The Dolphins beat the Bills 23-6 in Miami on Sunday - the first time they've beaten the Bills in Joe Robbie stadium since 1990 and only the second time they've beaten them in Joe Robbie in history.
The Bills were missing key offensive players Andre Reed and Thurmon Thomas, but the Dolphins were also putting a rookie offensive tackle - Billy Milner - up against the Bills new pass-rushing sensation Bryce Paup.
And if that wasn't enough, this game was a very important game for both teams. The Dolphins needed the game to stop a 3 game losing streak and the Bills needed the game to stay alone in first place in the AFC East.
The Dolphins received the opening kickoff, which sailed into the endzone for a touchback, giving the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at their own 20. The Dolphins started the game by establishing the run, running Parmalee 3 consecutive times for 4, 5 and 4 yards, but the last run was nullified by a holding penalty on Tom McHale, so instead of a first down, the Dolphins were left with a 3rd and 11 at their 19.
From the shotgun on 3rd down, Marino hit McDuffie on a crossing route that McDuffie turned into a first down with a nice run after the catch to the 31. From there, Marino's pass on 1st down was batted down by Bruce Smith, but on 2nd down, Marino hit Parmalee for 9 yards to the 40 and on 3rd and 1, Marino handed off to Keith Byars, who picked up 3 yards and a 1st down at the Miami 43.
Marino then went deep to Parmalee, who made a great fingertip catch for 26 yards down to the Buffalo 31. From there, Marino was forced to call a timeout because the play took too long to get in to him. The Dolphins then tried running Parmalee to the left, but he was stopped after a 1 yard gain. On 2nd and 9, Marino hit Fryar right in the hands, but Fryar dropped the ball about 5 yards downfield.
However, on 3rd and 9, Marino stepped back in the shotgun and hit Gary Clark on a crossing route at the Buffalo 11 for a 19 yard gain and a 1st and 10. The next play was a 1 yard run up the middle by Parmalee and on 2nd and 9, Marino hit Ronnie Williams at the goalline, but Williams had trouble getting his hands on the ball and was hit immediately, causing him to drop the pass.
With a 3rd and 9 at the Buffalo 10, Richmond Webb was penalized for a false start and, on the subsequent 3rd and 14, Marino did hit Fryar for 8 yards, but Fryar was forced out of bounds and the Dolphins, with a 4th and 5 at the Buffalo 6, was forced to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Stoyanovich's kickoff was taken by Jourdain at the Buffalo 4 and he returned it to the Bills' 24, where Kelly missed his first pass attempt to Copeland. On 2nd and 10, the Bills tried to run Derrick Holmes, but Marco Coleman broke through the line and made a great tackle, snagging Holmes on the back of the jersey and dragging him down for a 3 yard loss. On 3rd down and 13, Kelly did hit Johnson with a short pass to the 29, but Frankie Smith (who had a fine game, by the way), stopped him 5 yards short of the 1st down and the Bills were forced to punt.
Mohr's punt was taken by McDuffie at the 26, but he was taken down by Steve Tasker at the Miami 27. The Dolphins tried to run again, but Parmalee had to reverse directions on his first run to get any room and could only get 3 yards on 1st down. On 2nd and 7, a 4 yard pass to Byars moved the ball to the 34, but a Marino pass to Randal Hill on 3rd down was off the mark and the Dolphins' punted.
Jeff Burris took the punt at the Buffalo 12 and got a good runback to their 22, before he was taken down. With a 1st and 10 at their own 26, the Bills were given a gift as Chuck Klingbeil was offsides for the Dolphins. Then, on 1st and 5 at their 31, the Bills ran Derrick Holmes for 11 right off left tackle.
This gave the Bills a 1st and 10 at their 42 and they ran Carwell Gardner on this 1st down to their 44. On 2nd and 8, Kelly's pass to Copeland was well defensed by JB Brown, but on 3rd and 10, Kelly went back to Copeland for a 10 yard gain to the Dolphin 46.
