NFL Old School Game of the Week: Ferguson's 5 TD Passes Spoil Marino's First Start

Dan Marino threw for 322 yards and threw three touchdown passes in his first career NFL start but could not lead the Miami Dolphins to a win over the Buffalo Bills

The 1983 NFL Draft is remembered for six quarterbacks being selected in the first round which started with John Elway as the #1 pick of the Baltimore Colts(though he ended up going to the Denver Broncos) and ending with the Miami Dolphins selecting Dan Marino as the 27th and next-to-last pick of the first round.

Many were stunned that Marino fell so far, but in the end it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Marino was going to be coached by legendary head coach Don Shula and go to a team that had just been to the Super Bowl the year before.

Marino started the season as the backup to David Woodley, but the rookie came off the bench in two of the first five games as the Dolphins offense struggled, scoring only 71 points over the first five games of the season and going 3-2.

That is when Shula decide to insert Marino as the starter as the Dolphins prepared to host their AFC East rival, the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills also selected a quarterback in the 1983 Draft as they took Jim Kelly with the 14th overall pick, but Kelly pulled a Elway and did not sign with the Bills because he did not want to play in the cold weather in Buffalo and instead signed with the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League.

So first-year head Kay Stephenson had to go back to veteran Joe Ferguson, who had been the Bills starter ever since his rookie season in 1973.

The Bills also entered the game with a 3-2 record, so this game was incredibly important in terms of the AFC East race.

Marino did not get off to a good start as his first pass attempt was intercepted as Marino launched a deep pass intended for tight end Bruce Hardy, only to have it deflected by Buffalo free safety Chris Williams and fall into the hands of his teammate, Steve Freeman who returned the pick 10 yards to the Bills’ 21-yard-line.

The Bills could do nothing with the interception as they went three-and-out punted the ball back to Miami who took over at their own 37-yard-line and drove to the Buffalo 41-yard-line until Marino was sacked by Bills defensive end Ben Williams for a 11-yard-loss, forcing the Dolphins to punt the ball.

After both teams went three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, the Bills put together the first scoring drive of the game as Buffalo went 84 yards in 11 plays with Ferguson completed seven of eight passes for 76 yards, including the nine-yard touchdown pass to Byron Franklin that put the Bills on top 7-0 with 16 seconds left in the opening period.

Joe Cribbs only ran for 49 yards, but was the Bills' leading receiver as he caught nine passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

Then after the defense forced a Dolphins punt, Ferguson connected with Franklin for another touchdown, this one from 30 yards out to increase the Buffalo lead to 14-0 with 11:07 to play before halftime.

Things did not get better for Miami on the ensuing possession when on the first play from scrimmage, Marino was intercepted for the second time in the game, this time by Buffalo linebacker Chris Keating which gave the Bills a chance to increase the lead as they took over at the Dolphins’ 25-yard-line.

However, 25 yards worth of penalties pushed the Bills back to the 50-yard-line and forced them to punt the ball back to the Dolphins, who took over at their own 14-yard-line.

That is when the Miami offense finally got their act together and put together their best drive of the game, a 12-play, 86-yard drive that saw Marino complete three 3rd down pass for 1st down conversions and draw a pass interference penalty on Buffalo cornerback Charles Romes on another 3rd down, which lead to Woody Bennett’s one-yard touchdown run to cut the Bills lead in half to 14-7 with 4:46 to go in the first half.

The Bills responded to the Miami touchdown by driving from their own 28-yard-line to the Miami 10-yard-line, thanks to the right arm of Ferguson, who completed four of five passes for 49 yards on the drive, with three of those completions going to Jerry Butler.

However, the Bills were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal attempt by Joe Danelo, but Danelo’s kick hit the left upright with 11 seconds before halftime.

Marino took a knee to end the half as the Dolphins were lucky to be down only a touchdown at 14-7 after the first 30 minutes as the Bills had 227 yards of total offense compared to the Dolphins’ 99 yards of total offense and two turnovers.

