NFL Recap (Miami-Atlanta)
Posted: Sun December 27, 1998 at 7:13 p.m. EST
ATLANTA 38, MIAMI 16
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- After a surprise pep talk from Dan Reeves, the Atlanta Falcons came
flying out of the gate. Caught in the ambush, the Miami Dolphins never
recovered.
Chris Chandler hit
O.J. Santiago with two
touchdowns and cornerback Ronnie Bradord returned an interception 11 yards
for a score in the first eight minutes of the game and the Falcons rolled
to a 38-16 rout of the Miami Dolphins.
It was a fitting end to the most successful regular season in the
33-year history of the franchise. The Falcons, who clinched the NFC West
title last week, finished 14-2 and have won 20 of their last 24 games
dating to last season.
As the NFC's second seed, Atlanta will host a divisional playoff game
on the weekend of January 9th-10th and proved today they are more than
ready for the postseason.
Jamal Anderson
rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries, Chandler completed all three of his
pass attempts for 118 yards before he was forced to leave with a strained
back, and the Falcons' opportunistic defense forced six turnovers.
Afterwards, Anderson and Chandler credited Reeves for his inspiring
words at a team meeting two hours before the game.
"It was huge for us," said Anderson of Reeves' pregame speech. "Coach
Reeves told us not to let down. After all he's been through the last
couple of weeks, we were not about to let down."
"It was a little surprising and definitely a motivating factor for
us," said Chandler. "He said 'Anytime they're keeping score you go and play
for real because the game means something.' And that's what we did."
Reeves was readmitted to the hospital last Sunday, six days after
undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery. He was released from the
hospital on Thursday and surprised players and coaches with his pregame
address today.
"Coach Reeves was able to sneak into the locker room prior to the
game," said Rich Brooks, who served as interim coach for the second
straight week. "He spoke for about two or three minutes at the team
meeting before he left the Dome. This win was about Dan Reeves."
Six days after surprising Denver, the Dolphins were humbled by the
Falcons.
Miami's defense bottled up Denver's Terrell Davis, holding him
to a career-low 29 yards on 16 carries on Monday night. But today, they
allowed a generous 5.7 yards per carry to Anderson, who scored on a 36-yard
run in the third quarter and finished atop the NFC with 1,846 rushing
yards. He also set an NFL record for carries in a season with 410,
breaking the record of 407 set by Tampa Bay's James Wilder in 1984.
The Dolphins finished 10-6 and will host the Buffalo Bills in the AFC
wild card round next weekend.
With a running game which again generated little, Dan Marino recorded his 60th
career 300-yard game. He completed 21-of-36 passes for 320 yards and a
touchdown with two interceptions. Marino also scored on a three-yard run.
"We did not challenge them at all," said Marino. "It's a shame
because we played so well last week and we are going into the playoffs next
week. It just didn't seem that we came ready to play."
Rookie Oronde Gadsden had a season-high nine catches for 153 yards and
O.J. McDuffie added
five catches for 82 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown.
But in their final playoff tuneup, the Dolphins disappointed coach
Jimmy Johnson.
"They were ready to play today and we were not," said Johnson. "I'm
embarrassed by the way we played in the first quarter. We made a lot of
mistakes today. I am upset with the team, with myself, with everything. We
better play better next week or we are in for another embarrassment."
Miami played without leading rusher Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who
suffered a concussion in Monday's win over the Broncos. His status is
uncertain for the playoffs. Rookie John Avery and Ron Moore
combined for just 35 yards on 18 carries.
The nightmare for Miami began on the first play of the game when star
defensive end Jason
Taylor suffered a broken collarbone covering the opening kickoff. He
will miss the playoffs.
On the first play from scrimmage, Santiago turned a short pass from
Chandler into a 62-yard touchdown. The Dolphins bit for a fake handoff to
Anderson and were out of position when Chandler rolled to his right and hit
Santiago, who had open field in front of him.
"We ran play action to the left and they were worrying about Jamal,"
said Santiago. "I came out on the right side and Chris gave a little
dumpoff. I just turned it up. It was a great way to start the game."
On Atlanta's second possession, Chandler connected with Tony Martin on a 54-yard
play to the Miami 2. Martin ran past Terrell Buckley down the
right sideline and caught a bomb from Chandler before being knocked out of
bounds by safety Brian
Walker. On the ensuing play, Santiago made a one-handed two-yard TD
catch to give Atlanta a 14-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
But on the second scoring pass to Santiago, Chandler was dragged down
from behind by Miami defensive end Kenny Mixon and suffered a
strained back.
Chandler limped off the field and was replaced by backup Steve DeBerg.
But Chandler remained in uniform and confirmed afterwards the injury is
not serious.
"I kind of got my back tweaked," said Chandler. "The game was going
real good. We kind of waited to see what happened. We kept scoring. That
made the decision easy."
"Chandler's fine," said Brooks. "He just strained his lower back."
Atlanta's defense increased the lead to 21-0 when Bradford cut in
front of tight end Ed
Perry and returned the interception 11 yards for a touchdown at the
eight-minute mark. Marino was about to be sacked by defensive tackle John Burrough when he
dumped off an ill-advised pass which was picked by Bradford.
Marino connected with McDuffie on a 12-yard scoring play 3:14 into the
second quarter to cap a seven-play, 61-yard drive. But the extra-point
attempt by Olindo Mare
was blocked.
DeBerg then took the Falcons 51 yards in 13 plays, completing three
third-down passes, to set up a 35-yard field goal by Morten Andersen with 4:47
left in the half. He hit Martin with a 17-yard pass on a 3rd-and-13 to the
Miami 26 to keep the drive alive.
Miami started the second half with a turnover when Moore fumbled a
handoff after he bumped into center Tim Ruddy and defensive
tackle Travis Hall
recovered for Atlanta at the Miami 35.
On the next play, DeBerg hit Martin with a touchdown pass over the
middle to increase Atlanta's lead to 31-6 less than a minute into the
quarter.
DeBerg, the oldest player in the NFL at 44, was 5-of-10 for 85 yards
and a touchdown. Martin had three catches for 105 yards.
Following another Dolphins turnover -- a fumble by Avery recovered by
Falcons safety Eugene
Robinson at the Miami 35 -- Anderson broke off a 36-yard TD run to open
a 38-6 lead 2:36 into the second half.
The Falcons led the NFC with 44 takeways, including a league-leading
25 fumble takes.
Marino scored on a three-yard run to cap an 11-play, 71-yard run
midway through the quarter and Mare added a 26-yard field goal to complete
the scoring.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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