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| Colts quarterback Peyton Manning completed 23 of 29 passes for 260 yards in leading Indianapolis to a Week 14 win over the Miami Dolphins. |
Every once in a while in sports, the past meets the future when a great athlete towards the end of his or her career goes up against an athlete who seems poised for greatness.
That was the case in Week 14 of the 1999 NFL season as Dan Marino, who was in his 17th NFL season faced with off second-year quarterback Peyton Manning as the Miami Dolphins hosted the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts came into the game with a 9-2 record which was a remarkable turnaround for Indianapolis as the Colts had had back-to-back 3-13 seasons in 1997 + 98.
In his second year since being selected with the #1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Manning had thrown for 2,952 yards and 21 touchdown passes up to this point in the 1999 NFL season as the Colts traveled to Miami, hoping to extend their seven-game winning streak.
While Manning's career was on the upswing, Marino was clearly in the twilight of his career as the 38-year-old had missed five games of the '99 season because of a bone spur in his throwing shoulder.
Marino returned for the Dolphins' Thanksgiving showdown with the Dallas Cowboys where Marino was benched after throwing five interceptions in a 20-0 loss to the Cowboys to drop the Dolphins to 8-3 and one game behind the Colts in the AFC East.
Many in the media thought it was a possibility that Marino would not start and that Damon Huard, who had the Dolphins to a 4-1 record during his time as the Miami starting quarterback, would get the start in the Dolphins' showdown with the Colts.
But head coach Jimmy Johnson said that Marino would start as Miami fans hoped that Marino could do against the Colts what he had done eight weeks earlier as he lead Miami to a 34-31 win when he threw the game-winning touchdown pass with 27 seconds to go in the game.
However, that finish did come with controversy when an apparent Marino fumble with 1:22 left in the game was overturned to an incomplete pass which allowed the Dolphins to continue on their game-winning drive.
If Miami defeated Indianapolis, the two teams would be tied for the AFC East division with identical 9-3 records but the Dolphins would hold the tiebreaker as they had swept the season series with the Colts.
After the Dolphins went three-and-out to start the game, the Colts would get the ball at their 46-yard-line as Manning handed the ball off to rookie running back Edgerrian James three straight times as the rookie running back gained 22 yards on the three runs to put Indianapolis at the Miami 32-yard-line.
Manning would then throw his first pass of the game, a 15-yard pass to tight end Ken Dilger to give Indianapolis a 1st down at the Miami 17-yard-line when James get another carry as he ran for six yards, only to have it called back because of an illegal crack block on wide receiver E.G. Green.
The penalty pushed the Colts back 15 yards as Indianapolis wound up settling for a 44-yard field goal by Mike Vanderjagt to give Indy a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Dolphins would respond with a 11-play, 55-yard drive that took over five minutes to complete and did not end until Olindo Mare kicked a 31-yard field goal to tie the game at 3.
The Colts would start its ensuing possession at its 21-yard-line and appeared it was going to be a three-and-out as Manning threw an incomplete pass on 3rd & 3 only to have Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas get called for holding to give Indianapolis a fresh set of downs at its 33-yard-line.
On the very next play, Manning would find Dilger for 26 yards to put the Colts in Miami territory as James would then run it in for a 41-yard touchdown to give Indianapolis a 10-3 lead with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
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| Colts running back Edgerrian James ran for 120 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns. |
It would not take long for the Colts to get back into the end zone as on the opening play of the Dolphins' ensuing possession, cornerback Jeff Burris stripped running back J.J. Johnson of the ball at the end of a seven-yard run, leading to a scoop and score by strong safety Chad Cota for a 25-yard touchdown to increase the Indianapolis lead to 17-3 with just 19 seconds to go in the opening quarter.
Things went from bad to worse for the Dolphins on their next drive when Marino was intercepted by the Colts' other starting cornerback in Tyrone Poole, whose 36-yard return put Manning and the Indy offense at the Miami 33-yard-line.
The Colts would drive to the Miami 19-yard-line until a snap from center Larry Moore went over the head of Manning as the second-year quarterback would fall on the ball after a 22-yard loss, forcing Indianapolis to punt the back to the Dolphins who would get the ball back at their 12-yard-line.
Miami picked up one 1st down before facing a 3rd & 17 at their 17-yard-line when Marino fired a deep pass for Tony Martin which fell incomplete but a drew 43-yard pass interference penalty on Colts defensive back Tony Blevins to give the Dolphins a 1st down at the Indianapolis 40-yard-line.
Three plays later, the Dolphins were in the end zone as Marino fired a 24-yard touchdown pass to Oronde Gadsden to cut the Colts' lead in half to 17-10 with 5:16 left in the second quarter.
The Colts would respond with an eight-play, 68-yard drive which saw Manning complete all four of his passes for 53 yards which culminated with an one-yard touchdown run by James to push the Indianapolis lead back to two touchdowns at 24-10 with just 57 seconds left before halftime.
The Dolphins tried to muster a drive to get some points before the end of the first half but would go three-and-out as Manning would take a knee to run out the remaining nine seconds as the Colts went into the halftime break ahead 24-10 and set to get the ball to start the second half with a chance to extend their lead.
However on the second play from scrimmage, Manning threw a pass that bounced off the hands of wide receiver Marvin Harrison and into the arms of Dolphins cornerback Sam Madison who returned the interception back for a 21-yard touchdown to cut the Colts' led to 24-17 just 49 seconds into the second half.
Manning would shake off the pick-six on the first play of the Colts' ensuing possession as he hit Harrison on a 36-yard bomb to give Indianapolis a 1st down at the Miami 38-yard-line.
