If anyone doubts the utter importance of the offensive line, you need only watch this game. Don’t get me wrong, there was great quarterback play by Marino and Montana but focus on the offensive lines of both teams…and count how long between the snaps and the passes.
That lateral that fryar did in the first drive… good lord that couldve gone bad… like reggie bush in the national championship game
This game brings up a lot of old emotions. The pain of knowing how that season would end, the joy of watching Marino do his thing. It's sad that most fans and even some of the talking heads that cover this sport don't give Marino his due. If he were playing in today's NFL he'd have rings on all 10 fingers. Best passer to ever play the game.
A few parallels in that video to today's team; and remember, that was just highlights...not the whole game: Miami ran the ball early and often to keep the chains moving Miami's RB/FB was absolutely crushing the free rusher on passing downs Marino is Marino, not much to say there you don't already know Part of why Miami was so impressive under Marino is that they were a balanced team running and passing the football. Yes, Marino could light up the scoreboard in shootouts, but that wasn't the general game plan and they never had a big-name featured back. However, they did use the run to set up the pass and there was very good protection all the way around. Our new HC appears to be building a power running team to have that type of balance. It's still early and that doesn't mean he'll be successful, but the goal is to have the kind of look you saw in that video. Tua is not Marino, of course, and he'll never be dropping 500 yards per game like Marino sometimes did. But with protection and with linebackers respecting the run game, we could certainly see enough "Marino-like" moments to have a strong offense. That's the goal...and goals aren't reality. But it is where this team is trying to go.
Man, that was fun re-watching that game. With the passage of time, it’s getting easier to forget how great #13 really was. It’s sad, too - it’s been over a quarter century since we had a potent offense that scared the crap out of the opposition.
94 is a special year for me. That was my senior year of HS, and the team had been very competitive the whole time I was a teenager. I really thought that they were going to make a Super Bowl run that year, and if not for a weird 6-10 loss at Indy in Week 16 where the Fins dominated the scorecard but couldn't score, they likely would have. Win that game, and they never even have to play in this WC game, and then host SD in the Divisional Round, instead of having to travel across the country and lose in bizarre fashion that week. For me, this is the best team that Miami has had between 1985 and present. Had they been able to run the ball better, they could have been a 13 or 14 win team probably. I like Parmalee, but give them a second tier RB like Rodney Hampton or Terry Allen that year, and things could have been epic. As it was, the rest of the offense that year is basically my favorite of all time. This is the passing game I've been longing for ever since. Irving Fryar, Keith Jackson, Keith Byars, a young OJ McDuffie, and Terry Kirby before he was lost to injury. They led the league in total yards, and were 3rd in scoring. More total first downs and passing first downs than any Dolphin team since. They could convert and move the chains like crazy, and while the run game wasn't great, they could covert on the ground as well. It was absolutely beautiful. Every drive had a chance at least at a FG. On another note, the uniforms that they wore that day are also my favorite of all time. They only wore them a few times in 1994 & 95 as a hybrid of the throwbacks for the League's 75th anniversary and the regular look, but I loved them. The solid orange outline for the numbers instead of the previous one which had a gap was a great move. Basically, every year since this point, I've been looking for them to recapture what they had then, and build on it. Hasn't happened yet.
I appreciate the reminiscing of days past, but the point of the video and thread seems to have been missed. Great blocking on both offensive lines led to both Marino and Montana leaving the field with relatively clean uniforms, great performances as well as some effective smash mouth running. Until the Dolphins regain that incredible offensive line we had once upon a time, we’re going to remain in mediocrity.