Today in 1995 - Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills

Today in 1995, the Miami Dolphins went to the frigid cold of Rich Stadium to take on the Buffalo Bills in a Week 16 contest.

Buffalo provided the only scoring in the first quarter on a Steve Christie 24 field goal.  He kicked a 20 yard field goal in the second quarter to increase Buffalo’s lead to 6-0.  Miami responded with a 50 yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich.  Thurman Thomas ran 2 yards for a touchdown to give Buffalo the halftime lead 13-3.

Miami scored first in the third quarter with a 30 yard Stoyanovich field goal.  The Dolphins tied the game on a 25 yard pass from Dan Marino to Eric Green.  The Bills took the lead again on an 11 yard pass from Jim Kelly to Thurman Thomas.

In the fourth quarter, the Dolphins tied the game 20-20 on a 5 yard run by Bernie Parmalee.  But Buffalo would not be denied.  The Bills took the lead for good on a Christie 25 yard field goal.  The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 23-20.

For the Dolphins, Dan Marino passed 17-27 for 244 yards with a touchdown and an interception.  O.J. McDuffie had 4 receptions for 79 yards.  Eric Green had 4 receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown.  Jeff Cross had a sack and Calvin Jackson had an interception.

For the Bills, Jim Kelly passed 16-28 for 139 yards with a touchdown and an interception.  Thurman Thomas rushed 35 times for 148 yards and a touchdown.  He also had a reception for 11 yards and a touchdown.  Phil Hansen and Bryce Paup each recorded 1.5 sacks and David White had an interception.

Miami fell to 8-7 with the loss.  They finished the season at 9-7, second in the AFC East.  They lost their rematch in Buffalo in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs 37-22. 

Buffalo went to 10-5 with the win.  They finished the season at 10-6 and were AFC East Champions.  The Bills lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 40-21 in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Trivia

• There were 6 Hall of Famers present: Dan Marino and head coach Don Shula for the Dolphins, and Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, and head coach Marv Levy for the Bills.
  
• This was Don Shula’s last season as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.  He coached the team from 1970-95 and led the Dolphins to five Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl championships.
  
• This was Marv Levy’s 10^th season as head coach of the Bills.  He coached the team from 1986-97 and led the team to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.  He was also the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1978-82.
  
• Shula was also the head coach of the Baltimore Colts from 1963-69.  He led the team to the fated Super Bowl III, losing to the New York Jets.
  
• Shula played defensive back for the Cleveland Browns (1951-52), Baltimore Colts (1953-56), and Washington Redskins (1957).  He wore the number 25 with the Colts.  Defensive back Jerraud Powers wears that number for the Colts today.
  
• Miami’s Terrell Buckley played one season in the Atlanta Braves farm system.
  
• Buffalo’s defensive coordinator was Wade Phillips.  His career has been featured in other entries.
  
• Miami backup quarterback Dan McGwire is the brother of St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire.
  
• Buffalo backup quarterback Alex Van Pelt was the team’s offensive coordinator in 2009.

Here are some historical scores on this day for teams facing each other this week, on December 17, 2011

1966 – Cleveland 38 – St. Louis Cardinals 10

1972 – Denver 45 – New England 21

1977 – Miami 31 – Buffalo 14

1983 – Washington 31 – New York Giants 22

1988 – Denver 21 – New England 10

2006 – Buffalo 21 – Miami 0

Game stats can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at Miami Dolphins vs Buffalo Bills - December 17, 1995.