On 1st down, Kelly hit Johnson for 15 yards up the middle to the 32. From there, they went back to the run, running Holmes for 6 yards up the middle and for 2 yards off left tackle. The Bills then had a 3rd and 2 at the Miami 24, and Kelly's pass sailed over Tasker's head, but JB Brown was called for defensive holding and that gave the Bills a 1st and 10 at the Miami 19.
Holmes ran on 1st down up the middle for 3 yards and for 1 more yard up the middle to the Dolphins 15 on 2nd down as the 1st quarter ran out.
The 2nd quarter started with Buffalo having a 3rd and 6 at the Miami 15, but Kelly's pass to Tasker was overthrown as there was pressure up the middle from the Miami defensive line. This left the Bills with a 4th and 6 and they took the field goal and a 3-3 tie.
Steve Christie hit the kickoff into the Miami endzone for a touchback and Miami started with a 1st and 10 at their own 20. On 1st down, Miami attempted to run Parmalee on the right side, but Ronnie Williams couldn't block Bryce Paup and Parmalee was nailed for a 3 yard loss. On 2d and 13, Marino attempted to pass to Ronnie Williams, but the ball was batted in the air and even though Williams came down with the ball, it was ruled that he didn't have control.
On 3rd and 13 from the 17, Marino hit Fryar with a 14 yard pass to the 31 and gave the Dolphins a 1st down. However, at this point, it got ugly. On 1st and 10, Marino was sacked when Ted Washington got by Tim Ruddy and dragged Marino down for an 11 yard loss. There was then a problem with the play and Marino took another time out.
With a 2nd and 21 at the 20, Marino started in the shotgun, but Bryce Paup got by Billy Milner and sacked Marino for another 7 yard loss to the 13. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Dolphins were penalized 5 yards on 3rd and 28 from their 13 when Chris Gray started early. This left the Dolphins with a 3rd and 33 at their own 8 and they tried a little shovel pass to Terry Kirby, but that only got them to the 12, where they were forced to punt.
Kidd's punt was taken by Burris at the Buffalo36, and he made a nice return to the Dolphin 49 yard line. On 1st down with good field position, Kelly tried a little screen pass to Holmes, but Chris Singleton met Holmes at the line of scrimmage for no gain. On 2nd down and 10, the Bills tried to run Holmes up the middle, but Marco Coleman came untouched from the Dolphins right side and got a hand on Holmes in the backfield, completely disrupting the play. Even though Coleman didn't make the tackle, he broke things up enough to allow Bryan Cox to come flying in and Cox nailed Holmes for a 6 yard loss.
Facing a 3rd and 16 at their own 45, Kelly hit Holmes with a little dump pass, but Holmes was tackled by Terrell Buckley (amazing!) after a 9 yard gain, leaving the Bills with a 4th and 5 at the Miami 46. The Bills punted and McDuffie took a fair catch at the Miami 15.
With a 1st and 10, Marino hit Fryar with a quick slant for 10 yards to the 25, but it wasn't quite a first down and on 2nd and inches, the Dolphins handed off to Keith Byars who got the first down on second effort. With a 1st and 10 at their 26, Marino hit Ronnie Williams for a short gain to the Miami 31. On 2nd down, Parmalee attempted to run up the middle, but there was no room, so Bernie reversed directions and bounced outside to the left for 15 yards. This was a good decision by Parmalee.
On 1st and 10 at their own 46, Parmalee was nailed in the backfield for a 1 yard loss when his blocking broke down. And on 2nd and 11, Marino's pass went incomplete after both his receivers fell down. But, on 3rd and 11 from their own 45, Marino hit OJ McDuffie with a perfect pass down the middle for 27 yards to the Buffalo 29.
On 1st down, Marino then hit Kirby with a little dump pass that Kirby turned into a 10 yard gain with some good running. This gave the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at the Buffalo 19 and after a run by Kirby around right end for 3 yards, Marino attempted to hit Byars over the middle. Bryce Paup got to Byars before the ball and Byars was unable to catch it, but the referees didn't call the interference and the Dolphins faced a 3rd and 7 at the 16.
