Dolphins-Jets: Charting a memorable rivalry

With all due respect to the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and even the Miami Dolphins' former AFC East playmates, the Indianapolis Colts, no team gets a Dolphins' fan's blood boiling more than the New York Jets.

It's a rivaly that goes back to the salad days of the AFL, when Joe Namath led the Jets on an upward climb that led to their only Super Bowl win in 1969, and the Dolphins were a struggling expansion franchise.

Monday night marks the 88th meeting between the teams, with the Jets holding a 46-40-1 overall edge, including a 13-5 mark against Miami this decade.

There have been many memorable games between the two teams, starting in the 1970s, when Namath went against the Dolphins and their vaunted "53 defense."

Miami won most of those battles, on the way to a 14-6 record against New York in the 1970s, and the Dolphins won their only two Super Bowls following the 1972 and 1973 seasons.

The battle reached its apex in 1982, when the teams met three times in the strike-shortened season, with the final meeting deciding the AFC Championship.

The Dolphins won the first two games, 45-28 and 20-19, and then, in a game that was later dubbed "The Mud Bowl," Dolphins linebacker A.J. Duhe intercepted three Richard Todd passes, returning one 35 yards to seal a 14-0 victory.

In 1985, future Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino hit Mark Duper with a 50-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to play to give the Dolphins a come-from-behind 21-17 win. Duper, who had missed seven weeks with a broken leg, set a team record in that game with 217 yards receiving.

Then came 1986. In the first game of the Jets-Dolphins rivalry I ever saw, Marino threw a career-high six TD passes and staked the Dolphins to a 45-38 lead late at the Meadowlands.

But with Miami trying to run out the clock -- and needing one first down to do it -- running back Woody Bennett fumbled, and the Jets recovered.

Cue Ken O'Brien to Wesley Walker, as the pair connected for the tying TD with no time left to force overtime.

Then, after winning the all-important coin toss, O'Brien found Walker again -- for Walker's fourth TD and a 51-45 win that remains the highest-scoring game in the series.

O'Brien threw for 479 yards in the victory; Marino passed for 448.

That game propelled the Jets to a nine-game winning streak, and at 10-1 they ventured to the Orange Bowl for a Monday night date with the Dolphins.

What resulted was an improbable blowout, as Marino completed 29-of-36 passes for 288 yards and four TDs, and Lorenzo Hampton gained 150 yards on 19 carries and scored two TDs in a 45-3 victory.

The Jets lost their last five games, but backed into the playoffs at 10-6 that season.

On Dec. 7, 1987, the already intense rivalry became even nastier when Jets defensive tackle Marty Lyons' illegal chop block on future Hall-of-Fame Dolphins center Dwight Stephenson ended Stephenson's career in a 37-28 Jets' victory.

Dolphins coach Don Shula was so upset about the hit that he reportedly chased Lyons out of the locker room with a profanity-laced tirade when the defensive tackle tried to apologize to Stephenson.

The next year, Marino threw for a career best 521 yards, but he also tossed five interceptions -- three to rookie Jets corner Erik McMillan, who returned one 55 yards for a TD in another Jets win.

In 1991, the teams met in the regular season finale at Joe Robbie Stadium with a playoff berth on the line.

Marino passed to Ferrell Edmunds for a 1-yard TD and a 20-17 lead with just 44 seconds left.

But the Dolphins went into a prevent defense, which allowed O'Brien to move the Jets into field goal range, and Raul Allegre booted a 44-yard field goal to tie the game.

Once again, the Jets won the toss and received the ball in overtime, and Allegre put them in the playoffs with a 30-yard kick.

Marino didn't get his revenge until three years later, with the "Clock Play," when he led the Dolphins back from a 24-6 halftime deficit to beat the Jets in 1994.

After throwing two TD passes to Mark Ingram to cut New York's lead to 24-21, Marino drove the Fins to the Jets' 5-yard line with 30 seconds left.

Once there, it looked like Marino was going to spike the ball to set up the next play.

But as we all know, he faked the spike, and hit Ingram for the winning TD pass over rookie Aaron Glenn. The Dolphins won 28-24, and went on to capture the AFC East that season.

The next memorable meeting came in 2000, when the Dolphins took a seemingly insurmountable 30-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jets fans still remember the NFL Films microphone picking up this exchange between Dolphins quarterback Jay Fielder and defensive end Jason Taylor:

Fiedler: "They ain't coming back on us!"

Taylor: "Hell no! You kidding? C'mon now."

Of course, the Jets rallied for 23 fourth quarter points to tie the game.

And, when it seemed like Miami had regained control after Fiedler hit Leslie Sheppard for a TD and a 37-30 lead, the Jets battled back again.