After a James run that lost two yards, Manning went back to Harrison on the next two plays as the two connected for a six-yard gain on 2nd & 12 then after a holding penalty pushed the Colts back three yards, connected again this time for 13 yards on 3rd & 9 to give Indianapolis a fresh set of downs at the Dolphins' 24-yard-line.
Manning would then complete a 17-yard pass to Dilger to give the Colts a 1st & goal where James ran for two yards to set up 2nd & goal when Peyton found Terence Wilkins for the five-yard touchdown to push the Colts' lead back to 14 points at 31-17 midway through the third quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, the Dolphins got the ball at their 43-yard-line when Marino completed a 24-yard pass to Martin which was followed by a 33-yard touchdown from Marino to Martin to cut the Colts' lead to 31-24 with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter.
The Colts would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line and seemed poised to increase their lead back to two touchdowns as Manning completed a 19-yard pass to Harrison which was followed by two runs by James that totaled 24 yards to put Indianapolis at the Miami 37-yard-line when Manning was picked off by the Dolphins' other starting cornerback, Patrick Surtain, whose 28-yard return gave Marino and the Miami offense the ball at their 49-yard-line.
After two incomplete passes, Marino would find Yatil Green for 26 yards to give the Dolphins a 1st down at the Colts' 25-yard-line as Marino would complete a one-yard pass to Stanely Pritchett, before hitting Gadsen on back-to-back passes for 23 yards to give Miami a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
That is when Marino threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Pritchett that with the extra point tied the game at 31 with 13:07 to go in regulation.
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| Dan Marino bounced back from a five-interception game to throw for 313 yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort to the Colts. |
The Miami defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 35-yard-line as two runs by Johnson collected two yards to set up 3rd & 8 when Marino was sacked by Colts linebacker Cornelius Bennett, knocking the ball loose as Mike Peterson recovered the fumble to give Indianapolis the ball at the Miami 32-yard-line.
However, the Colts could not take advantage of the turnover as Manning was sacked by Dolphins defensive end Trace Armstrong for a nine-yard loss, knocking the Colts out of field goal range and forcing them to punt the ball back to the Dolphins, who would take over at their five-yard-line.
The Dolphins would pick up one first down before punting the ball back to the Colts, who would take over in Miami territory after Wilkins returned the ensuing punt 27 yards to the Miami 37-yard-line.
Two runs by James gained nine yards to set up 3rd & 1 when Manning handed the ball off one more time to James, only to dropped for a three-yard loss by Thomas, forcing the Colts to settle for a 48-yard field goal by Vanderjagt to give Indianapolis with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter.
Miami would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line as the Dolphins hoped that Marino would do what he did two months earlier against the Colts and lead Miami to the winning score.
Marino would come out firing as he would complete a 23-yard pass to Gadsden to start the drive which was followed by a 15-yard pass to Martin to put Miami in Indianapolis territory at the Colts' 42-yard-line.
JJ Johnson would get his hands on the next two plays as he caught a seven-yard pass on 1st down, then ran for two yards on 2nd down to set up 3rd & 1 when Marino completed a three-yard pass to Green to give Miami a fresh set of downs at the Colts' 30-yard-line.as the two-minute warning struck.
After a 10-yard pass to Martin, Marino would hand the ball off to Johnson who gained just one yard to set up 2nd & 9 when Marino threw a five-yard pass to make it 3rd & 4 when Marino throw an incomplete pass to bring up 4th down as Mare would come on to kick a 32-yard field goal to tie the game at 34 with 36 seconds left in regulation.
That was enough time for the Colts to try and get into field goal range especially with the fact that they had all three timeouts left in their pocket as Manning would get good field position as Wilkins returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards to the Indianapolis 30-yard-line.
Manning would go to his most trusted receiver as Harrison as two connected for a 16-yard completion to start the drive that was followed by a 18-yard completion to put the Colts at the Dolphins' 34-yard-line with 17 seconds to go.
Manning would then hand the ball off to James in hopes of making the field goal attempt a little shorter but James would be dropped for an one-yard loss as head coach Jim Mora sent in Vanderjagt to attempt a 53-yard field goal with six seconds to go.
Vanderjagt's kick was straight but the distance was a question mark as it appeared it might fall short of the goal posts.
But the kick would barely pass the crossbar as time expired as Vanderjagt's 53-yard field goal gave the Colts a 37-34 win and a two-game lead in the AFC Eastern Division.
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| Marvin Harrison caught eight passes for 125 yards including two for 34 yards on the game-winning drive. |
Marino and the Dolphins would win only one more game during the regular season as Miami finished with a 9-7 record but earned a Wild Card spot in the AFC playoffs thanks to winning a tiebreaker over the Kansas City Chiefs as the Dolphins had a better record against common opponents they had with the Chiefs.
In the playoffs, Marino would lead the Dolphins to a 20-17 upset win over the Seattle Seahawks only to be eliminated the following week by the Jacksonville Jaguars 62-7 in one of the most lopsided losses in NFL playoff history.
Two months later, Marino announced his retirement from the NFL after 17 seasons in which he threw for 61,361 yards and 420 touchdown passes in a Hall-of-Fame career which unfortunately featured zero Super Bowl rings.
As for Manning and the Colts, they would go on to win the AFC East division title, the first division title in 12 years, as Indianapolis finished the regular season with a 13-3 record and the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs.
But the Colts would be stunned by the Tennessee Titans 19-16 in the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs, ending the greatest single season turnaround when it comes to wins and losses in NFL history.
Manning would go a spectacular 18-year NFL career in which he threw for 71, 940 yards and 539 touchdown passes as he led the Colts to a Super Bowl title in 2006 and then the Denver Broncos in 2015 which was Peyton's final season.
Six years later, Manning would join Marino in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame.
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