After both teams traded punts to begin the second half, the Dolphins took over at their own 32-yard-line when on 3rd & 5 from the 37, Marino launched a deep pass for Mark Duper, who made the catch at the Buffalo 15-yard-line and outran two Buffalo defenders to complete the 63-yard touchdown that with Uwe von Schamann’s extra point tying the game at 14 with 9:03 remaining in the third quarter.

It did not take long for the Bills to strike back as Van Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Buffalo’ 47-yard-line where Ferguson and the offense took over.

A 37-yard pass interference penalty put the Bills at the Dolphins’ 11-yard-line when on the very next play, Ferguson found fullback Booker Moore in the end zone for the touchdown to put Buffalo back on top 21-14 with 6:42 left in the third quarter.

The Dolphins would start their ensuing possession at their 20-yard-line where it took them five plays to drive to Bills’ 48-yard-line when Marino handed the ball to wide receiver Mark Clayton on a reverse, only to have Clayton launch a pass that was caught by Duper at the 23-yard-line, who then outraced Steve Freeman for the touchdown that with von Schamann’s extra point tied the game again, this time at 21 with 2:56 to play in the third quarter.

Once again, the Bills would respond with another good kickoff return, this time by Mike Mosley, whose 33-yard return lead to a nine-play, 63-yard drive that ended with Ferguson’s fourth touchdown pass of the game, a 4-yarder to running back Joe Cribbs to break the 21-21 tie and put Buffalo ahead 28-21 just 102 seconds into the 4th quarter.

Mark "Super" Duper lived up to his nickname as he caught seven passes, two of them for touchdowns, and gained 202 yards.

Following the touchdown, Miami would drive drove down the field as they drove from the 23-yard-line to the Bills’ two-yard-line, thanks in large part to a 39-yard pass from Marino to Clayton, where they had 1st & goal.

However, Marino would bobble the snap on the next two plays, losing five yards, leading to a 3rd & goal where Marino could only get a one-yard pass to Duper, but would get a reprieve as the Bills were called for holding, giving the Dolphins an automatic 1st down at the three-yard-line.

Then after a two-yard run by Audra Franklin, Marino rolled right and fired a one-yard touchdown pass to Nat Moore that helped tied the game for the 4th time, this time at 28 with 7:35 left in regulation.

The Bills took over at their 20-yard-line and were facing a 3rd-and-18 at their 37-yard-line when Ferguson was intercepted by Fulton Walker, whose seven-yard return gave the Dolphins the ball at the Bills’ 45-yard-line with 6:38 to go and a chance to take the lead.

Seven plays later, Marino found Clayton over the middle for a 14-yard touchdown to give Miami its first lead of the game at 35-28 with 3:06 to go in regulation.

The Bills would take over at their own 20-yard-line with 3:06 and all three timeouts in their pocket, needing a touchdown and an extra point to force overtime.

The drive got off to a good start as Ferguson hit Cribbs for 10 yards on the first play of the drive, then connected with tight end Mark Brammer for six yards.

But on the next play, Ferguson would be sacked by Mike Kozlowski for a 12-yard-loss, forcing the Bills to call their first timeout as they faced a 3rd-and-16.

On the 3rd-and-16, Ferguson connected with Franklin for 21 yards to give Buffalo a 1st down at their 44-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

Then on the first play after the two-minute warning, Ferguson hit Perry Tuttle for 19 yards to put Buffalo in Miami territory at the Dolphins’ 37-yard-line.

Ferguson then found Butler for 12 more yards, which was followed by a seven-yard completion to Cribbs, and then an incomplete pass when Kozlowski knocked down Ferguson’s pass intended for Franklin, leading to another Buffalo timeout as they prepare for a 3rd-and-3 at the Miami 18-yard-line with 1:20 left.

That is when Ferguson connected with Brammer for a 10-yard gain to give Buffalo a 1st-and-goal at the eight-yard-line.

