NFL Old School Game of the Week: Marino Throws 5 Touchdowns to Lead Dolphins To Win over LA Rams

Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino completed 29 of 46 passes for 403 yards and threw five touchdown passes in the Dolphins' win over the Rams.

As the Miami Dolphins traveled to southern California to take on the Los Angeles Rams in week 15 of the NFL season, they knew their season was on the line.

Miami entered the game with a 7-7 record needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Dolphins were lead by head coach Don Shula, who was in his 17th season at Miami, and a high-powered offense led by quarterback Dan Marino, who had rewritten the history books two years earlier to lead Miami to the Super Bowl.

While Marino had had another stellar season, with the helps of the "Marks Brothers" wide receivers Mark Clayton and Mark Duper, the Dolphins' defense had struggled ranking near the bottom of the league in points allowed and yards allowed.

The defense was so bad it gave up at least 30 points in five games, with two of those where the opponent scored at least 50, including 51 by the New York Jets in the famous 51-45 overtime shootout in Week 3(For more information, click on the highlighted link to read more about it:)

However, the Dolphins had won five of their last seven games to get back to .500 as the defense had not given up more than 30 points in the previous seven games.

The Dolphins' defense would have their hands full as they took on the Rams and running back Eric Dickerson who had run for 1,629 yards to lead Los Angeles to a 10-4 record entering their game with the Dolphins.

Despite Dickerson's excellence, the Rams were still looking for an answer at quarterback as LA possessed the NFL's worst passing attack.

After going through quarterbacks Steve Bartkowski and Steve Dils, Rams head coach John Robinson turned to rookie Jim Everett to steer the ship for the Rams.

Everett lead the Rams to a 3-1 record over his first four career starts and to the brink of the NFC West Division championship if they could beat the Dolphins.

 After the Rams went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, the Dolphins got the ball at their 37-yard-line and quickly drove down to the LA 23-yard-line as Marino completed his first three passes for 33 yards.

But on 1st & 10 from the Rams' 23-yard-line, running back Lorenzo Hampton dropped a pitch from Marino, which was recovered by Rams cornerback Jerry Gray at the Los Angeles 18-yard-line.

The Rams would go three-and-out again on their following possession, punting the ball back to the Dolphins who took over at the 50-yard-line and once again drove down the field as a 24-yard pass from Marino to Clayton and a 14-yard run by Hampton set up 1st & goal at the LA nine-yard-line.

But for the second straight drive, the Dolphins would turn it over as on 3rd & goal, Marino's pass for Nat Moore deflected off several players before landing in the hands of Rams free safety Vince Newsome, who took a knee in the end zone for a touchback, which would allow LA to start its ensuing possession from its 20-yard-line.

That is when the Rams' offense got going as Everett completed three passes to Henry Ellard for a total of 38 yards to drive LA to the Miami 18-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

Everett would connect with Ellard again for 13 yards on the first play of the second quarter to set up a 1st & goal at the Dolphins' five-yard-line when Dickerson got the call.

Dickerson ran up the middle, on his way to an apparent touchdown, when he was hit at the one-yard-line by Dolphins linebacker John Offerdahl, forcing a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Rams left guard Tom Newberry for a LA touchdown to give the Rams a 7-0 lead on the second play of the second quarter.

Rams running back Eric Dickerson ran the ball 28 times for 124 yards and scored one touchdown.

The Dolphins would begin its next possession at their 20-yard-line where after picking up one 1st down, Marino handed the ball off to Ron Davenport, who threw it back to Marino on a flea-flicker and fired a pass to Duper, who made the catch at the LA 30-yard-line and then outran the Rams defense for a 69-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7, just 69 seconds after the Rams' touchdown.

The Rams would get the ball back at their 21-yard-line when they called on Dickerson's name to help lead them down the field as he carried the ball three straight times for 11 yards, then caught a 13-yard screen pass from Everett to give LA a 1st down at their 45-yard-line.

But that is where Dickerson fumbled the football again this time the Dolphins recovered as Miami linebacker Larry Kolic made the recovery at the Rams' 39-yard-line.

From there, the Dolphins drove 39 yards in nine plays, culminating with a six-yard touchdown pass to James Pruitt to give Miami a 14-7 lead with 7:11 left in the second quarter.

After the Rams went three-and-out on their next possession, the Dolphins got the ball at their 47-yard-line where after three straight running plays picked up 10 yards, Marino fired a 43-yard touchdown pass to Clayton to increase Miami's lead to 21-7 with 4:24 left in the second quarter.

The Rams tried to mount one more drive before halftime but could only reach the Miami 44-yard-line before having to punt back to the Dolphins who ran out the clock in the first half and went into the locker room with a 21-7 lead thanks to Marino's three 2nd quarter touchdown passes.

The Dolphins got the ball to start the second half but would go three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Rams who took over at the Miami 47-yard-line after a 30-yard punt by Reggie Roby.

