NFL Old School Game of the Week: Marino Leads Dolphins to Playoff Comeback Win over Chiefs

 

Dan Marino would throw two touchdown passes in the 4th quarter to lead Miami back from 13 points down to beat Kansas City.

On Christmas Day in 1971, the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs participated in the longest game in NFL playoff history as the Dolphins defeated the Chiefs 27-24 when Garo Yepremian kicked a 37-yard field goal 7:40 into the second overtime period.

Nearly two decades later, the two teams would face each other in another postseason classic as the Chiefs traveled to south Florida to take on the Dolphins in the Wild Card round of the AFC Playoffs.

The Dolphins were returning to the playoffs for the first time since 1985 as Miami went 12-4 thanks in large part to an improved defense which gave up nearly 15 points per game to after four straight seasons where the defense gave up at least 22 points per game.

Despite the improvement on defense, the Dolphins' Super Bowl hopes rested on the right arm of quarterback Dan Marino who threw for 3,563 yards in his eighth season as the Miami quarterback as he along with longtime head coach Don Shula was hoping to get back to the Super Bowl after playing in the big game following his record-shattering 1984 season.

Standing in the Dolphins' way were the Chiefs who making only their second postseason appearance since that fateful Christmas in 1971 as Kansas City would go 11-5 in 1990 to earn one of the three Wild Card berths in the AFC playoffs(The other two were the Dolphins and the Houston Oilers).

Kansas City was led by head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who had come over from the Cleveland Browns, to help begin a Chiefs renaissance as their appearance in the 1990 playoffs would be the first of six straight postseason appearances.

The Chiefs' offense was led by quarterback Steve Deberg who in his 14th year in the NFL had the best season of his career as he threw for 3,444 yards and 23 touchdown passes even though he broke his pinky finger on his left hand in week 14.

With his finger heavily tapped and almost entirely in the shotgun formation, DeBerg was good to go as for the Chiefs' AFC Wild Card Game with the Dolphins.

The Dolphins got the ball to start the game as they would drive from their 14-yard-line to the 50-yard-line until they were forced to punt only to have Chiefs defensive back Charles Washington block Reggie Roby's kick to give Kansas City the ball at the Miami 37-yard-line.

It looked like the Dolphins were going to avoid having the blocked punt be turned into points as free safety Louis Oliver intercepted a Deberg pass only to have it nullified because of a pass interference penalty on Oliver to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Miami 32-yard-line.

Six plays later, the Chiefs would kick a field goal as Nick Lowery hit a 27-yarder to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead with 5:07 left in the first quarter.

The Dolphins would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as Miami would drive into Kansas City territory as the first quarter came to an end with Miami about to face a 4th & 6 at the Chiefs' 40-yard-line.

Instead of trying to pin the Chiefs back with a punt, Shula sent in the field goal unit as Pete Stoyanovich to attempt a 58-yard field goal, which he made to break the record of the longest field goal in NFL playoff history, which tied the game 3-3 as the second quarter began.

The Chiefs would begin their next possession at their 15-yard-line as DeBerg would complete a 33-yard pass to Stephone Paige which was followed by a 15-yard pass to Robb Thomas to give Kansas City a 1st down at the Dolphins' 37-yard-line.

The next three plays would pick up seven yards to set up 4th & 3 at the Miami 30-yard-line when Schottenheimer decided to go for the 1st down as DeBerg would throw a pass intended for Thomas which end up being intercepted by Miami strong safety Jarvis Williams to give the Dolphins the ball at their 12-yard-line.

After an exchange of punts, the Dolphins would drive from their 37-yard-line to the Chiefs' 39-yard-line when Stoyanovich came on to attempt another long field goal, this one from 57 yards out.

While the kick was on target, it did not have the distance as it fell short of the uprights to allow the Chiefs to get the ball at their 39-yard-line with 3:36 left in the first half.

Two runs by running back Christian Okoye for 19 yards and a 16-yard pass from DeBerg to Paige would put the Chiefs at the Dolphins' 26-yard-line when DeBerg threw a pass down the right sideline for Paige, who made the catch in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game to give the Chiefs a 10-3 lead with 1:54 left before halftime.

The Dolphins would drive from their 20-yard-line to the Kansas City 40-yard-line until Marino fumbled the football when he tried to scramble as Chiefs defensive end Neil Smith stripped Marino of the football which was recovered by cornerback J.C. Pearson to give Kansas City the ball at their 38-yard-line with 65 seconds left in the first half.

The Chiefs would drive to the Dolphins' 38-yard-line until they were faced with a 4th & 1 when Schottenheimer decided to go for the 1st down in hopes of making a Lowery field goal attempt shorter.

