As the Miami Dolphins began the 1994 season, the biggest question was how would Dan Marino look one year after tearing his right Achilles tendon, which ended his 1993 season just five games in.
The injury was so catastrophic that it caused Marino's right calf muscle to degenerate which lead to a special shoe to be fitted for Marino's right foot.
In the preseason, Marino struggled as he was unable to put weight on his toes and push off on his right foot, leading to some wonder whether or not Bernie Kosar, the former Cleveland Browns quarterback who had been signed in the offseason, to become the Miami starter.
But legendary head coach Don Shula decided to have Marino start the season as the #1 quarterback as the Dolphins hosted the New England Patriots in week 1 of the 1994 NFL season.
While some thought Marino's best days were behind him, many thought the future was bright for Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who had been selected as the #1 overall pick of the 1993 NFL draft.
In his rookie season, Bledsoe started 12 games for the Patriots, winning five of them as New England went 5-11 in the first season under head coach Bill Parcells.
Having ended the '93 season on a four-game winning streak, hopes were high that the Patriots could take the next step and become a contender for a spot in the AFC playoffs as they traveled to Miami to take on the Dolphins.
After the Patriots went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, the Dolphins would get the ball at their 36-yard-line with Marino throwing as his first two passes went incomplete before connecting with Scott Miller for 16 yards and a 1st down at the New England 48-yard-line.
From there, running back Terry Kirby would run the ball three straight times for a total of nine yards setting up 4th & 1 when Shula decided to go for the 1st down as Marino handed it off again to Kirby, who lost the football after he was hit by Patriots linebacker Marty Moore as free safety Myron Guyton made the recovery at the New England 41-yard-line.
The Patriots would convert the turnover into points as they drove 59 yards in 10 plays with the drive being capped off with an one-yard touchdown run by Kevin Turner to give New England a 7-0 lead with 4:44 left in the first quarter.
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| Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe 32 of 51 passes for 421 yards and threw five touchdown passes. |
The Dolphins would begin its next possession at its 30-yard-line and put together a drive that would last into the second quarter as Marino completed six of his next passes for 45 yards and even scrambled for 10 yards as Miami drove to the Patriots' two-yard-line where they had 1st & goal.
After an one-yard run by Kirby on 1st down and an illegal shift penalty pushed Miami back five yards, Marino fired a pass that bounced off the hands of running back Keith Byars and into the arms of Patriots linebacker Dwayne Sabb for the interception to give the ball back to the Patriots at their nine-yard-line.
Following an exchange of punts, the Patriots would drive from their 20-yard-line to the Miami 18-yard-line until Bledsoe was intercepted by Dolphins cornerback Troy Vincent to give the ball back to Marino at his nine-yard-line with a little over four minutes left before halftime.
Three runs by Kirby for 22 yards plus a 5-yard face mask penalty put the Dolphins at their 36-yard-line when Marino fired a deep pass for Mark Ingram who made the catch at the Patriots' 36-yard-line and then proceed to outran the New England defense to complete the 64-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 2:15 left in the first half.
The Patriots would get the ball back at its 32-yard-line as Bledsoe would complete six of seven passes for 63 yards on an eight-play, 68-yard drive that culminated with a two-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to tight end Ben Coates to give New England a 14-10 lead with 25 seconds left before halftime.
Miami would begin its next possession at its 33-yard-line with 19 seconds left in the half and two timeouts giving Marino enough time to possibly to lead the Dolphins into field goal range.
Marino would find O.J. McDuffie for 21 yards, called timeout, and then hit Miller for 21 yards to set up a 42-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich as time expired in the first half with the Dolphins trailing 14-10 but set to get the ball to start the second half.
However, the Dolphins would go three-and-out on their initial possession of the second half, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Patriots, where it took them only two plays to get back into the end zone as Bledsoe hit Coates for a 62-yard touchdown to increase the New England lead to 21-10 just 2:27 into the third quarter.
After both teams went three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, the Dolphins got the ball at their 39-yard-line where it took them only one play to get into New England territory as Marino completed a 40-yard pass to former Patriots wide receiver Irving Fryar to give Miami a 1st down at the Patriots' 21-yard-line.
Two plays later on 3rd & 15, Marino fired a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Keith Jackson which brought Dolphins to within five points at 21-16 as Miami decided to attempt a two-point conversion which was successful as Kirby ran into it to make a three-point game at 21-18 with 8:13 left in the third quarter.
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| Dolphins wide receiver Irving Fryar would catch five passes for 211 yards and score three touchdowns. |
The Patriots began its next possession at its 25-yard-line as Bledsoe completed back-to-back passes for 30 yards to put New England at the Miami 45-yard-line when Bledsoe was picked off by Dolphins free safety Gene Atkins to give the ball back to the Dolphins at their 35-yard-line.
But just one play later, the Patriots had the ball again as Marino fumbled the snap from center Jeff Dellenbach with New England defensive end Mike Jones making the recovery at the Miami 24-yard-line.
Five plays later, the Patriots were in the end zone again as Bledsoe found Michael Timpson over the middle for a five-yard touchdown to push the New England lead back to double digits at 28-18 with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
Back came the Dolphins as they drove 78 yards in four plays as Marino connected with Fryar a 54-yard touchdown to cut the Patriots' lead to three points at 28-25 with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter.
The Patriots would hold the ball for the rest of the third quarter before punting the ball back to the Dolphins who took over at their 46-yard-line as Kirby ran for four yards on 1st down, then took an handoff from Marino only to pitch it back to the quarterback on a flea flicker, who then found Fryar for a 50-yard touchdown to give Miami its first lead of the game at 32-28 with exactly 14 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
New England would respond with a six-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Bledsoe's fifth touchdown pass of the day, a 23-yarder to Ray Crittenden who made a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone to give the Patriots a 35-32 lead with 10:12 left in regulation.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Dolphins got the ball back at its 20-yard-line with 7:14 left in regulation.
The drive got off to an auspcious start as Marino was sacked for a nine-yard-loss on 1st down, but would turn around as Marino hit Byars for seven yards on 2nd down then Kirby for 21 yards on 3rd & 12 to give Miami a 1st down at its 39-yard-line.
Marino would lead the Dolphins to the Patriots' 35-yard-line until they were faced with a 4th & 5 when Shula decided to go for the 1st down instead of a potential game-tying field goal.
The gamble paid off and then some as Marino fired a pass down the right sideline and connected with Fryar for a 35-yard touchdown to give the Dolphins a 39-35 lead with 3:19 left in the fourth quarter.
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| Marino would finish with 473 yards and four touchdowns on 23-of-42 passes. |
The Patriots would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line as Bledsoe would complete two passes for 27 yards before throwing two straight incomplete passes to set up 3rd & 10 when Bledsoe found Coates for an apparent 1st down.
But as Coates ran to the Miami 30-yard-line, he lost the football following an hit by Atkins, leading to Dolphins strong safety Michael Stewart making the recovery to give the Dolphins the ball at their 26-yard-line with 1:51 left and a chance to run out the clock.
However, the Dolphins could not pick up a 1st down and were forced to punt the ball back to the Patriots who took over at their 35-yard-line with 1:18 left in the game.
Bledsoe would complete two passes to get the Patriots to the 50-yard-line until Bledsoe ran out of bullets as he fired four straight incomplete passes to end New England's chances of pulling out the win.
Marino would take a knee to run out the clock in the Dolphins' 39-35 victory which saw both quarterbacks combine for 894 yards and nine touchdown passes.
The Patriots would recover from the Week 1 loss to finish with a 10-6 record to earn New England a trip to the postseason for the first time since 1986 as Bledsoe finished the season as the NFL's leading passer in yards as he threw for 4,555 yards.
Not to be outdone, Marino would finish the season with 4,453 yards and 30 touchdown passes as the future Hall-of-Famer would win the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award as he led the Dolphins to an identical 10-6 record, but good enough to win the AFC East division title as they swept the season series with the Patriots(Miami defeated New England 23-3 in Week 9)as Miami would knock off the Kansas City Chiefs 27-17 in the Wild Card round then would fall to the San Diego Chargers 22-21 in the Divisional Round.
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