Everett would connect with Ellard for 14 yards to start the drive, then handed the ball off to Dickerson who carried it twice for 15 yards, which was followed by Everett hitting Ellard for a 19-yard touchdown pass to cut the Dolphins' lead in half to 21-14 with 11:33 left in the third quarter.

The Dolphins would punt again on their ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the Rams, who took over at their 26-yard-line when Dickerson bursted for 25 yards on the 1st play of the drive to put LA in Miami territory.

Following a nine-yard pass from Everett to Tim Tyrell, Dickerson would run for four yards on 2nd & 1, then for 13 more on the next play to set up Everett's 23-yard touchdown pass to Kevin House which tied the game at 21 with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter.

The Dolphins would respond with an eight-play, 83-yard drive where Marino completed all eight of his passes, including a 40-yarder to Duper which set up a Marino-to-Duper five-yard touchdown pass that allowed for Miami to retake the lead at 28-21 with 1:35 to go in the third quarter.

The Dolphins would force the Rams to go three-and-out on their ensuing possession, getting the ball back at their 44-yard-line as the 4th quarter began.

Marino stayed hot as he completed his next five passes, including a 19-yarder to Hampton on 2nd & 11 from the Miami 43-yard-line, then hitting Moore for 24 yards on 3rd & 3 from the LA seven-yard-line.

Marino's streak of 13 straight completions would end on 3rd & goal at the one-yard-line when Rams strong safety Nolan Cromwell's safety blitz caused Marino to throw an incomplete pass forcing Shula to make a decision on whether to kick the field goal or go for the touchdown.

Shula decided to keep it safe and kick the field goal which Fuad Reveiz made from 18 yards out to increase the Dolphins' lead to 31-21 with 10:06 left in the 4th quarter.

In just his fifth career NFL start, Rams quarterback Jim Everett completed 18 of 31 passes for 251 yards and threw two touchdowns.

The Rams would begin their next possession at their 22-yard-line where it took them only four plays to drive to inside the Dolphins' red zone as Everett connected with David Hill twice for 24 yards and then House for 31 yards to put LA at the Miami 17-yard-line.

However, the Dolphins' defense would stiffen and allow only two more yards on three plays, forcing the Rams to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Ray Lansford to cut the LA deficit to a touchdown at 31-24 with 6:47 left in the 4th quarter.

The Rams would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 25-yard-line with 5:29 left in regulation and a chance to drive for the game-tying touchdown.

The Rams would come out throwing as Everett hit Hill for 18 yards to start the drive, then connected with Ellard for 22 yards to put LA at the Miami 35-yard-line in just two plays.

However, Everett's next two passes would fall incomplete forcing a 3rd & 10 when Everett found House for 11 yards and a 1st down at the Dolphins' 24-yard-line.

Dickerson would get the ball on 1st down and ran for five yards, which was followed by a six-yard scramble by Everett to give the Rams a 1st down at the Miami 13-yard-line.

From there, Dickerson would carry the ball four straight times for 13 yards, with the last carry being an one-yard touchdown that with Lansford's extra point tied the game at 31 with 50 seconds left in regulation.

The Dolphins would not pick up a 1st down on their ensuing possession forcing them to punt the ball back to the Rams who took a knee to run out the clock in regulation and go into overtime tied at 31.

The Dolphins would win the coin toss and elected to receive as Craig Ellis returned the overtime kickoff 22 yards to the Miami 25-yard-line.

After Marino connected with Davenport for eight yards on 1st down, Davenport would bust loose for the longest run of the game as he ran for 35 yards to the LA 32-yard-line.

But two plays later, it appeared that the Rams had dodged a bullet as LA defensive back Mickey Sutton picked off a pass that bounced off the hands of Clayton, only to have nullified by an offsides penalty on linebacker Kevin Greene, giving the Dolphins five yards and a 2nd down at the LA 27-yard-line.

Davenport would run for five yards on the next play to pick up the 1st down which was followed by a two-yard run by Hampton to set up 2nd & 8 from the Rams' 20-yard-line.

That is when Marino fired a pass toward the end zone for Duper, who lived up to his nickname of "Super Duper" and made the catch despite excellent coverage from Rams cornerback LeRoy Irvin for his third touchdown of the game, a 20-yarder to give Miami a 37-31 overtime win.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mark Duper makes the game-winning touchdown catch in overtime.

The win kept the Dolphins' playoff hopes alive as they moved to 8-7 while the loss dropped the Rams to 10-5, who still clinched a playoff spot thanks to a loss by the Minnesota Vikings to the Houston Oilers.

The Rams would face the San Francisco 49ers in a winner-take-all game for the NFC West which the Rams lost 24-14, giving the 49ers the division title while the Rams had to play in the NFC Wild Card Game against the Washington Redskins which they lost 19-7.

As for the Dolphins, their chances of going to the playoffs were squashed when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on the final Sunday of the season to clinch the final spot in the AFC playoffs as Miami would lose to the New England Patriots to end the season with a 8-8 record, the first of four straight seasons where the Dolphins would miss the playoffs.