This is the day that prevented Marino from winning a SB - December 2, 1983
Dan Marino: A Football Life
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This is the day that prevented Marino from winning a SB - December 2, 1983
BahamaFinFan78
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I watched him play in a Flag Football tournament in May. He can't take the hits of playing of course, but man, he can thrown. 50 yard bombs on a dime. What was also interesting is that Jason Taylor was an offensive beast and Orande Gadsden is HUGE, like OL/TE size.
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Finally had the chance to watch it. Man do I miss watching Dan Marino play.
Still unbelievable that Miami didn't win a championship with Dan there. I firmly believe that 1984 team, warts and all, would have beaten a lot of super bowl teams. Unfortunately, that 49er group was among the best ever. Some really tough to take losses during that era and lots of should have, could have, would have.
It is what it is. A tremendous career, one of the greatest ever.
Still unbelievable that Miami didn't win a championship with Dan there. I firmly believe that 1984 team, warts and all, would have beaten a lot of super bowl teams. Unfortunately, that 49er group was among the best ever. Some really tough to take losses during that era and lots of should have, could have, would have.
It is what it is. A tremendous career, one of the greatest ever.
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I truly believe Dan Marino had the best deep arm and deep touch I've ever seen. He made those deep throws look so easy. I like Aaron Rogers in that regard as well.
Another thing that really stands out, is how athletic Dan was early in his career. Injuries really took their toll.
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Looking back, Don Shula should have hired Pete Carroll as his defensive coordinator. He was too loyal to his coaches and that cost him. I hated Carroll back then, but the man knew defense.
I know this is about Dan Marino, but the lack of a super bowl on his resume always comes up. I also wonder what might have been at the end if Jimmy Johnson had drafted Randy Moss. Can you imagine Moss with the best deep passer ever?
Just a lot of ineptness, missed draft picks, unfortunate injuries. But just from a standpoint of sheer enjoyment and excitement, hard to beat what Miami fans got week in and week out from Marino.
To accentuate your point, try to name 3 players Dan played with who are in the HOF... only Center Stephenson ('83-'85) and DE Jason Taylor ('96-99). The only other two guys with a shot are Richmond Webb and Zach Thomas. What really stands out is during Dan's best years ('83-'94) he played w 1 HOFer - who's career was cut short due to injury. If this doesn't say "bad drafting" I don't know what does.
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Plus, the NFC was loaded with some really great teams. SF, NYG and Chicago dominated that era. They were all better than what the AFC had despite some HOF quarterbacks such as Dan Marino, John Elway and Jim Kelly for the AFC squads.
13mademeafan
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I was finally able to watch this, regardless without the SB rings, he's the best pure passer EVER. I didn't actually start watching football until 92-93 and he was the reason.....that and moving to Orlando. I just wish he would have played 1-2 more years at a relatively high level. We had a much better D after he retired. I still remember crying over the missed FG by Pete S. against the Chargers
Yep - I've ranted about that for ages on this forum to anyone who would listen. NFC was larger O-lines, power running and efficient passing. AFC was small o-lines and d-lines and passing the ball first then running. In every SB from '81-'96 the AFC team got pushed around at the LOS which is why none of those games were close. (Exception '83 Raiders) Skins, giants, bears, miners, cowboys won every SB during those 16 years. Took FA and a memo or two for AFC steams to "get it". Their great QBs weren't going to carry their teams to victory over guys like Hosenffeefer, Rypien, Doug Williams, Phyllis Simms, etc on their own. Even Montana in the game vs us only completed 1 pass to a WR. All he had to do was dunk and dink to the RBs and TE w 7 tuck and runs up the middle. Our D was pushed all over the field.
Why would you have to rant about this? It's pretty much common knowledge to anyone who's familiar with that era. Marino (and the other great AFC QBs from that era) got a bad draw. He carried an inferior team into the Super Bowl against a juggernaut in the 49ers. Had the Dolphins not blown the AFC championship the next year, he would have had the honor of playing against the '85 Bears, arguably the greatest defense in the modern era. And had the team shown up in the AFC championship game in 1992, they would have had to face the early '90s Cowboys dynasty. No easy championships for the AFC in that era (compare to Manning's first Super Bowl where he got to face off against a weak Bears team).
But I disagree that it was never close. The Bengals acquitted themselves well in their first Super Bowl, and even better in their second; and in neither were they blown out. Not to mention the Bills in 1990; Belichick's defense did a good job containing Buffalo's extremely potent offense all game, but it all came down to a missed FG in the end.
you are right in a few of them were close - the 90' Bills / Giants being the closest where either team could have won. I agree. Those Bengals games were not blowouts but I do recall Cincy in the 1st one getting a late TD to make it a 5 point game w things out of reach. Not sure if they even attempted insides kick / had time anyway. Second meeting was frustrating. Niners were only 10-6 that year - easily their most beatable SB team. If I recall, the Bengals clung to that 4 point lead the entire 2nd half and you just got the feeling it would be a matter of time before SF pulled it out. But you are right - 2 very close ones and 1 moderately close one. And I agree that has Miami made those additional SB trips they would have lost to the Bears the 2nd time around and the Cowboys.
The '82 Dolphins also did well. They lost but they weren't blown out. The Bills were never going to win the game against the Redskins in '91, but they also weren't blown out.
The Steelers and Patriots lost Super Bowls towards the end of that era, but not as bad as the AFC teams that were manhandled back in the '80s, i.e. the Patriots against the Bears, Miami against the 49ers, the Broncos against everyone (especially the 49ers in '89), the Bills in their final two Super Bowls against the Cowboys, and the Chargers against the 49ers in 1994.
phishfan4life
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Sad indeed! I think most people at the time would have laughed at you if you said that was the only Super Bowl Dan would ever play in. Heck, even Pepsi made a commercial after that Super Bowl with Dan and Joe Montana where Joe bought and threw Dan a Pepsi and Dan said "Next year, I'm buying". Almost a cruel joke really!
EJay
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I told my son that the way the QB position is played these days, all of the freedoms of checking and setting up the play at the line, throwing to spots on the field where the receiver is supposed to be, etc. was largely pioneered by Mr. Marino. Then you get down to the raw throwing talent and mental part of the game, it's just hard to find a better QB. And I truly believe Marino could have thrived in nearly any type of offensive system. While his arm was suited to sling it downfield, he could have easily succeeded in the West Coast offense the 49ers made famous. But not so convinced Montana, Young, etc could have thrived in a vertical attack like Miami, Oakland, San Diego and Denver used for many years.
EJay
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Same here. IMO, one shining example of Marino competitiveness and toughness was a MNF game against the Steelers and Greg Lloyd. All week Lloyd was running his mouth how he was gonna take Marino out (imagine that being said today). And inexplicably, Lloyd came off the edge unblocked on the 1st series of the game (even 1st play IIRC) and drilled him. A short while later, Lloyd got him again and knocked the wind out of him. But Marino grabbed him by the jersey and tried to say something to him, while still laying on the field. Nothing rattled that man.
I also think of the 1994 Playoff game against San Diego where they lost a 21-6 lead. After SD took the lead on the Mark Seay TD, there was very little time left, but I knew Marino would come through. And he did. A couple passes later, Miami was in FG range -- which of course Stoyanovich missed.
But the point I always make is this. During the prime years of his career, it's hard to recall too many instances where Marino had a chance to tie or win the game but came up short. Sure, there might have been some failed 4th down plays here and there, but usually the Dolphins lost because they were completely overmatched or simply outscored because their defense couldn't stop the opposition. More often than not, if Marino had the ball late in the game with a shot at it, he usually got it done.
As I said in another thread a while back, ABC MNF once posted a stat in the 90's that I've never been able to locate online. The gist of it was this. Most 4th Q comebacks when your team is tied or behind: 1-Elway, 2- Montana, 3- Marino. But Most 4th Q comebacks with 2-min or less remaining, the list flipped: 1-Marino, 2- Montana, 3- Elway.
Now, part of that is probably because Elway and Montana's teams weren't trailing late as often as Marino's Dolphins, but it still shows that when the chips were on the line and the pressure at its highest, the Dolphins didn't usually lose because of an error by Dan the Man. That's the thing I'll remember most about him. He was clutch. And he had a very large set of BALLS! (remember the 4th down TD passes to Duper against the Jets and Fryar against the Pats??) Unfortunately, if you weren't a Dolphins fan and didn't see most his games, you're far too likely to look at W's and L's and Superbowls and miss the bigger picture.