Vinny Testaverde threw to a 3-yard TD pass to Jumbo Elliot on a tackle-eligible play that tied the game with 42 seconds left. It was Testaverde's fourth TD pass of the quarter.

In overtime, Fiedler threw his third interception, leading to John Hall's 40-yard field goal that won the game, 40-37.

When Monday Night Football celebrated its 500th telecast in 2002, fans picked this as the greatest game in the history of the series.

It has forever come to be known as "The Monday Night Miracle."

The years following that game were down ones for both franchises, as the Dolphins only made the playoffs once and the Jets three times, winning just one postseason game between them.

Then came last year, and the Brett Favre experiment, which actually began in Miami.

On opening day, Favre threw two TD passes, including a Hail Mary at the end of the first half that Chansi Stuckey somehow caught, to beat the Dolphins 20-14 in Dolphin Stadium.

That started the Jets on an 8-3 surge that made them seem playoff-bound.

We all know what happened next.

Favre hurt his elbow, and the Jets struggled, losing three of their next four to fall to second in the AFC East.

The Dolphin entered the Meadowlands on the final weekend of the regular season needing a win to clinch the division and a playoff berth.

Favre threw three interceptions, while jettisoned Jet Chad Pennington completed 22-of-30 passes for 200 yards and two TDs in a 24-17 win.

The Dolphins went to the playoffs, while the Jets stayed home.

Just another chapter in what has historically been one of the best rivalries in the NFL, a rivalry that will feature new heroes Monday night, as young QBs Mark Sanchez and Chad Henne face off for the first of what could be many times.

Let's hope it lives up to the long, memorable history established between these two franchises.

(Photo: Yahoo Images)

Marino 8th in latest QB rankings

You could see this one coming. As Dan Marino's achievements fade in this new era of the West Coast offense and more permissible passing rules, he continues to slide down the list of all-time greats.

Marino placed eighth on a Beckett's Magazine list of the greatest quarterbacks, and for the first time I can recall, modern stars Tom Brady (6th) and Peyton Manning (7th) were ranked ahead of him.

It has for a long time been a fait accompli, what with Brady's Super Bowl winning heroics, and the incredible numbers he put up in 2007, when he passed for 50 TDs and just eight interceptions. Brady set a new all-time record for TD passes that Marino once held for 20 years.

Manning cemented his claim ahead of Marino when his defense and running game carried him to a Super Bowl win in Miami two years ago.

Now, Manning's regular season credentials speak for themselves, but his 49-TD season in 2004 (which broke Marino's record) coincided with the NFL passing a rule limiting defensive contact with receivers after Manning's group was manhandled by the New England Patriots in an AFC Championship loss the previous year.

And, when I lived in Lake City and was exposed to more Colts games because I was out of the Dolphins' coverage area, it appeared that Manning was left in a bit longer than he should have been to throw some meaningless TD passes.

Case in point: Manning plays the entire game and throws five TD passes in a 49-14 win over Houston in Week 10. A week later, four TDs in a 41-10 win over the Chicago Bears. On Thanksgiving Day the next week, he throws six TD passes against the eternally hapless Lions, giving him 15 in three weeks. Again, he plays into the fourth quarter in the 41-9 victory, throwing his last two TD passes in the third quarter.

When Brady set the new record two years ago, his team was accused of running up the score, particularly in a 52-7 whitewashing of the Redskins in Week 8.

This was something that wasn't often done in Marino's day.

In 1984, when he set the then-record with 48 TD passes, the Dolphins won only one game by 20 points, meaning he had to throw those TD passes to deliver victories, not to pad stats as Brady and Manning seemed to do in their record runs.

Also, it's no coincidence that Brady and Manning both eclipsed his record after restrictions were placed on defensive backs in terms of contact with receivers.

That makes Marino's 48 TDs all the more impressive, and it makes John Unitas' streak of 47 straight games with at least one TD pass and his 290 overall TDs look downright remarkable.

Still, I have no real problem with Manning and Brady being ranked ahead of Marino, though I put them after him as their careers are still in progress (see below). They have the numbers and championships, while Marino unfortunately did not have the supporting cast to help him win a title.

Of the players on the list ahead of him, there are two I strongly disagree with, and a third I have an issue with (see below).

Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls with the Steelers, but his overall numbers were not very impressive. He had a poor TD/INT ratio, with 212 TD passes to 210 interceptions. He had four bad years before he became a good quarterback in 1974, and he benefited from perhaps the greatest supporting cast a quarterback ever had.

