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.

NFL Old School Game of the Week: McMahon Does It Again As He Comes Off Bench To Lead Bears To Comeback Win Over Bucs

 

Jim McMahon completed 17 of 24 passes for 195 yards and threw one TD in leading the Bears to a comeback victory against the Buccaneers.

In Week 3 of the 1985 season, Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes to lead Chicago to a 33-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-mcmahon.html).

Two years later, McMahon would accomplish a similar feat when the Bears traveled to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers in Week 7 of the 1987 NFL season.

The Bears came into the game with the Buccaneers with a 4-1 record though it would be the first time since Week 2 that the regular players would be playing as a 24-day players strike during the season had the cancellation of one week of NFL games and led owners to use replacement players for three straight games.

The time off during the strike allowed for McMahon to get closer to game shape as he was healing from a torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder which was made worse after Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Charles Martin's infamous cheap shot on McMahon from the following season.

While McMahon was now healthy enough to play, head coach Mike Ditka decided to start Mike Tomczak for the Bears' game against the Bucs with McMahon in the backup role as many assumed Chicago would rely on their running game of second-year running back Neal Anderson and future Hall-of-Famer Walter Payton, who was set to retire after the season, to beat Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers came into the game with something to prove as the team had a 3-2 record with two of those wins coming courtesy of the replacement players.

The Bucs were led by head coach Ray Perkins, who was in his first season in Tampa Bay after spending the previous four at the University of Alabama taking over for Bear Bryant.

Perkins was hired in hopes of turning the Bucs' fortunes around as the team had encountered four consecutive losing seasons, all with at least 10 losses.

A win against the Bears would go a long way in putting Tampa on the right track.

The Bucs got the ball to start the game as they drove from their 20-yard-line to the Chicago 46-yard-line until they were forced to punt when Tampa Bay got a reprieve as Bears linebacker Jim Morissey ran into punter Frank Garcia, drawing a running into the kicker penalty and give the Bucs a 1st down at the Bears' 41-yard-line.

From there, quarterback Steve DeBerg would complete four of his next five passes for 38 yards, with his last completion being a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Calvin McGee to give Tampa Bay a 7-0 lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter.

After forcing the Bears to punt on their opening possession, the Bucs got the ball back at their 27-yard-line as a false start penalty and an one-yard run by Wilder set up 2nd & 14 when DeBerg completed a 37-yard pass to McGee to give Tampa Bay a 1st down at the Chicago 40-yard-line.

Two plays later, the Bucs pulled out a trick play as DeBerg pitched the ball out to running back Jeff Smith, who then handed the ball off to wide receiver Gerald Carter on a reverse, only to have Carter toss it back to DeBerg who fired a pass down the left side for Smith, who made the catch for the 28-yard touchdown to increase the Bucs' lead to 14-0 with 4:47 to go in the opening period.

It looked like the Bears were going to have great field position for their next drive following Dennis Gentry's 59-yard kickoff return, but it was nullified by an illegal block penalty on Maurice Douglass, which forced the Bears to start their ensuing possession at their nine-yard-line.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Bears when Tomczak fumbled the football after a hit by Bucs defensive end Ron Holmes leading to a recovery by linebacker Winston Moss in the end zone for a Tampa touchdown to increase the Bucs' lead to 20-0 as Chicago defensive end Al Harris blocked the extra point.

Buccaneers quarterback Steve DeBerg threw for 249 yards and two touchdown passes.

The extra point block seemed to spark the Bears as running back Thomas Sanders returned the ensuing kickoff 31 yards to the Chicago 33-yard-line where the Bears would start their next possession as they drove to the Tampa Bay 43-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

But on the first play of the second quarter, the Bears turned it over again when Dennis McKinnon lost the football after he was hit by Bucs cornerback Ricky Reynolds leading to a recovery by fellow cornerback Rod Jones to give Tampa Bay the ball at its 48-yard-line.