After his next two passes fell incomplete, Ferguson completed a pass to Butler, who was stopped one yard short of a touchdown by Fulton Walker and linebacker Bob Brudzinski, forcing the Bills to burn their last timeout with 28 seconds to go and facing 4th-and-goal from the one-yard-line.

Down to his last chance, Ferguson took the 4th down snap and fired a pass to Cribbs on the right side, who made the catch and ran in the end zone, to give Ferguson his fifth touchdown pass of the game and with Danelo’s extra point tied the game 35-35 with 23 seconds to play in regulation.

After Marino took a knee to end regulation, the two teams went to the middle of the field for the overtime coin toss, which the Dolphins won and elected to receive.

Miami started from their own 20 and on the first play from scrimmage, Marino went deep, hitting Duper for a 31-yard gain that put the Dolphins in Buffalo territory at the Bills’ 49-yard-line.

The Dolphins would gain only 14 more yards but it was enough for Shula to call on von Schamann and attempt a game-winning 52-yard field goal.

Von Schamann’s kick was long enough, but it sailed wide left and no good, giving the ball to Buffalo at their 35-yard-line with 12:42 left in overtime.

The Bills try to duplicate the Dolphins’ first play of overtime by going deep but Ferguson overthrew Butler and Buffalo ended up going three-and-out, punting the ball back to Miami, where the Bills appeared to catch a break as the ball rolled to the Dolphins’ two-yard-line.

However with the combination of Marino’s passing and the running of Audra Franklin, the Dolphins were able to drive into field goal range as it took them 10 plays to get to the Bills’ 32-yard-line where they had a 1st & 10.

But after Bennett was stopped for no gain on 1st down and Marino was sacked by Darryl Talley for a 13-yard loss on 2nd down, Miami was out of field goal range as they faced 3rd-and-23 from the 45-yard-line.

That is when Marino found Nat Moore for a 20-yard gain while not enough for the 1st down, it did give Von Schamann a chance at redemption as he came on to attempt the game-winning field goal, this one from 43 yards out.

But once again Von Schamann’s kick was long enough but did not cross the uprights, this one sailing wide right, giving the Bills the ball at their 26-yard-line with 5:15 remaining in overtime.

After four plays gained only 10 yards, the Bills were faced with a 3rd-and-10 at their own 36-yard-line when Ferguson fired a pass down the left sideline that was caught by Mosely for a 35-yard gain that put Buffalo at the Dolphins’ 29-yard-line.

Three straight running plays gained nine yards, leading for the Bills to call on Danelo and give him his chance to kick the game-winning field goal.

Shula called timeout in an attempt to ice Danelo but it did not work as Danelo’s 36-yard field goal sailed through the uprights to give the Bills a wild 38-35 overtime win, the first time the Bills had defeated the Dolphins in Miami since 1966, the Dolphins' first season of existence.

Joe Ferguson finished the day completing 38 of 55 passes for 419 yards and a career high five touchdown passes.

The Bills appeared to be on their way to the playoffs, but the team dropped four of their last five games to finish the season with a 8-8 record, one game behind the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos for a Wild Card spot.

The next season would not be so kind to Ferguson and the Bills as they finished with a 2-14 record in what turned out to be Ferguson’s last season in Buffalo as he was traded to the Detroit Lions in the offseason where he would play three years, before two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then spending his 18th and final NFL season with the Indianapolis Colts in 1990.

Thankfully for the Bills, they would get their franchise quarterback as Jim Kelly signed with the team in 1986 after the folding of the USFL and helped lead the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s.

As for Marino and the Dolphins, they would go 9-1 over the rest of the regular season as Marino would finish the season with 2,210 passing yards and 20 touchdown passes in leading Miami to the AFC East title, but falling to the Seahawks in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

However, the following season, Marino would set the league on fire as he set then NFL records for passing yards(5,084) and passing touchdowns(48) as he lead the Dolphins to the Super Bowl, which they lost to the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Montana.

Marino would remain at the helm as the starting quarterback of the Dolphins for 15 more years as he finished his career with 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdown passes.