To place him at No. 4, like Beckett's did, is absurd. Bradshaw does belong in the top 10, but he belongs after Marino. Bart Starr, a great quarterback for the Packers teams of the 1960s, was also ranked ahead of Marino at No. 5. He didn't have great natural ability, but he was a winner.

Starr was only a four-time Pro Bowler, and had just 14 more TDs than INTs (152/134). He never threw 20 TD passes in a season. His ranking might have to do with the fact the Packers were the dominant team in the 1960s, winning five NFL titles.

Here's the Beckett list:

1. Joe Montana
2. John Unitas
3. John Elway
4. Terry Bradshaw
5. Bart Starr
6. Tom Brady
7. Peyton Manning
8. Dan Marino
9. Otto Graham
10. Brett Favre
11. Troy Aikman
12. Steve Young
13. Roger Staubach
14. Fran Tarkenton
15. Joe Namath
16. Sammy Baugh
17. Bobby Layne
18. Dan Fouts
19. Bob Griese
20. Jim Kelly

I have some other problems with the list, and one of them is John Elway. It's amazing what a great running game and good defense can do for a player. Elway was a bust in his first three Super Bowl appearances, including a dreadful 55-10 loss to the 49ers and Montana in 1990.

Suddenly though, Mike Shanahan comes aboard, as do Terrell Davis and a competent defense, Elway wins two Super Bowls, and he becomes a top-five all-time QB.

Had he never won a Super Bowl, Elway never would have been ranked ahead of Marino. And that's the problem I have with QB lists like these, which place far too great an emphasis on championships.

Peter King wrote a book years ago ranking his top QBs, and he made Otto Graham his No. 1 all-time because his teams won division or league titles in all 10 years he played.

So, because Graham had great players around him (nine Hall of Famers, if you count Coach Paul Brown), he's supposed to be better than Unitas or Montana?

I highly doubt that.

Elway had several mediocre years statistics-wise, and while I enjoyed watching him play, there is no doubt that in their primes Marino was better. Marino also played at a high level for as long as Elway did.

Elway had six seasons of 20 TD passes or more; Marino had 12. Marino had more yards passing, a higher completion percentage and a far better QB rating.

But, because Elway ended his career in storybook fashion, the myth has become legend. He became better than Marino in many people's minds, and sadly, that will remain the case in history.

Legends fade as new generations arrive, ready to anoint one of their own as the best ever. We've seen it in the NBA with Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal, eclipsing the greatness of Jerry West, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain in most people's minds.

And in baseball, where Barry Bonds was suddenly greater than Babe Ruth (before steroids), and Roger Clemens was the greatest right-hand pitcher of all-time (again, pre-steroids).

Well, football is a team sport, moreso than basketball and baseball -- where one or two great pitchers can carry a team to a title -- and the fact is Marino played with only three top-10 defenses in his career. Twice, he made the conference championship (1984, 1992). He had one 1,000-yard running back (the forgettable Karim Abdul-Jabbar in 1996).

Statistics are not the entire story, but neither are championships. You must place each in context of the circumstances surrounding the player.

And for me, the only QB who topped Marino during his generation was Montana, who had gaudy stats, the clutch play and the Super Bowl victories to back him up.

Finally, here's my all-time top 10 for you to dissect:

1. Unitas (set the standard for QBs in a different era)
2. Montana
3. Marino
4. Elway
5. Baugh (the first great QB)
6. Brady (will probably move up when his career ends)
7. Manning (ditto)
8. Staubach
9. Young (another underrated QB)
10. Bradshaw

(Photo: Yahoo images)

Dolphins cut Green

Well, this is the initial post on the Dolphins Watch blog, and I hope to provide you with analysis, commentary and observations from this Miami Dolphins season. This is a new and exciting venture, and I hope to make the most of it.

Just by way of introduction, my name is Mario Sarmento and I have been a sports writer for the past nine years, in both print and the Internet. I've covered high school, college and pro sports, with the highlight of my career undoubtedly being when I covered Super Bowl XLI two years ago in Miami between the Colts and the Bears.

As far as this blog goes, I will offer commentary of Dolphins' moves and games during the season, with the occasional interview mixed in. If needed, I'll also comment on some of the larger issues in the NFL, and I'll add notes about fantasy football and anything else I think you might find interesting.

Since there are so many other outlets covering the Dolphins and the NFL, I will try to provide a different spin on the team's coverage, while keeping up with and commenting on any team news.

But, enough about what I plan to do, and let's get down to the big news of the day.

As you've probably read elsewhere, the Dolphins made a surprising move today by releasing cornerback Eric Green, who the team signed as a free agent from Arizona.

According to published reports, Green was likely a victim of being too comfortable on a Tony Sparano-coached team.