On the next play, Marino hit McDuffie on the side, but Jeff Burris made a nice open field tackle to stop McDuffie for a 1 yard gain and force the Dolphins to settle for a field goal. This gave the Dolphins a 6-3 lead and gave Stoyanovich the record for the most career field goals ever made by a Dolphins' kicker with 166.
The kickoff was taken by Jourdain at the 1 and he returned it to the 22, where Buffalo took over. On 1st down, a blitz by Frankie Smith got to Kelly just as the ball was released and the pass fell incomplete as Kelly was decked. The next pass from Kelly went to Copeland, but a great hit by Troy Vincent knocked the ball away and left the Bills with a 3rd and 10 at their 22.
Pressure from Trace Armstrong got close to Kelly on the next play, but Kelly managed to get the ball to Holmes. However, Holmes was stopped by Louis Oliver after a 7 yard gain, leaving the Bills with a 4th and 3 at their 29. They punted to McDuffie at the Dolphins 18, and he returned the ball to the 25.
There was now under 2 minutes remaining and the Dolphins started with a shovel pass to Kirby for only 2 yards. On 2nd and 8, Marino overthrew Randal Hill, but went back to him on 3rd and 8 for a 10 yard gain and a 1st down at the 37. The next play was a pass thrown out of bounds as Marino was under pressure.
With 2nd and 10, Marino missed Irving Fryar and then underthrew Gary Clark on 3rd and 10. This left the Dolphins with a 4th and 10 at their 37 and they punted to Jeff Burris, who took the ball at the 14 and returned it to the 24. On this punt, one of the Dolphins had a clear shot at Burris just as he caught the ball, but completely missed the tackle on Burris.
The Bills started with Kelly trying to hit Copeland from his 24, but Troy Vincent was right there and the ball went in and out of Vincent's hands. If he had caught it, there wasn't anyone between him and the goal line.
On 2nd down and 10, the Bills tried a direct snap to Derrick Holmes, but the Dolphins weren't fooled and nailed him after a 1 yard game. With a 3rd and 9, Jim Kelly then hit Copeland for a 5 yard gain, but Troy Vincent made a nice tackle and time ran out in the first half with the Dolphins ahead 6-3.
The third quarter started with the Dolphins kicking the ball off to the Jourdain of the Bills at their 5 and Jourdain returned the ball to the 19, where Mike Williams got him with a fine tackle. On 1st and 10, from their 19, Kelly attempted to hit Derrick Holmes with a short pass, but Dwight Hollier got a hand on the ball knocked it away. A 2nd down pass to Holmes got the Bills 9 yards to the 28 and on 3rd and 1, Holmes broke through the line for 9 more yards to the 37.
From there, the Bills ran Holmes off right tackle again, but Tim Bowens nailed him at the line of scrimmage. A 2nd down screen pass to Holmes also went nowhere, because Singleton read the play and stopped Holmes at the line of scrimmage. However, on 3rd and 10, Kelly hit Bill Brooks with a 14 yard pass to the Miami 49 and on the very next play, hit Steve Tasker for 12 more yards to the Miami 37.
With a 1st and 10 at the Miami 37, Kelly hit Copeland for 17 yards to the Miami 20. On 1st down at the 20, the Bills tried to run Holmes to the left, but Michael Stewart was there and forced Holmes out of bounds for a 2 yard loss. The play was nullified, however, by a holding penalty on Ruben Brown and the Bills had a 1st and 20 at the Miami 30.
The next play was a dump pass to Carwell Gardner for 13 yards to the Miami 17. On 2nd and 7 at the 17, the Bills ran Gardner up the middle for 3 yards. Then, on 3rd down and 4 at the Miami 14, Marco Coleman got to Kelly just before the ball was thrown and Kelly barely got it away for an incompletion. On the subsequent 4th down and 4 at the Miami 14 Steve Christie hit a 32 yard field goal to tie the score 6-6.
