Lions roar past Marino & the Dolphins
The offensive juggernaut of the Detroit Lions continued to roll Sunday afternoon in Pro Player Stadium as they beat the Miami Dolphins, 37-27, to run their record to 11-3 on the season.
A lot of the focus coming into today’s game was the Dolphins’ QB Dan Marino; however, the Lions’ QB Scott Mitchell stole the show. Sure, Mitchell has the best weapons in football around him, but he has had the best season of his career, and it continued Sunday. Mitchell threw for 312 yards on 17 of 28 passing with three touchdowns and a 134.8 quarterback rating.
Mitchell had a fantastic 1995 season leading the Lions to the playoffs, but this year has been different. With most defenses focusing their attention on RB Barry Sanders, Mitchell and his receiving tandem of Herman Moore and Johnnie Morton are making defenses pay for bringing extra players in the box to try and stop Sanders. On the season, Mitchell has completed 59% of his passes and thrown for 3,598 yards. He has tossed 27 TD passes, but here is where Mitchell has gotten better…he only has four interceptions on the season, which is the reason why he has a career-high 102.2 quarterback rating.
As for Barry Sanders, the Dolphins did everything they could to take him away. Sanders was held to a season-low 69 yards on 19 carries. On the season, Barry’s quest for 2,000 is very much a reality as he is just 104 yards away with two games to play. He also has his sights on Eric Dickerson’s single season rushing record of 2,105 that he set in 1984. Sanders is 209 yards away from breaking that record.
As for the Dolphins, they tried to stay in the game behind Marino’s arm. He had a season-high 346 yards passing. He completed 26 of 41 passes with three touchdowns with no interceptions. The Dolphins had a 21-14 lead at halftime, but Marino could not keep up with the red-hot Lions, because the Lions defense began to put the pressure on. They sacked Marino six times and DE Robert Porcher continued to have an unbelievable season. He sacked Marino twice in the 4th quarter and now has 19 sacks on the season.
The Lions are now 11-3 on the season and still have a mathematical chance at winning the NFC Central. They have to win out and the Packers have to lose their final two games. The Lions will travel to Minneapolis to take on the Vikings next Sunday and then complete the regular season at home against the Jets. The Dolphins are now 6-8 and will travel next week to take on the Colts.