Like his mentor, Bill Parcells, Sparano believes being comfortable leads to complacency, and complacency leads to losing football games.

Thus, an early message was sent to any malingerers that anyone is expendable on this team (are you listening, Matt Roth)?

The other message this sends is the Dolphins must be very high on rookie cornerbacks Sean Smith and Vontae Davis, both drafted this year, to have made the move at all.

Smith has played well in training camp, and he had an interception in the Fins' 12-9 win over Jacksonville in the opening preseason game Monday night.

Right now, he is the starter opposite veteran Will Allen. But this is the NFL, where change happens quickly.

Davis struggled against the Jags, picking up three penalties -- two on special teams. But, he is a first round pick who will be given every benefit of the doubt in this battle. Expect it to last right up until the end of preseason.

Also, Green was victimized by Jacksonville backups for three straight completions Monday, which apparently was the continuation of a trend started in training camp.

Still, will the Dolphins only rely on the rookies when they have to face Terrell Owens and Randy Moss in division play? Or will the loss of Green hurt when the Dolphins need veteran savvy in the secondary? The answers to those questions will come starting Sept. 10.

As for Roth, the fifth-year player who was supposed to start at oustide linebacker, there are conflicting reports as to his absence in training camp.

Sparano said he failed the team's first conditioning test due to illness, while his agent Drew Rosenhaus said Roth failed because of a groin injury.

Whatever the reason, Sparano has made it clear the team is moving on without him, and Jason Taylor is now starting at linebacker until further notice.

As for the rest of the team, it looks much improved from the 2008 team that shocked observers by going 11-5 and winning the AFC East for the first time since 2000.

The Dolphins overhauled the secondary in an effort to improve a pass defense that only ranked 25th last year, adding the rookies as well as former Oakland safety Gibril Wilson.

Offensively, Miami acquired new weapons in the form of second round pick Pat White, recruited to run the "WildPat," and rookie receivers Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline.

Add those players to reigning Comeback Player of the Year Chad Pennington, third-year receiver Ted Ginn and fellow wideouts Greg Camarillo and Davone Bess, and the offense should improve on last season's pedestrian average of 21.6 points per game.

The problem is, the team may in fact be better than last year, but the Dolphins could end up with a worse record.

Part of that is due to the strengthened AFC East, with Tom Brady back in New England and T.O. taking his show to Buffalo, as well as the new look New York Jets.

The other part is a brutal schedule that sees the Dolphins face six playoff teams, including three straight to open the season.

But, as we all know, preseason expectations are usually hyperbole. After all, no one expected a playoff year in 2008 after the Dolphins won just one game the previous year.

And, if there's anything we've learned in the NFL, it's that each year there seem to be new teams rising to the top. Look at how Atlanta turned its fortunes around last season, and of course, the Cardinals surprised everyone by making the playoffs and advancing to their first Super Bowl.

So, that means we don't know anything at this point, try as we might to prognosticate. And that's the beauty of sports.

Fantasy angle: The Dolphins have the potential to improve this year, but not from a fantasy football perspective. The Dolphins defense may just be the best bet this season, as Taylor and Cameron Wake should complement Joey Porter nicely in the pass rush, and we've already mentioned the secondary upgrades. Offensively, there are a lot of pedestrian fantasy players, with running back Ronnie Brown being the best of the bunch. He's two years removed from ACL surgery, which means he should be back to his pre-2008 self. But I wouldn't spend higher than a fourth round choice on him, unless you are desperate for running backs. Ginn is another possibility, since he is entering his third season and that's when wideouts typically start to flourish. But if you take him, buy low, as I've already mentioned the other receiving options he must compete with. And remember, Pennington likes to spread the ball around, and he prefers to throw short passes. As a deep target, this is not a good fit for Ginn. Pennington and Camarillo also merit consideration as backups.

Misc: Dan Marino is back, but no, it's not what you think. This is not a Brett Favre unretirement. Marino is being featured in this month's McFarlane SportsPicks NFL Legends collection, a group that includes Barry Sanders, Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, Archie Manning, Bart Starr and Joe Montana. McFarlane has been making NFL figures for the last eight years, and they are incredibly realistic. Marino was already featured in the Legends 3 lineup, wearing his home white uniform and looking like he did as a rookie. This version is the older, bulkier Marino from around 1994 or '95, I'd say. He's wearing his road green jersey, and you can see the bulge in his leg from the knee brace. It's a highly accurate figure, and a good buy at $11.99 for the Dolphins fan in your life. You can pick him up at any retail store that sells toys.

Well, that's it for the initial Dolphins Watch. I'll return with more news and notes later.