The Bucs would go three-and-out as DeBerg threw three straight incomplete passes to force a punt by Garcia, which only traveled 13 yards as the Bears would begin its next possession at their 35-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Tomczak connected with Willie Gault for 20 yards, then with Anderson for seven yards to set up 2nd & 3 when Anderson took a pitch from Tomczak around the left side for a 38-yard touchdown to put Chicago on the board as they cut the Tampa lead to 20-7 with 12:37 left in the second quarter.

The Bears would force the Bucs to punt on their next possession when McKinnon would atone for his fumble earlier in the quarter by returning the punt 65 yards for a touchdown to cut the Bucs' lead to 20-14 with 9:10 still to go in the second quarter.

The Bucs would turn to Wilder on their next possession as he carried the ball five times for 29 times on the Bucs' 12-play, 52-yard drive that took over seven minutes and ended with a 46-yard field goal by Donald Igwebuike which increased the Tampa lead to 23-14 with 1:56 left before halftime.

Tampa would be given a golden opportunity to increase their lead on the first play of the Bears' ensuing drive when Payton lost the football after a hit by Bucs defensive end John Cannon which was recovered by linebacker Scot Brantley at the Chicago 24-yard-line with 96 seconds left in the first half.

However, the Bucs could not capitalize as three quarterback sacks and a pair of holding penalties pushed the Bucs all the way back to their 48-yard-line as the first half ended with Tampa on top 23-14.

Mike Tomczak was benched after a first half where he threw for only 45 yards on 6-of-10 passing.

When the Bears' offense came onto the field to start the second half, they did so with McMahon at quarterback for the first time in 11 months as Ditka hoped McMahon could do what he did two years earlier in Minnesota.

After the first two plays picked up only two yards, McMahon scrambled for eight yards on 3rd & 8 to pick up a 1st down which got the Chicago offense going as passes of 12 yards to Gault and 25 yards Ron Morris put the Bears at the Tampa Bay 25-yard-line.

But the drive would stall and the Bears looked to Kevin Butler to put some points on the board with a 47-yard field goal, only for it to sail wide left and no good to keep the score 23-14 in favor of the Bucs.

The Bucs would take over at their 29-yard-line and proceed to drive to the Chicago 19-yard-line, with the biggest play on the drive being a 33-yard pass from DeBerg to McGee, to help set up a 37-yard field goal by Igwebuike which increased Tampa's lead to 26-14 with 6:01 to go in the third quarter.

The Bears would start their next possession at their 33-yard-line as it took Chicago four plays to drive to the Tampa Bay 45-yard-line when they started to go backwards as Anderson was dropped for a seven-yard loss on 1st down, which was followed by McMahon being sacked by Cannon to force 3rd & 24 when McMahon was intercepted by Bucs free safety Rick Woods to give Tampa the ball back at the Bears 47-yard-line.

The two teams would trade punts as the game moved into the fourth quarter with the Bucs still on top 26-14 when the Bears had the ball at their 15-yard-line with 9:50 left to play.

That is when the Bears put together a 10-play, 85-yard drive primarily on the right arm of McMahon who completed six of eight passes for 74 yards on the drive which culminated with McMahon punching it in for an one-yard touchdown to make it an one-posssession game.

However, Butler would miss the extra point to keep the score 26-20 with 5:31 left in the game.

The Bucs would begin its next possession at their 17-yard-line as Tampa hoped to pick up a few 1st downs and bleed the clock so they could escape with the victory.

The drive got off to a good start as DeBerg hit McGee for 17 yards to give Tampa a 1st down at its 34-yard-line as a four-yard run by Wilder and an incomplete pass set up 3rd & 6 when DeBerg threw another incomplete pass only to have Bears defensive end Richard Dent get called for an illegal hands to the face penalty which gave the Bucs an automatic 1st down at their 43-yard-line.

The Bucs would run three more plays which picked up eight yards before having to punt the ball back to the Bears who took over at their 29-yard-line with 2:44 left on the clock and needing a touchdown and extra point to take the lead.