Christie kicked the ball off to Randal Hill who took the ball at the 4 and ran it up the left side to the 27 yard line, where the Dolphins started. On 1st down, they ran Parmalee up the middle for 3 yards to the 30. A 2nd down pass to McDuffie was incomplete because of pressure on Marino, but a 3rd down pass from the 30, Marino hit Kirby for 8 yards and a 1st down at the Miami 38.
The Dolphins started the next series by running Parmalee off left tackle for 8 yards and on 2nd and 2, ran Parmalee off left tackle for 4 more yards and a 1st down at the 49. From there, a 1st down pass to Byars was dropped on the sidelines. Marino's 2nd down pass to Fryar was thrown under pressure and Jeff Burris of the Bills barely missed an interception as the ball went through his hands after Marino underthrew the pass.
However, on 3rd and 10 from the Miami 49, Marino got enough time and hit Terry Kirby for a 31 yard gain over the middle down to the Bills' 20 yard line.
There, on first down, the Dolphins ran a sweep around the right side and the offensive line opened a large hole for Bernie Parmalee at the line of scrimmage. Parmalee then weaved his way between defenders down the right sideline and, just as he was being knocked out of bounds at about the 2, he dove forward and stretched his left hand towards the goal with the ball in it, to put the ball over the goal line and score the first touchdown of the night. It was a great run and it gave the Dolphins a 13-6 lead.
Stoyanovich's kickoff was taken by Jourdain at the 8 and run back to the 24, but an illegal block penalty on Carwell Gardner moved the ball back to the Buffalo 10. There, on 1st and 10, Kelly dropped back to pass but Marco Coleman, while lying on the ground with John Fina on top of him, managed to reach out and get Kelly around the ankles and bring him down for a sack at the 4 yard line..
On 2nd down and 16, Kelly missed Copeland with a pass under pressure. On the next play, Kelly tried to hit Copeland again, but the pass was wide and Vincent had good coverage in any case. With a 4th and 16 from their own 4, Mohr punted the ball away for the Bills to McDuffie at the Miami 45, who could only get to the Miami 48 before he was brought down.
The Dolphins started by running Parmalee up the middle, but Ruddy lost his block on Washington and Parmalee was nailed for a 1 yard loss. On 2nd and 11 from their 47, Parmalee could only get a yard running around right end and the 3rd and 10 pass went out of bounds near McDuffie. The Dolphins ended this series with a punt from their own 48 that bounced into the endzone for a touchback.
The Bills started at their 20 after the touchback attempting to run Holmes up the middle again, but Bowens stopped him for no gain. A 2nd down pass to Lonnie Johnson got the Bills 4 yards to the 24, but on 3rd and 6 at their 24, the Bills were stopped by a bizarre mistake by the officials. As Kelly dropped back to pass, pressure from the Dolphin defense forced Kelly back to his right. However, as Bryan Cox was bearing down on Kelly, the official blew the whistle before Cox got to Kelly, ruling a sack.
Apparently the official thought that someone had Kelly around the ankles, and blew the whistle when he thought Cox would hit him. This is the newest version of the "in the grasp" rule, where the whistle is blown if the QB is about to be hit by a second player while already being tackled. However, in this case, no one had a hand on Kelly. And even though Cox was bearing down on Kelly, there was no reason to blow the whistle at all. It was a serious mistake.
Nevertheless, it was ruled a sack and it left the Bills with a 4th and 11 at the Buffalo 19. Mohr punted the ball for the Bills to McDuffie, who made a fair catch at the Miami 39.
Miami started by tossing a short pass to Keith Byars to the 41 and Marino then connected with a 13 yard pass to Parmalee while under pressure from the Bills. Parmalee had a nice run after the catch down to the Buffalo 46 as the 3rd quarter ended.
With a 1st and 10 at the 15, Kirby ran for 4 yards off right tackle. This gave the Dolphins a 2nd and 6 at the 11 and the Dolphins ran a sweep to the left side with Terry Kirby. After Kirby turned the corner on the sweep, he got down to the 5 and vaulted from the 5, over a couple of Buffalo defenders into the endzone for a touchdown. This gave the Dolphins a 20-6 lead.
