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DETAIL INFORMATION - thacozzman
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| Year/Season: |
1999-2000 |
| Date: |
12/5/1999 |
| League/Sport: |
NFL |
| Event: |
Regular Season |
| Visitors: |
Indianapolis Colts |
| Home: |
Miami Dolphins |
| Location: |
Miami, Florida - Joe Robbie Stadium |
| Network: |
CBS |
| Length: |
|
| Commercials: |
All |
| Pregame: |
Unknown |
| Halftime: |
Complete |
| Postgame: |
None |
| Type: |
Unknown |
| Comments: |
Manning and his teammates barely withstood a gallant comeback by Marino, and Mike Vanderjagt`s 53-yard field goal as time ran out beat the Miami Dolphins 37-34 Sunday.
Marino, his career in jeopardy, threw three touchdown passes and rallied Miami from a 14-point deficit in the second half. But Manning hit Marvin Harrison with completions of 16 and 18 yards in the final 30 seconds to set up the winning kick.
"Never say it`s not over until it`s over," said Manning, giving Yogi Berra`s famous phrase a twist.
The Colts (10-2) took control of the AFC East with a two-game lead over Miami and Buffalo. Indianapolis has won eight in a row since losing at home to the Dolphins on Oct. 10.
"This was a huge test for us, the biggest test of the season," Indy coach Jim Mora said.
Miami (8-4) was left to scramble for a wild-card berth. The Dolphins shared the NFL`s best record before losing three of their past four games. “The way the AFC is, we`re fighting just to make the playoffs," coach Jimmy Johnson said.
At least the Dolphins resolved their quarterback situation. Marino, 38, missed five games because of a neck injury, then threw five interceptions in Dallas on Thanksgiving.
But he erased doubts about his arm strength and job status Sunday, completing 24 of 38 passes for 313 yards. The touchdown passes 24 yards to Oronde Gadsden, 33 yards to Tony Martin and 1 yard to Stanley Pritchett were Marino`s first since the injury. But he took little consolation in the comeback, and his tense postgame news conference lasted just four questions. When asked about watching the winning field goal, he responded with perhaps the angriest sound bite of his 17-year career.
"These questions are ridiculous," he said. "I`ll tell you how tough it is. You work your butt off all week and then you lose a game like that by three points. ... That`s how tough it is. But you wouldn`t know, would you?"
The wild game became a field-goal duel at the end. Vanderjagt`s 48-yarder with 4:24 left gave Indianapolis a 34-31 lead. Marino moved Miami 66 yards to set up Olindo Mare`s 32-yard field goal with 36 seconds to go. Manning then quickly maneuvered the Colts into position for Vanderjagt`s game-winner.
"I can`t put into words what this means to this team," Vanderjagt said. "To knock off Miami in Miami this team is on a roll."
Manning threw two second-half interceptions to fuel Miami`s comeback, but still finished 23-for-29 for 260 yards and one touchdown.
"You know it`s a big game," he said. "You say you`re taking the same approach, but that`s a lie. You want to do better."
Harrison caught eight passes for 125 yards. Edgerrin James carried 23 times for 130 yards and a score. The Colts took control early by scoring two touchdowns in a 23-second span midway through the first quarter. James made the Miami defense look hapless, juking past three defenders to score on a 41-yard run for a 10-3 lead.
On the next play, the Dolphins` offense looked even worse. J.J. Johnson fumbled and the Colts` Chad Cota fell on the ball. Three Miami players were close to Cota but none made a move to touch him, apparently assuming the play was over, so he jumped up and dashed 25 yards for a touchdown and a stunning 17-3 lead.
But the Dolphins, who rallied from a 17-9 deficit to beat Indy in October, came back again. The two Manning interceptions helped them pull even.
His first pass of the third quarter was off target and deflected by Harrison to Sam Madison, who returned the interception 21 yards for a touchdown to make the score 24-17.
Patrick Surtain intercepted Manning late in the third quarter, and his 28-yard return set up the tying touchdown on Marino`s 1-yard pass to Pritchett. That tied the game at 31 with 13:07 to go. |
| Format: |
DVD |
| # of discs/tapes: |
3 |
| Format Comments: |
KTVT-11 (CBS - Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas) feed. Complete with Commercials and Halftime. Converted with Cable LP/VHS Master. Verne Lundquist and Dan Dierdorf on the call. |
| Grade: |
8.9 |
| Own/Want: |
Own |
| Email: |
Email thacozzman |
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