Bears running back Neal Anderson would touch the ball 13 times for 97 yards and scored two TDs.

The drive would start with a 19-yard pass from McMahon to Gault to give the Bears a 1st down at their 48-yard-line as McMahon completed a six-yard screen pass to Anderson to put the Bears in Bucs territory at the Tampa Bay 46-yard-line.

McMahon would then hit Morris for 19 yards and then Gault again, this time for 16 yards to put the Bears at the Tampa Bay 11-yard-line as the two-minute warning struck.

McMahon would go back to Anderson for a five-yard screen pass to set up 2nd & 5 when the second-year running back caught another swing pass from McMahon at the six-yard-line, then jumped over two defenders to get into the end zone for the six-yard touchdown to tie the game at 26.

Butler would come on to make the extra point to give Chicago its first lead of the game at 27-26 with 1:28 remaining as the Bears had traveled 71 yards in six plays as McMahon had gone a perfect 6-of-6 on the drive to give the Bears the lead.

The Bucs would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line with a chance to drive down the field for a game-winning field goal but the Bears defense would not allow it as they did not allow a 1st down as Dent sacked DeBerg on 4th down to give Chicago the ball at the Tampa 12-yard-line as the Bears ran out the clock to come away with the 27-26 win.

Following the gut-wrenching loss to the Bears, the Bucs defeated the Green Bay Packers 23-17 the following week, then took on the St. Louis Cardinals where Tampa Bay blew a 28-3 fourth quarter lead to lose 31-28.

The collapse against the Cardinals would begin an eight-game losing streak as the Bucs would finish the season with a 4-11 record to earn Tampa its fifth straight losing season.

As for the Bears, they would go on to win the NFC Central division for the fourth straight year as they finished with a 11-4 record good enough to earn the #2 seed in the NFC and a home playoff game in the Divisional Round.

But for the second straight year the Bears would be eliminated by the Redskins, this time 21-17 ending the Bears' season and the career of Payton.

McMahon would remain with the Bears for one more season, helping them to the NFC Championship Game where they were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers 28-3, before a falling out with Ditka and the front office led to McMahon being traded to the San Diego Chargers.

McMahon would bounce around the league for eight more seasons, playing for five different teams until his retirement after the 1996 season where he served as the backup to Brett Favre on the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl championship team.

NFL Old School Game of the Week: Dolphins Survive Giles' 4 TD Performance to Narrowly Beat Bucs

 

Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino completed 27 of 39 passes for 302 yards and threw three touchdowns in the Dolphins' win over the Buccaneers in 1985.

Sometimes when a Super Bowl contender plays one of the worst teams in the league, they tend to overlook them and not their best or the bad team rises up to play one of their best games of the season.

The latter was the case in Week 7 of the 1985 NFL season when the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled down to the Orange Bowl to take on the defending AFC champion Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins entered the game with a 4-2 record but were coming off a disappointing 23-7 loss to the New York Jets the previous week in which quarterback Dan Marino, who had broken numerous records the year before, threw for only 136 yards and zero touchdowns.

Marino had struggled throughout the first six games of the season as he thrown for eight touchdowns and eight interceptions with one half of the "Marks Brothers", wide receiver Mark Duper out with a fractured left tibia, leaving Marino to rely on the other "Marks Brother" in Mark Clayton and running back Tony Nathan

Marino was hoping to have a bounce-back game against the 0-6 Buccaneers who had lost a heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Rams the week before as quarterback Steve DeBerg was picked off by Rams cornerback LeRoy Irvin who returned the interception for a 34-yard pick-six to give LA the 31-27 win.

 If the Bucs were going to pull off an upset of the Dolphins, they were going to need a big day from tight end Jimmie Giles, who after only catching four passes for 53 yards in the team's first four games, had caught 10 passes for 160 yards in team's previous two games, but no touchdowns.

The Buccaneers got the ball to start the game and promptly went three-and-out to punt the ball to the Dolphins, which was partially blocked by Miami backup wide receiver Jim Jensen to give the Dolphins offense the ball inside Tampa Bay territory at the Bucs' 48-yard-line.

