
their defense, but ours is playing tremendous."
The victory avenged the Bills' 24-17 loss at Miami in last
season's playoffs. After that game, Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson
celebrated in the locker room by stomping on a box of Flutie
Flakes.
This time the Bills' defense did the stomping. Their domination
included a 59-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Gabe Northern.
"It's very simple," Johnson said. "If you turn the ball over
and don't convert on third downs, you're going to have a tough time
winning."
Linebacker John Holecek led the defensive charge by the Bills (3-1),
while the loss by the Dolphins (2-1) left the NFL with three undefeated
teams.
"We can definitely play better, but I think we're up with the
elite in the AFC," Bills quarterback Doug Flutie said.
Buffalo had lost five consecutive games in Miami.
"Championship teams have to win on the road," Holecek said.
After Buffalo took a 23-12 lead on Steve Christie's third field
goal with 6:56 left, Miami's Brock Marion returned the ensuing
kickoff 93 yards to the 4. O.J. McDuffie then caught a 9-yard
touchdown pass from Marino, the first touchdown allowed by the
Bills' defense in 13 quarters.
The Dolphins got the ball back with 2:59 to go, but Marino threw
four consecutive incompletions from the Miami 43. He finished
22-for-44 for 251 yards with two interceptions and two sacks, his
first of the year.
Marino grudgingly gave credit to the Bills and his longtime
nemesis, defensive end Bruce Smith.
"We're the ones that made the mistakes that really cost us the
game," Marino said. "But they're pretty good on defense. No. 78
is pretty good."
Flutie went 12-for-25 for 186 yards and added 29 yards rushing.
The teams traded field goals before the Bills' defense broke a
6-6 tie late in the first half.
Holecek came through free on a blitz and blindsided Marino to
jar the ball loose. Northern scooped it up, escaped the grasp of
Miami's Cecil Collins and then ran untouched 59 yards for a
touchdown.
Holecek returned an interception of Marino 35 yards to set up
Christie's final field goal, a 31-yarder.
"I was in the right place at the right time," Holecek said.
"He threw it right at me. I was unbelievably shocked."
Christie also hit from 26 and 52 yards.
The Dolphins closed to 13-12 early in the fourth quarter, but
Buffalo responded with an 80-yard touchdown drove. Flutie hit Eric Moulds for 40 yards, then hit him again for the 6-yard score and a
20-12 lead.
"I threw the ball poorly in the first half," Flutie said. "I
said at halftime, 'I've got to let it rip,' and then I hit the deep
ball to Eric."
The Dolphins' first score came after Flutie fumbled a snap and
Miami's Shawn Wooden recovered at the Buffalo 41. Four plays later, Olindo Mare kicked a 30-yard field goal.
The Dolphins drove 74 yards in the final 1:41 of the first half
but settled for a 26-yard field goal by Mare. They marched 65 yards
in the third quarter, but after McDuffie dropped a potential
touchdown pass, Mare kicked another 26-yarder.
Mare also hit a 44-yarder.
| Game
Breakdown |
|
BUF |
MIA |
FIRST DOWNS
Passing
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY
TOTAL NET YARDS
Total plays
Average gain
NET YARDS RUSHING
Rushes
Average per rush
NET YARDS PASSING
Completed-attempted
Yards per pass
Sacked-yards lost
PUNTS-AVERAGE
RETURN YARDAGE
Punts-returns
Kickoffs-returns
Interceptions-returns
PENALTIES-YARDS
FUMBLES-LOST
TIME OF POSSESSION
|
11
6
3-13
0-0
250
53
4.7
73
27
2.7
177
12-25
6.8
1-9
7-37.9
135
1-14
5-86
2-35
8-74
1-1
28:00 |
18
11
1-14
1-2
293
70
4.2
59
24
2.5
234
22-44
5.1
2-17
5-39.2
208
2-8
6-200
0-0
7-50
3-1
32:00 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Missed field goals
None.
Buffalo rushing
Antowain Smith 12-36, Doug Flutie 9-29, Jonathan
Linton 6-8.
Miami rushing
Cecil Collins 16-47,
J.j. Johnson 4-11, Karim Abdul-jabbar 3-2, Stanley Pritchett 1-minus 1.
Buffalo passing
Doug Flutie 12-25 for 186 yards, 0
INT, 1 TD.
Miami passing
Dan Marino 22-44 for 251 yards, 2 INT, 1 TD.
Buffalo receiving
Jay Riemersma 4-85, Eric Moulds 4-60, Kevin
Williams 2-26, Jonathan Linton 2-15.
Miami receiving
O.j. Mcduffie 7-64, Rob Konrad 3-48, Oronde Gadsden
3-46, Troy Drayton 3-29, Tony Martin 2-38, Cecil Collins 2-5, Stanley
Pritchett 1-18, J.j. Johnson 1-3.
Buffalo tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
Sam Rogers 7-1-0, Thomas
Smith 5-2-0, Henry Jones 5-1-0, John Holecek 4-1-1, Bruce Smith
3-2-0, Sam Cowart 1-4-0, Ted Washington 4-0-0, Phil Hansen 2-0-1,
Kurt Schulz 2-0-0, Ken Irvin 2-0-0, Emanuel Martin 2-0-0, Gabe
Northern 1-1-0, Shawn Price 1-0-0, Pat Williams 1-0-0, Antoine
Winfield 1-0-0.
Miami tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial)
Zach Thomas 5-3-0, Rich
Owens 5-1-0, Calvin Jackson 2-2-1, Brock Marion 1-3-0, Jerry Wilson
3-0-0, Robert Jones 1-2-0, Jason Taylor 1-2-0, Sam Madison 2-0-0,
Terrell Buckley 2-0-0, Shawn Wooden 2-0-0, Daryl Gardener 0-2-0,
Patrick Surtain 1-0-0, Kenny Mixon 1-0-0, Tim Bowens 0-1-0, Lorenzo
Bromell 0-1-0, Derrick Rodgers 0-1-0.
Interceptions
Buffalo (Kurt Schulz 1 for 0 yards, John Holecek 1 for
35 yards).
Fumbles lost
Buffalo (Jerry Ostroski); Miami (Dan Marino).
Opponent's fumbles recovered
Buffalo (Gabe Northern); Miami (Shawn
Wooden). |
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