Marino goes down and so do the Dolphins
Historically, the Miami Dolphins have had problems against the Buffalo Bills at Rich Stadium and on Sunday it wasn’t any different as the Dolphins fell, 17-3, to the Bills.
Over the past three weeks, the Dolphins finally found their groove offensively. Marino was getting hot and they began to run the ball better; however, on Sunday, it all came crashing down. Marino was struggling early but then took a shot from Bills’ All-Pro DE Bruce Smith and Marino had to leave the game with a sprained knee losing hope of winning this game.
Bruce Smith, who has had a so-so year so far, returned to his All-Pro form. Once Dolphins’ backup QB Craig Erickson hit the field, Smith turned the heat up with his pass rush. He sacked Erickson 3 times, forced two fumbles, and recovered one of them. On the season, Smith now has 9.5 sacks.
The Bills’ defense was smothering as they held the Dolphins to only 107 total yards. Once Marino went out, the Dolphins tried to run the ball, but they could only manage 58 yards on the ground.
As for the Bills’ offense, most of their damage came on the ground beings they were playing their backup QB too, Alex Van Pelt. The Bills rushed for 162 yards with 79 coming from Antwone Smith and 41 with a TD from Thurman Thomas. Van Pelt only passed for 113 yards on 10 completions with 3 interceptions.
The Bills (3-6) stopped a four-game losing streak with this win and will face division rival New England in Buffalo next Sunday. The Dolphins (3-6) hope Marino will be back next week as they host the Jets, who they beat earlier in the year, 24-17.