From there, it would take the Dolphins six plays to get into the end zone as Marino hit three of his passes for 31 yards on the drive, including the 16-yard touchdown to Nat Moore to give Miami a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game.

The Dolphins would get the ball back at their 42-yard-line after forcing another Buccaneer punt as the Dolphins would drive 58 yards in 11 plays culminating with a four-yard touchdown pass from Marino to Jensen to increase the Dolphins' lead to 14-0 with 2:31 left in the first quarter.

The Bucs would start their next possession at their 20-yard-line as DeBerg hit Jerry Bell for a 13-yard completion to start the drive, which was followed by an illegal use of hands penalty on Green to give Tampa Bay 10 yards and a 1st down, then followed by a 27-yard pass to Bell and a 20-yard run by running back James Wilder to set up 1st & goal at the Miami 10-yard-line as the first quarter came to a close.

Following an incomplete pass to start the second quarter, DeBerg handed the ball off to Wilder, who ran around the left side for the 10-yard touchdown to cut the Dolphins' lead to 14-7 just 12 seconds into the second quarter.

The Dolphins would respond with a 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that featured running back Lorenzo Hampton carrying most of the load as he touched the ball on four plays as he caught two passes for 21 yards and carried the ball twice for 27 yards to set up Ron Davenport's one-yard touchdown run to push the Miami lead back to 14 points at 21-7 with 10:04 left in the second quarter.

Disaster would strike for the Buccaneers on the opening play of their next drive as DeBerg's pass bounced off the hands of Kevin House and was intercepted by Dolphins linebacker Hugh Green, who had been traded to the Dolphins from Tampa Bay before the season began.

Green returned the pick 28 yards to the Tampa Bay two-yard-line, giving the Dolphins a 1st & goal and a chance to blow the game open.

However, the Tampa Bay defense would rise and not permit a single yard, leading the Dolphins to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Fuad Reveiz to make it 24-7 in favor of Miami.

Buccaneers quarterback Steve DeBerg would complete 19 of 32 passes for 365 yards and throw four touchdowns.

After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Bucs got the ball at their 32-yard-line with 2:10 left before halftime and two timeouts in their pocket.

DeBerg connected with Bell for seven yards to start the drive, then gave the ball to Wilder, who ran for six yards and the 1st down at the Tampa Bay 45-yard-line, which was followed by a 23-yard pass to Gerald Carter for another Buccaneer 1st down at the Miami 32-yard-line.

Then after two straight incomplete passes, DeBerg found Bell again, this time for 22 yards to give Tampa Bay a 1st & goal at the Dolphins' 10-yard-line.

A holding penalty pushed the Bucs back 10 yards but after they got five of the yards back, DeBerg connected with Giles for the first time in the game for a 15-yard touchdown with 12 seconds left in the first half.

The extra point made it 24-14 in favor of the Dolphins as the first half came to an end with the Dolphins set to get the ball to start the second half.

Miami would start its first drive of the second half at their 20-yard-line where after two plays picked up six yards, Marino connected with tight end Joe Rose for a 42-yard gain to give the Dolphins a 1st down at the Tampa Bay 32-yard-line, which was followed by a 18-yard pass to Clayton for another 1st down at the Bucs' 14-yard-line.

From there, running back Tony Nathan would get the ball on the next two plays, first running for 13 yards and then diving in for the one-yard touchdown to make it a 31-14 lead for the Dolphins exactly three minutes into the third quarter.

Back came the Bucs, who began their next drive at their 18-yard-line with two runs by Wilder for 10 yards which were followed by back-to-back completions to Bell for 20 yards and then House for 19 yards to give Tampa Bay a 1st down at the Miami 33-yard-line.

A holding penalty would push the Bucs back seven yards to the Dolphins' 40-yard-line where one play after Wilder picked up just one yard, DeBerg found Giles across the middle for a 39-yard touchdown to trim the Miami lead to 31-21 midway through the third quarter.

The Dolphins would respond with a 10-play, 79-yard drive where Marino completed five of six passes for 49 yards on the drive which concluded with Marino firing a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bruce Hardy to push the lead back to 17 points at 38-21 with 2:46 left in the third quarter.

It looked like the track meet was going to continue as the Bucs drove inside Miami territory again on their next possession, only to have DeBerg throw an incomplete pass intended for Giles on 3rd & 5 at the Dolphins' 45-yard-line, forcing Tampa Bay to punt as the fourth quarter got underway.

Needing three scores, the Bucs needed a defensive stop and they got it when Marino fumbled a snap from center which was recovered by Tampa Bay defensive end John Cannon to give the Buccaneers the ball at the Miami 21-yard-line.

An illegal procedure penalty and a five-yard-loss by Wilder pushed the Bucs back 10 yards where they faced a 3rd & 20 situation when DeBerg found Carter for 22 yards and a 1st down at the Dolphins' nine-yard-line.

Following a two-yard run by Wilder, DeBerg connected with Giles for their third touchdown of the game, a 7-yarder to bring the Bucs to within 10 points at 38-28 with 12:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Dolphins would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as they tried to put the fumble on their previous possession behind them only to turn it over again when Marino was picked off by Tampa Bay cornerback Jeremiah Castille to give the Bucs the ball at the Miami 38-yard-line.

After DeBerg connected with Giles for 12 yards to start the drive, Wilder carried the ball on the next three plays, gaining 10 yards to set up Giles' fourth touchdown catch of the game as he caught DeBerg's pass for a 16-yard touchdown to bring the Bucs to within a field goal at 38-35 with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter.

Buccaneers tight end Jimmie Giles caught seven passes for 116 yards and four touchdowns.

Marino looked to atone for his two turnovers by driving the Dolphins from their 10-yard-line to the Tampa Bay 45-yard-line as he completed his next four passes for 38 yards until back-to-back incomplete passes forced the Dolphins to punt the ball to the Bucs who took over at their 11-yard-line with 3:04 left and all three timeouts in their pocket.

The drive began with a 13-yard scramble by DeBerg for a 1st down, followed by two straight runs by Wilder that picked up seven yards to set up 3rd & 3 at the Tampa Bay 31-yard-line when the two-minute warning hit.

That is when DeBerg found House over the middle for a 22-yard completion to give the Bucs a 1st down inside Miami territory, which was followed by a 23-yard pass to House for another 1st down at the Dolphins' 24-yard-line.

However, the Bucs could pick only four more yards as DeBerg tried to connect with Giles on two separate plays but failed to connect, forcing to Bucs to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Donald Ikwebuike that tied the game at 38 with 48 seconds left in regulation.

The game seemed destined for overtime but the Dolphins still had all three timeouts and Dan Marino to lead them down the field and set up a potential game-winning field goal.

A 25-yard return by Hampton on the kickoff set the Dolphins up at their 34-yard-line as Marino hit Duriel Harris for six yards before Harris tried to lateral the ball back to Nathan, only to have go out of bounds.

Nathan would get his hands on the ball on the next play as he caught a screen pass up the middle for 19 yards to give Miami a 1st down at the Tampa Bay 41-yard-line as the Dolphins called timeout with 22 seconds left.

Then, Marino connected with Nathan again, this time for 15 yards and another 1st down at the Bucs' 26-yard-line as Miami called timeout with 11 seconds left.

The Dolphins could have run one more play then called timeout to possibly make Reveiz' s kick a little bit easier and gave Tampa Bay no time on the clock, but head coach Don Shula decided to send in the field goal unit following Nathan's two catches for 34 yards.

Reveiz would come on and make the 43-yard field goal to seemingly give the Dolphins a 41-38 win as six seconds remained on the clock.

After Reveiz's kickoff landed in the end zone for a touchback, the Bucs got the ball at their 20-yard-line with six seconds to pull off a miracle.

Dolphins running back Tony Nathan carried the ball 12 times for 62 yards and caught eight passes for 80 yards and scored one touchdown.

That is when DeBerg fired a "Hail Mary" pass that was tipped in the air by Carter and caught by House at the Miami 23-yard-line, only to have House be immediately tackled by Miami defensive back Don McNeal as time expired, allowing the Dolphins to escape with the 41-38 win.

The Buccaneers would have to wait three more weeks to collect their first win of the season, a 19-16 overtime win over the New York Giants, which was one of only two victories of the season as the Bucs finished with a 2-14 record which included a 21-0 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the infamous "Snow Bowl(To read about that game, click on the highlighted link: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-packers.html).

This gave the Bucs the worst record in the league meaning that would get the #1 pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, which they used to pick 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson, only to have Jackson not sign with the Bucs and play baseball with the Kansas City Royals.

Jackson would eventually play in the NFL when he signed with the then Los Angeles Raiders in 1987.

As for the Dolphins, they would lose their next two games to drop 5-4 until an eight-catch, 242-yard performance by Duper which included the game-winning 50-yard touchdown with 41 seconds left gave Miami a 21-17 win over the New York Jets(To read about that game, click on the highlighted link here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-dolphins.html) which kickstarted a seven-game winning streak as the Dolphins finished the regular season with a 12-4 record and a third straight AFC East division title.

In the playoffs, the Dolphins would come from back from a 18-point deficit to defeat the Cleveland Browns 24-21 in the Divisional Round, but would fall to the "Cinderella" New England Patriots 31-14 in the AFC Championship Game, denying Miami a second straight trip to the Super Bowl.

NFL Old School Game of the Week: Seahawks Overcome Thomas' 7 Sacks & Win on Buzzer Beater TD

Derrick Thomas would set the NFL record for most quarterback sacks in a single NFL game in the Chiefs' 1990 game with the Seattle Seahawks.

Most times when a player has a record-breaking performance in a game, his team usually wins that game.
However that was not the case in the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs in week 10 of the 1990 NFL season as Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas would break the record for most quarterback sacks in a NFL game.
The Chiefs entered their game with their division rivals(The Seattle Seahawks were in the AFC West from 1977-2001) with a 5-3 record and hopes for a trip to the playoffs under head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who had became the Chiefs' head coach in 1989 after 4 1/2 seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Also arriving in Kansas City at the same time as Schottenheimer was Thomas, who was selected with #4 overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft.
Thomas would have a fantastic rookie season as he recorded 10 quarterback sacks, earning him NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and a trip to the Pro Bowl, the first time that a Kansas City linebacker had been selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie since Hall-of-Famer Bobby Bell did it in 1963.
The Chiefs finished the 1989 season with a 8-7-1 record, just one game short of the playoffs.
Kansas City seemed poised to make it to the playoffs in 1990 thanks to their defense which had given up a touchdown or less in three games and Thomas coming up with eight quarterback sacks up to this point.
Their opponent for week 10 of the 1990 NFL season, were the Seattle Seahawks, who had gotten off to a 0-3 start only to win three of their previous five games, which included a 19-7 win over the Chiefs in the Kingdome three weeks earlier.
But if the Seahawks were going to continue to climb out of the hole they had dug themselves earlier in the season, they were going to have do something they had never done under head coach Chuck Knox, who was in his eighth year as the Seahawks' head coach, and that is beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, something that had not been done by the Seahawks since the 1980 season.
 After forcing the Chiefs to punt on their opening drive, the Seahawks got the ball at their nine-yard-line.
Seattle was able to drive to their 38-yard-line until a holding penalty on right tackle Ronnie Lee pushed the Seahawks back 10 yards to their 28-yard-line where they faced a 3rd & 20 situation.
That is when Thomas struck for the first time in the game, sacking quarterback Dave Krieg for a five-yard-loss to force a Seattle punt.
The Chiefs would pick one 1st down before punting the ball back to the Seahawks, who took over at their 15-yard-line.
On 3rd & 10, Thomas would again sack Krieg, almost giving the Chiefs two points in the process as Krieg was dropped at the one-yard-line, just barely avoiding a safety that would have given Kansas City a 2-0 lead.
Nevertheless, the Chiefs were already in range for a field goal following the Seattle punt as the Kansas City offense took over at the Seahawks' 20-yard-line.
The drive would began with running back Barry Word running for 12 yards on the first play of the drive, which was followed by a five-yard run that set up 3rd & 5 where quarterback Steve DeBerg hit Stephone Paige for six yards to set up 1st & goal at the nine-yard-line as the first quarter came to a close.
The Chiefs seemed to poised to score a touchdown as the "Nigerian Nightmare" running back Christian Okoye ran for six yards on 1st & goal, only to have Word get dropped for a four-yard loss on 2nd down, which was followed by an incomplete pass on 3rd down, leading to a 25-yard field goal by Nick Lowery to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead with 13:02 left in the second quarter.
The Seahawks would take over at their 27-yard-line and after picking up a 1st down, Krieg connected with fullback John L. Williams for a 44-yard completion which put Seattle at the Kansas City 19-yard-line.
However after the play, Knox was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, pushing the Seahawks back 15 yards to the Chiefs' 34-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 1 from the 25-yard-line, running back Derrick Fenner was stopped for no gain by Chiefs nose tackle Dan Saleaumua, forcing the Seahawks to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Norm Johnson which tied the game at 3 with 7:53 left in the second quarter.

Despite being sacked nine times(seven by Derrick Thomas) Dave Krieg would throw for 306 yards and two touchdown passes on 16-of-23 passing.

After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Chiefs would get the ball back at their 34-yard-line with just 99 seconds left before halftime.
It seemed the Chiefs would pose for a three-and-out as the first two plays only netted one yard, until DeBerg hit Paige for 15 yards on 3rd & 9 to give Kansas City a 1st down at the 50-yard-line.
Then, DeBerg would hit Robb Thomas for back-to-back completions of eight yards each to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Seattle 34-yard-line.
DeBerg would then complete a 11-yard pass to J.J. Birden for another 1st down at the Seahawks 23-yard-line, until DeBerg threw two straight incomplete passes to force a 3rd & 10 with just 17 seconds left in the half.
That is when the Chiefs surprised the Seahawks with a running play as Todd McNair ran for 11 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the 12-yard-line with 10 seconds left.
Rather than risk another play which could run out the clock, Schottenheimer called on Lowery to kick a 30-yard field goal which would give the Chiefs the lead.
Lowery's kick was true and the Chiefs went into halftime with a 6-3 lead.
The Seahawks would get the ball to start the second half as they began their initial drive of the half at their 24-yard-line.
On the first play of the drive, Krieg would hit Paul Skansi for a 21-yard completion to give Seattle a 1st down at their 45-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 9 from the 46-yard-line, Kreig found Jeff Chadwick over the middle for a 54-yard touchdown to give the Seahawks a 10-6 lead just 2:27 into the third quarter.
The Chiefs would take over at their 20-yard-line and would go into "Martyball" mode as Okoye would carry the ball nine times for 42 yards on a 15-play, 74-yard drive that would take up nearly 10 minutes and culminate with a 24-yard field goal by Lowery which trimmed the Seattle to 10-9 with 2:46 left in the third quarter.

Christian Okoye would carry the ball 21 times for 85 yards.

The Seahawks would get the ball back at their 15-yard-line but would be put in precurious situation as Krieg was called for intentional on 2nd down, forcing the Seahawks to face a 3rd & 17 at their eight-yard-line.
That is when Thomas struck again as his third sack of the game forced a fumble that was recoverd by Saleauma for a touchdown to give Kansas City a 16-10 lead with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
Seattle got the ball back at their 25-yard-line and were able to drive to the Chiefs' 38-yard-line as the game went into the 4th quarter.
Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Thomas picked up his fourth sack of the game as he dropped for Krieg for a 10-yard-loss, which was followed by another sack, this one by defensive end Neil Smith for a five-yard-loss, pushing Seattle back to its 47-yard-line and forcing them to punt the ball back to the Chiefs.
The Seahawks would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 24-yard-line and were able to pick up a 1st down as Krieg hit Williams for 10 yards on 2nd & 7 from the 27-yard-line.
But back-to-back penalties pushed the Seahawks back to their 17-yard-line where they faced a 1st & 30 situation.
Two plays picked up five yards until Krieg hit Brian Blades for 24 yards, but just one yard short of the 1st down at the Seattle 46-yard-line.
But with still over seven minutes to play, Knox decided to punt the ball back to the Chiefs in hopes his defense would make a stop.
They would forcing the Chiefs to punt the ball to the Seahawks, who took over at their 35-yard-line with 3:49 to go and all three timeouts left.
The drive got off to an auspicious start as Thomas sacked Krieg on the first play of the drive, dropping him for a seven-yard-loss and forcing 2nd & 17.
However, Krieg would rebound by hitting Fenner for six yards and then Williams for 23 yards to give the Seahawks a 1st down at the Chiefs' 43-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.
But the stoppage in play only give Thomas a chance to re-energize as he would sack Krieg on the next two plays tying and then breaking the NFL record for most quarterback sacks in a single game which had been previously held by Fred Dean as he sacked Saints quarterback Dave Wilson six times in a 27-0 win for the 49ers in 1983.
Now facing a 3rd & 26 from the Seattle 42-yard-line, Krieg completed a 20-yard pass to Tommy Kane, only to have Kane fumble the football after a hit by Chiefs cornerback Kevin Ross, which was recovered by linebacker Chris Martin, to give Kansas City the ball at their 41-yard-line with 75 seconds left.
But the Seahawks still had three timeouts, so the Chiefs needed to pick up a 1st down to put the game away.
However, they could not as the Seahawks forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 34-yard-line with 48 seconds left and no timeouts, needing a touchdown to pull out the win.
The drive began with Krieg completing a 16-yard pass to Williams which put Seattle at the 50-yard-line, which was followed by a 25-yard pass to Kane to the 25-yard-line as Krieg spiked the ball with four seconds left giving Seattle one last chance for a potential game-winning touchdown.
Lined up in the shotgun, Krieg took the snap and dropped back to pass, only to have Thomas prepare to sack him for the eighth time in the game.
However, Krieg was able to escape Thomas and fire a pass toward the end zone for Skansi, who jumped up to make the catch for a shocking touchdown as time expired to tie the game.

Still, the Seahawks needed to make the extra point to win the game in regulation.
Johnson would have no trouble making the extra point to give the Seahawks a shocking 17-16 victory for their first win in Kansas City in 10 years.
The win would spark a strong second half of the season as they would win five of their last seven games to finish with a 9-7 record, but it wasn't good enough to make the playoffs as they lost out on a tiebreaker with the Houston Oilers, who had complied a better conference(AFC) record than Seattle.
Following a 7-9 season in 1991, Knox would step down as Seahawks head coach and return to Los Angeles to coach the Rams for the next three seasons.
As for the Chiefs, they would recover from the heartbreaking loss to earn a Wild Card spot with a 10-6 record, but would fall to the Miami Dolphins 17-16 in the Wild Card round.
The Chiefs would make the playoffs six of the next seven seasons under Schottenheimer, with Thomas recording four seasons with at least 10 sacks during that time.
Thomas was still an active member with the Chiefs through the 1999 season until a car accident on January 23, 2000 left him paralyzed and then ultimately led to his death two weeks later on February 8th at the age of 33 years old.
Thomas was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009 and had his #58 jersey retired by the Chiefs on December 6th of that year.
Even though his career and life were cut short, Thomas is considered one of the greatest pass rushers of all time.
His record for most quarterback sacks in one NFL game still stands to this day.