Today in 1986 - Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets

Today in 1986, the Miami Dolphins went to The Meadowlands to take on the New York Jets in an exciting Week 3 divisional contest between two members of the great quarterback class of 1983. The best way to describe this game is that it was a carpet bombing by both sides.

   The Jets got on the board first on a 32 yard field goal by Pat Leahy. The Dolphins responded with a touchdown pass from Dan Marino to James Pruitt. Miami led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

   Then the scorefest began. RB Johnny Hector scored both of his rushing touchdowns for the game, putting New York in the lead 17-7. Dan Marino responded in kind for Miami by throwing touchdown passes to TE Dan Johnson and WR Mark Duper. Ken O'Brien countered Marino by throwing two long touchdown passes of 50 and 65 yards to WR Wesley Walker. The Jets led 31-21 at halftime.

   The third quarter belonged to the Dolphins. Marino threw a 46 yard touchdown pass to WR Mark Duper. Fuad Reveiz later kicked a 44 yard field goal. Marino closed out the quarter by throwing a touchdown pass to TE Bruce Hardy. Miami led 38-31 at the end of the quarter.

   But the Jets would not be denied. RB Dennis Bligen tied the game on a 7 yard touchdown run. Miami drove and took the lead again on a 4 yard touchdown pass from Marino to WR Mark Clayton. On the last play of regulation, the Jets sent the game to overtime on a 21 yard touchdown pass from O'Brien to Walker tying the game 45-45.

   The Jets got the ball in overtime. There was a controversial call on the kickoff when Michael Harper fumbled and Mike Kozlowski recovered for the Dolphins. Before Miami could challenge the call, O'Brien quickly got the offense lined up and ran a play, which was a 15 yard pass from O'Brien to WR Al Toon. The Jets drove to the Dolphins 43 yard line where O'Brien threw the winning touchdown pass to Walker. The New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins 51-45.

   For the Dolphins, Dan Marino threw 30-50 for 448 yards, 6 TDs and 2 INTs. Mark Clayton had 8 catches for 174 yards and a touchdown. Mark Duper had 7 catches for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns. Mark Brown had 2 sacks in the game, while Hugh Green had one sack.

   For the Jets, Ken O'Brien threw 29-43 for 479 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT. Johnny Hector ran 22 times for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns. Al Toon had 7 receptions for 111 yards and Wesley Walker had 6 catches for 194 yards and 4 touchdowns. Joe Klecko had 1.5 sacks and Bob Crable had half a sack.

   The Jets improved to 2-1 with the win. They finished the season at 10-6, 2nd in the AFC East. They made the playoffs, losing in overtime in the divisional round against the Cleveland Browns 23-20. The Dolphins finished the season at 8-8, third in the AFC East and missed the playoffs.


Trivia

• There were 3 Hall of Famers present, all with the Dolphins: Dan Marino, Dwight Stephenson, and head coach Don Shula.
• This was Shula's 17th season with the Dolphins. He coached the team from 1970-95, leading the team to five Super Bowls, winning two of them (VII and VIII). He also was the head coach for the Baltimore Colts from 1963-69, winning the 1968 NFL Championship, but losing Super Bowl III to the New York Jets.
• This was Joe Walton's fourth season as head coach of the Jets. He coached the team from 1983-89.
• Shula played for the Cleveland Browns (1951-52), Baltimore Colts (1953-56), and Washington Redskins (1957).
• Walton played for the Washington Redskins (1957-60) and the New York Giants (1961-63).
• Shula and Walton were teammates with the Redskins in 1957.
• Dolphins defensive coordinator Chuck Studley was the interim head coach for the Houston Oilers in 1983.
• Jets WR Wesley Walker scored more touchdowns in this game (4) than he did for the entire season in 1977 (3),  1980 (1), 1987 (1), and 1990 (0).
• Jets offensive coordinator Rich Kotite was the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles (1991-94) and the Jets (1995-96).
• Kotite was a tight end with the New York Giants (1967, 1979-72) and Pittsburgh Steelers (1968).
• Jets defensive coordinator Bud Carson was the head coach for the Cleveland Browns (1989-90).
• Dolphins LB Mark Brown had more sacks in this game (2) than he did for the entire season in 1984 (1), 1985 (1), 1987 (1), 1988 (0.5), 1989-91 (0). He had two sacks his rookie season in 1983 and five sacks in 1986. 
• Both teams accounted for 1,066 yards of total offense, with 884 net passing yards.
• The six touchdown passes Marino threw are the most of his career in one game. He threw five touchown passes in a game several times.
• Marino threw more touchdown passes against the Jets (72) than any other team in his career. His next most was the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (54). His least? The New York Giants (1).

The entire game is on YouTube in 15 parts. Here are the last two segments. I make no claim of ownership of any of the videos featured.

The end of regulation. The first two minutes and fourteen seconds of the video is blank, but the game continues after that with 1:11 left.

Overtime

Game stats can be found on Pro Football Reference at Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets - September 21, 1986.