Saints 33 Dolphins 30 summary ....... The Saints kept Hootie in tears by taking advantage of 5 Miami turnovers and overcoming a horrendous day by the placekicking unit. play-by-play ............ The Saints got a break right away when Bernie Kosar (in for the injured Dan Marino) and Terry Kirby failed to execute a handoff on the second play from scrimmage. Renaldo Turnbull recovered the ball at the Miami 36. Mario Bates took the ball to the 1 on the Saints' first play, then ran it in for the TD on their second one. The PAT made it 7-0 Saints. A holding penalty on the kickoff forced the Dolphins to start at their own 11. Kosar hit Fryar for 20 on 3rd & 5 from the 16, then went back to him on the next play for 20 more. The drive stalled when a Miami receiver dropped a 3rd down throw that would've moved the sticks. Stoyanovich's 54 yd FG attempt was wide and short. Jim Everett hit Derek Brown for 19 on 3rd & 8 to move the ball to the Miami 37, but the next three snaps produced a 3 yd Bates run, a zero yd Bates run (and yet another sprained ankle for the RB), and a false start penalty. A throw to Early set up a 47 yd FG attempt, but Chip Lohmiller's kick bounced off the right upright. On the ensuing possession, three runs set up 4th & inches at the Miami 47. Shula elected to go for it, but Parmalee's successful dive was negated by a false start. The punt was fair caught at the 16. Everett moved the team quickly by hitting Early with a nice throw on the first play of the drive to pick up 22, then going back to the WR on the next play for 14 more. Three runs by Derek Brown netted 7 yds and brought on the punting unit. However, the Saints surprised the Dolphin special teamers by having punter Klaus Wilmsmeyer throw to Anthony Newman. The play was good for 18 yds and a 1st at the 23. On the next play Michael Haynes beat his man down the sideline and took in Everett's TD throw. The positive vibes were dampened a bit when the conversion failed after Wilmsmeyer couldn't get the snap down. The first play of the ensuing drive was a run for no gain, but that was to be the possession's only unsuccessful play. First Kosar hit Parmalee for a 14 yd pickup on a screen. He then threw to Clark for a 19 yd gain. That was followed by a 7 yd Parmalee run and a 7 yd catch by Green. With 5 minutes gone in the second quarter, Green took in a 31 yd scoring throw. The PAT cut the Saints' lead to 6. The Saints went 3 & punt on the next series when Small couldn't handle a 3rd & 3 throw that hit him in the hands. A fair catch of the punt at their own 42 gave Miami good field position, but on the next play Winfred Tubbs intercepted a Kosar floater. A 6 yd completion from Everett to Wesley Walls on 3rd & 2 gave the Saints a 1st at the Miami 30. However, the drive stalled when Derrick Ned was thrown for a 6 yd loss on a 3rd down dump pass. Lohmiller's 52 yd attempt went about a foot under the crossbar. On 3rd & 12 from the Dolphin 40, Kosar had all kinds of time to find McDuffie for a 22 yd gain. A throw to Clark on the next play gained 8, then Miami settled for a 3 yd pickup when the Saint D failed to be fooled by a flea flicker. The drive continued with a 16 yd throw to Fryar and a 9 yd pass to Byars that put the ball at the NO 2. A Parmalee dive gave Miami a first down inches away from the goal line. The Dolphins called the right play on 1st down, but Kosar overthrew a wide open receiver in the endzone. On 2nd down Tubbs stuffed a run for a 2 yd loss. On 3rd down good coverage forced Kosar to throw the ball away. The Dolphins were forced to settle for a 20 yd FG to cut the Saint lead to 3 just before halftime. Tyrone Hughes returned the second half kickoff to the NO 42 to start the O with good field position. The guy who used to live down the hall from me sacked Everett to set up 3rd & 12, but the QB found Walls for 17 to move the sticks. Everett went to his other TE target on the next play, but Irv Smith lost the ball at the Miami 30 while trying to pick up extra yardage. The Dolphins graciously gave the ball back on the next play by means of a Richard Harvey strip of Kirby and a recovery by Tubbs. Miami offered another gift by committing defensive holding on a 3rd & 10 play that was going nowhere. One play later Everett found a sliding Early in the endzone for a TD. Once again, the PAT was an adventure- Lohmiller's kick bounced no good off the left upright. The Dolphins went 3 & punt, but this time it was the Saints' turn to be generous. On the ensuing possession's first play, Lorenzo Neal had the ball wrestled away from him by a Miami defender (though it did appear that the FB's forward progress had been stopped). On 3rd & 7 from the NO 12, Miami used a pick play to get McDuffie open for a TD. With 6:43 left in the third quarter, it was 19-17 Saints. The Saints failed to gain 10 yds on the ensuing possession, but the punt was muffed by McDuffie. Vince Buck corralled the ball just as it was going out of bounds to give the O new life at the Miami 22. On the next play Haynes outleaped a defender to take in a TD pass. The