Okoye ran for three yards to pick up the 1st down only to have it called back because of an illegal motion penalty on the Chiefs, which led to Schottenheimer to punt the ball away as the first half would come to a close with Kansas City ahead 10-3.

Despite a broken finger, Chiefs quarterback Steve DeBerg would throw for 269 yards and a touchdown.

The two teams would trade punts to begin the second half as the Chiefs would begin their second possession of the half at their 30-yard-line as DeBerg completed a 26-yard pass to Emile Henry to give Kansas City a 1st down at the Miami 44-yard-line.

After a quarterback sack on 1st down and an incomplete pass on 2nd down, DeBerg completed a 13-yard pass to Todd McNair to set up 4th & 2 at the Miami 36-yard-line when Schottenheimer decided to go for the 1st down again which he got as Okoye ran for five yards to give the Chiefs a fresh set of downs at the 31-yard-line.

DeBerg would then hit passes of 11 yards to Alfredo Roberts and 16 yards to Paige to put Kansas City at the Miami four-yard-line with a 1st & goal as an intentional grounding would stall the drive and force the Chiefs to settle for a 25-yard field goal to increase their lead to 13-3 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.

The Chiefs seemed poised to put the game away when on the first play of the Dolphins' ensuing drive, Marino completed a short pass to Duper, who then fumbled after he was hit by Chiefs free safety Deron Cherry as linebacker Dino Hackett would recover the football to give Kansas City the ball at the Miami 29-yard-line.

However, the Chiefs would settle for another field goal as three runs by Okoye for eight yards set up a 38-yarder from Lowery which increased Kansas City's lead to 16-3 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

Needing two touchdowns to take the lead, the Dolphins would begin their next possession at their 34-yard-line as running back Sammie Smith would catch a 13-yard screen pass from Marino, then ran the ball three straight times for eight yards to set up a 4th & 2 at the Kansas City 45-yard-line when Shula decided to go for the 1st down.

The gamble would pay off as Smith would pick up the two yards to give the Dolphins a 1st down at the Chiefs' 43-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.

The fourth quarter would begin with Marino completing a nine-yard pass to Smith which was followed by a 23-yard pass to Mark Clayton to put the Dolphins at the Kansas City 11-yard-line as Smith would carry the ball on the next two plays picking up 10 yards to give Miami another 1st down at the one-yard-line.

That is when Marino found Tony Paige for the one-yard touchdown to end the 10-play, 66-yard drive and cut the Chiefs' lead to 16-10 with 12:18 left in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs would start their next drive at their 25-yard-line as DeBerg completed a 33-yard pass to Henry to put Kansas City at the Miami 42-yard-line as the next three plays netted just one yard, forcing the Chiefs to punt the ball back to the Dolphins who would take over at their 15-yard-line with a chance to take the lead.

The drive got off to a great start as Marino found tight end Ferrell Edmunds for 37 yards to give the Dolphins a 1st down at the Chiefs' 48-yard-line.

From there, the Dolphins would convert on three straight 3rd down situations to drive to the Chiefs' 12-yard-line when Marino fired a pass for Clayton, who was being covered by Chiefs cornerback Albert Lewis, who tried to jump the route to make the interception.

However, Lewis would be unable to make the pick as the ball as Clayton would make the catch at the six-yard-line and then run into the end zone for the 12-yard touchdown to end the 11-play, 85-yard drive and give the Dolphins their first lead of the game at 17-16 with 3:28 to play.

Mark Clayton would catch what would be the game-winning touchdown in the Dolphins' 1990 AFC Wild Card win over the Chiefs.

Now behind for the first time in the game, the Chiefs would get the ball back at their 22-yard-line as DeBerg would connect with Paige for 20 yards, which was followed by a five-yard pass to tight end Johnathan Hayes and then a 26-yard run by Okoye to put Kansas City at the Miami 26-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

It looked like the Chiefs were going to have a 1st down at the Miami 14-yard-line as Okoye carried the ball up the middle for 12 yards only to have left guard Dave Szott get called for a holding penalty to push the Chiefs back to the Dolphins' 37-yard-line where they would face a 1st & 21.

Two incomplete runs and a three-yard run by Okoye would bring up 4th down when Schottenheimer sent in Lowery to attempt a go-ahead 52-yard field goal with 56 seconds left in the game.

Lowery's kick would be on target but it fell just inches short of the upright to make the kick no good as the Dolphins would take two knees to run out the clock as Miami would continue their season with a 17-16 victory.

However, Miami's quest for a Super Bowl title would end the following week as they fell to the Buffalo Bills 44-34.