Fins vs Pats OT 2003 on NFLN Tuesday

Is that the monday night game when we wore the orange unis and AJ Feely carved them up?

No... I wasn't watching football then, but it looks like we lost in overtime 19-13 after a Jay Fieldler interception in OT and two missed potential game-winning Olindo Mare field goals. :(

Wednesday NFL Network is showing their "America's Game" special on the 2003 Patriots.

I still got it DVR-ed though.

troy brown 82 yard TD in OT.
seeing that game once was enough for me.

The dirt infield cost us that game, and that game cost us the division if I'm not mistaken. Excuse me while I throw up.

"Merauder wrote:

The dirt infield cost us that game, and that game cost us the division if I'm not mistaken. Excuse me while I throw up.

I think we lost because we were not the better team:wink2: The infield dirt had nothing to do with it. Maybe if our offense could have scored TD's instead of having to kick off the dirt, maybe we could have won. Maybe the 82 yard TD was caused by the dirt??:no:

Mare missed both of those field goals while he was on the dirt. If there had been grass, he probably would have made one of the two. The Marlins stole our mojo that year, and then won the World Series.

I was at that game. No thanks. Had we won that game, we would've been in 1st place in the division and been set up nicely for the rest of the season. When Mare missed that chip shot FG in OT (after Ricky set us up with a nice run) you could feel the air let out of that stadium.

"Merauder wrote:

The dirt infield cost us that game, and that game cost us the division if I'm not mistaken. Excuse me while I throw up.

IMO, that is a BS excuse. Mare had been kicking on that dirt for years. He shanked it, plain and simple. If it were a 45 yarder, I could understand. But he basically missed an extra point.

"Merauder wrote:

Mare missed both of those field goals while he was on the dirt. If there had been grass, he probably would have made one of the two. The Marlins stole our mojo that year, and then won the World Series.

I think Mare never returned to form after that game. He was nearly automatic before that game

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

I think Mare never returned to form after that game. He was nearly automatic before that game

I honestly believe the "dirt" became more mental for him than physical.

"HardKoreXXX wrote:

I honestly believe the "dirt" became more mental for him than physical.

For a while he was an extremely accurate kicker with a very strong leg. I think some people forget how awesome he was before he lost it.

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

For a while he was an extremely accurate kicker with a very strong leg. I think some people forget how awesome he was before he lost it.

No doubt. He was the NFL's all-time leader in accuracy for a while. I believe Vanderjagt eventually passed him, which isn't all that noteworthy considering half (or more) of his games were indoors.

"steveincolorado wrote:

I think we lost because we were not the better team:wink2: The infield dirt had nothing to do with it. Maybe if our offense could have scored TD's instead of having to kick off the dirt, maybe we could have won. Maybe the 82 yard TD was caused by the dirt??:no:

We lost because Mare missed several very makeable FGs. That game should never have gone to OT. 2002 was the beginning of the end for him. a FG % in the 70's is unacceptable.

True...Mare had grown accustomed to kicking in the dirt..... but every now and then even the best kickers might take an awkward step in the dirt and miss a field goal or two. Especially in a high pressure situation like that. It becomes magnified. All I'm saying is that kicking in the dirt is harder than kicking on grass, regardless if someone had been doing it for their entire career or not. I have always hated the dirt. It cost us the division that year and God knows how many other games.... and has been the culprit for countless injuries over the years.

"SuperMarksBros. wrote:

We lost because Mare missed several very makeable FGs. That game should never have gone to OT. 2002 was the beginning of the end for him. a FG % in the 70's is unacceptable.

We lost because we were not a very good team that year. Not just because our kicker had a bad year.

In the last two seasons with Seattle, Mare is 48/53 (90.6%). What was his problem in the middle of the last decade with Miami?? Is it a popular thought that this NE game really affected his performance?

In 1999 he set a then-NFL record of 39 field goals in a year... 117 points off of Mare field goals that year... damn. His leg carried offenses that couldn't get into the end zone.

I have never seen this 2003 game so I look forward to seeing it for historical appreciation and hopefully won't get too upset over the loss... I watched maybe two football games start to finish after Dan's retirement until 2007.

Dear NFLN:

Do you have any games for GotW which the Dolphins won? It doesn't seem like it.

Thanks

"frozenfin wrote:

I have never seen this 2003 game so I look forward to seeing it for historical appreciation and hopefully won't get too upset over the loss... I watched maybe two football games start to finish after Dan's retirement until 2007.

Get ready to vomit. That game sticks in my throat probably somewhere around #3 or 4 all time chokes. Winner - 1974 Playoffs @ Raiders. Honorable mention 1993 AFC Championship v. Buffalo.

Games like that are the story of the Dolphins' last decade, including 2009 - Injuries or not, they choked when they controlled their own destiny last season. Thankfully a new decade is here, hopefully it will be better and less choke filled.

That's why this season will be so big. You expect the Phins to make the playoffs and win a game or two and if they do lose, to not get completely destroyed in a losing effort as has been the case for like 15 years in the wild card and divisional rounds. Games like these which have filled this past decade have scarred me. Anytime we play a meaningful game I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack because for so long we've been watching stuff like that happen. They really need to make me think they can win big games! Doing so against the Jets with the division title on the line in 2008 helped, but that's really the only one of the last decade. I guess the 2000 WC game against the Colts also, but that's so long ago now.

Sweeping the Jets was a nice start to the first half of last season, but the fact that they lost the last 3 when they would have needed to win 2 was reminiscent of earlier in the decade when they would start strong then fade away in November and December, and it was "here we go again." Please change our skeptic minds!

"steveincolorado wrote:

We lost because we were not a very good team that year. Not just because our kicker had a bad year.

If Mare made either one of the two very makable field goals Miami would have won the game.

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

If Mare made either one of the two very makable field goals Miami would have won the game.

If our offense could have scored 1 TD instead of having to settle for 2 FG attempts, then we would have won:wink2:

Can't believe I'm defending a stupid kicker:sad:

"HardKoreXXX wrote:

I was at that game. No thanks. Had we won that game, we would've been in 1st place in the division and been set up nicely for the rest of the season. When Mare missed that chip shot FG in OT (after Ricky set us up with a nice run) you could feel the air let out of that stadium.

Was that the game that I thought Mare made that 2nd FG? It was questionable like close but I swore it made it through.

"steveincolorado wrote:

If our offense could have scored 1 TD instead of having to settle for 2 FG attempts, then we would have won:wink2:

Can't believe I'm defending a stupid kicker:sad:

that might be true, however it still doesn't change the fact that they had the kicker in a situation where he can and has hit before. Twice.

I was at that game and it sucked badly, seeing Troy Brown torch Brock Marion.

If I remember correctly, it came out after the game that Wanny left it up to Mare if he wanted to practice during the week on the dirt. Mare did not practice on the dirt and the results are what you see. I split the blame between Mare and Wanny because Wanny should have forced Mare to practice.