Miami's kickoff was taken by Jourdain at the 5 and he was pushed out of bounds at the 23. The Bills, down by 14, still tried to run the ball on 1st down with Holmes, but he was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by Jeff Cross and Trace Armstrong. On 2nd down, Kelly did hit Copeland for a 17 yard gain to the 39, giving the Bills a 1st down.
Kelly's next pass was batted down by Steve Emtman and on 2nd down, Kelly overthrew Steve Tasker, who uncharacteristically seemed to slow up on the route. On 3rd down and 10 at the 39, Miami called a corner blitz with Frankie Smith coming untouched up the middle. This caused Kelly to throw the ball away and on 4th and 10, the Bills punted.
McDuffie took the ball at the 10 and got out to the 21 before he was brought down. The Dolphins ran Parmalee off right tackle for 9 yards to the 30 and on 2nd down, ran Parmalee again for 5 yards to the 34. On the subsequent 1st down, Parmalee ran for a yard to the 35 and then Terry Kirby came in and on 2nd and 9, Kirby ran twice in a row for 2 yards each time. This left the Dolphins with a 4th and 5 at the 39 and they punted to Bill Brooks at the 15, who returned it to the Bill's 31.
With 6:03 remaining, Buffalo started by passing to Lonnie Johnson, but he dropped an easy catch. On 2nd down from the shotgun, Kelly hit Brooks for 5 yards to the 36. Then, on 3rd down, a blitzing Cox managed to get a hand on Kelly's arm as he was passing and the ball fell incomplete. The Bills then decided to go for it on 4th down, but even though Kelly hit Steve Tasker for 4 yards, Troy Vincent made the stop short of the first down marker and the Bills turned the ball over to the Dolphins on downs at their own 39.
On 1st down, with 5:15 remaining, the Dolphins ran Terry Kirby off left tackle and got 19 yards down to the Buffalo 20 yard line. Kirby ran 3 more times in a row for 5 yards on 1st down, for 1 yard on 2nd down and for 4 yards on 3rd down to give the Dolphins a 1st and goal at the Buffalo 10.
The Dolphins then put Parmalee back in, but on a sweep to the right, Bryce Paup beat Billy Milner and nailed Parmalee for a 5 yard loss to the 15. WIth a 2nd and 15, Miami was able to run Parmalee for 5 yards to the 10 and then run Kirby 5 yards to the 5, but that left the Dolphins with a 4th and goal at the 5 and with 2:00 minutes remaining, the Dolphins kicked a field goal and a 23-6 lead.
The Bills' Jourdain took Stoyanovich's kickoff at the 15 and ran it out to the 28 before he was stopped. At this point, with 1:56 remaining, the Bills replaced Kelly with Todd Collins at quarterback. With a 1st down from the 28, Collins was forced to scramble under pressure for 6 yards to the 34. Collins' 2nd down pass was dropped by Steve Tasker, but on 3rd and 4, Collins managed to scramble for 10 yards and a 1st down at the 44.
On 1st and 10, with 1:05 remaining, Collins hit Brooks for a short 3 yard gain. Collins' 2nd and 7 pass was tipped and fell incomplete, but Gene Atkins was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness after a late hit and the ball was moved to the Miami 38 yard line. Collins next tried to hit Tasker down the left sideline, but overthrew him.
On 2nd down, Collins was forced to scramble and ran out of bounds after 2 yards at the Miami 36. With a 3rd and 8 at the 36, Collins' pass was batted at the line of scrimmage by Jeff Cross and on the last play of the game, with a 4th and 8 at the Miami 36, Collins lofted the ball into the endzone, where it was batted into the air, but eventually fell incomplete.
The game ended with a 23-6 Miami victory. This was the first time the Dolphins had beaten the Bills in Joe Robbie Stadium in 5 years and it was the game that they needed to have to stay in the hunt for the SuperBowl.