successful PAT put the Saints back up by 9. Dan McGwire entered the game to spell Kosar (who had jammed his thumb on the previous series), but couldn't move the sticks- Turnbull sacked him on 3rd & 13 to force a punt, which was fair caught at the NO 49. Everett kept the defense off the field with a 15 yd throw to Walls on 3rd & 12, then picked up 15 through the air on 3rd & 5 by hitting Small, who made a great catch (the defender had his hand inside the WR's helmet). Lohmiller came on to try a 29 yarder when the drive stalled, but his kick hooked sharply wide. The Dolphins displayed more courtesy on the very next play when Kosar returned to the game to overthrow a screen pass right to Ernest Dixon, thus giving the Saints a 1st at the Miami 11. Two Bates runs gained nada, but a 3rd down pass interference call in the endzone set up a 1st at the one. A 2 yd loss by Neal and an incompletion followed, but on 3rd down Everett found Smith open in the back of the endzone. The PAT put the Saints up by 16 with exactly 12 minutes left to play. Kosar used a hurry-up offense to quickly guide the Dolphins downfield for a score. He started with a 9 yd throw to McDuffie, a 6 yd toss to Kirby, and a 5 yd completion to McDuffie. After an incompletion, he hit McDuffie again, this time for 7. A dump pass to Kirby gained 15 down to the NO 42. Eric Allen nearly intercepted a throw to the sideline on the next play, but the QB bounced back by hitting Fryar for 22 and Clark for 19 to put the ball at the one. Kosar ran it in from there to cut the lead to 10. A try for two on the ground was stuffed by the Saint D. The O failed to pick up a 1st, but the Saints retained possession of the ball when a Dolphin roughed Wilmsmeyer (after nearly blocking the punt). Again the offense failed to move the sticks, so Miami took over at their own 23 with 4:32 remaining. The Dolphins moved rapidly for a score. First Kosar hit McDuffie for 18 on 3rd & 10. Then Kirby took a direct snap 11 yds on 3rd & 3. Fryar caught a ball to pick up 9, and a pass interference call against Tyrone Legette put the ball at the NO 16. On 3rd & 10 Kirby got behind Israel Stanley and caught Kosar's pass for a TD. With 1:54 left (and still in possession of all three of their timeouts), the Dolphins were within a FG of the Saints. A one yd run by Brown on the Saints' first play brought loud groans from the home crowd and the suggestion of yet another 3 & punt series. However, the coaches saw the light and called for a play action pass, which Everett completed to Walls for a 19 yd gain. Three runs brought up 4th down, with the clock stopped at :03. After a chaotic discussion on the Saints' sideline, Everett finally ran onto the field to take the snap (from the shotgun) and throw the ball downfield to no one (while avoiding a grounding call), thus using up the remaining time. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 :48 Bates A >>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 2:37 I >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>6 4:09 Haynes N >>>>P 1:54 T >>>>>M 3:33 S E :07 | ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>F 2:05 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>6 1:37 Early | F :22 | >>>>P 1:46 | >>>>>>>>>>>7 :07 Haynes | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 4:20 | >>>>>>7 2:00 Smith | >>>>>>>>>>P 3:33 | >>>>>>>>E 1:54 | ....................................................gameover | 30:52 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G D >>>>>>>F :25 O >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 4:50 L >>P 3:27 P >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:45 Green H I :08 I >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 4:17 Stoyanovich N ....................................................halftime S F :03 | >>>>P 1:14 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>7 2:56 McDuffie | F :01 | P<<<<< 1:23 | I :06 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>6 3:55 Kosar | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 2:38 Kirby | ....................................................gameover | 29:08 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...................../...runnin'.... Everett Wilmsmeyer Bates 10-37-1 Brown 2- 20 18-41 Neal 2-(1) Ned 1- (6) Walls 4- 59 Smith 4- 25-1 Haynes 2- 45-2 Early 6- 84-1 Small 1- 15 Newman 1-18 incomplete 12 0 intercepted 0 0 20-32-242-4-0 1-1-18-0-0 30-77-1 Dolphins: Kosar 29-42-368-3-2, McDuffie 7-86-1, Fryar 5-83 notes ..... * I liked how the Saints scored quickly after big plays- the first TD came 2 plays after the opening fumble, the second TD came on the play after the fake punt, the fourth TD came on the play after the muffed punt * Kosar often had all day to decide where to throw the ball * on the other hand, the run defense was superb (the Dolphins ran 18 times for only 28 yds)- welcome back, Winfred * in case you haven't heard, Cary Blanchard is no longer available- he's won two games in a row for the Colts, who recently signed him ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu