# 1989 Miami Dolphins season

The 1989 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 24th as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's 6–10 W-L record, winning eight games. Despite this improvement they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, tying the longest such record in franchise history when the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs from 1966 to 1969. This was also the longest such record for coach Don Shula in his NFL career. 1989 was summed up for Miami in its season premiere and season finale, both losses at home: Buffalo stunned the Dolphins when they scored a TD as time ran out to win in week 1, and Kansas City won in week 16 in a contest where the gametime temperature was 32 degrees, a record for the coldest home game the Dolphins had ever played up to that time.
Shortly after the season ended, Miami Dolphins founder Joe Robbie died on January 7, 1990, at the age of 73.
This was the first of 15 consecutive non-losing seasons for the Dolphins.

## Offseason
### Draft

1989 Miami Dolphins draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 9 | Sammie Smith | Running back | Florida State |
| 1 | 25 | Louis Oliver | Safety | Florida |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 10 | Buffalo Bills | L 24–27 | 0–1 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 54,541 |
| 2 | September 17 | at New England Patriots | W 24–10 | 1–1 | Sullivan Stadium | 57,043 |
| 3 | September 24 | New York Jets | L 33–40 | 1–2 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 65,908 |
| 4 | October 1 | at Houston Oilers | L 7–39 | 1–3 | Astrodome | 53,326 |
| 5 | October 8 | Cleveland Browns | W 13–10 (OT) | 2–3 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 58,444 |
| 6 | October 15 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 20–13 | 3–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 58,184 |
| 7 | October 22 | Green Bay Packers | W 23–20 | 4–3 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 56,624 |
| 8 | October 29 | at Buffalo Bills | L 17–31 | 4–4 | Rich Stadium | 80,208 |
| 9 | November 5 | Indianapolis Colts | W 19–13 | 5–4 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 52,680 |
| 10 | November 12 | at New York Jets | W 31–23 | 6–4 | Giants Stadium | 65,923 |
| 11 | November 19 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 17–14 | 7–4 | Texas Stadium | 56,044 |
| 12 | November 26 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–34 | 7–5 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 59,936 |
| 13 | December 3 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 21–26 | 7–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | 54,610 |
| 14 | December 10 | New England Patriots | W 31–10 | 8–6 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 55,918 |
| 15 | December 17 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 13–42 | 8–7 | Hoosier Dome | 55,665 |
| 16 | December 24 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 24–27 | 8–8 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 43,612 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Buffalo Bills$^{(3)}$ | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 409 | 317 | W1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 7–5 | 298 | 301 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 6–8 | 331 | 379 | L2 |
| New England Patriots | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 297 | 391 | L3 |
| New York Jets | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 253 | 411 | L3 |

### Season summary
#### Week 1

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 3 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 27 |
| Dolphins | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida
* Date: September 10, 1989
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 83 °F (28 °C)
* Game attendance: 54,541
* Referee: Jerry Markbreit
* Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database
Game information :
First quarter
BUF – Scott Norwood 34 yard field goal, 2:34. Bills 3–0. Drive:
Second quarter
MIA – Troy Stradford 1-yard run (Pete Stoyanovich kick), 8:48. Dolphins 7–3. Drive:
MIA – Pete Stoyanovich 29-yard field goal, 0:03. Dolphins 10–3. Drive:
Third quarter
BUF – Larry Kinnebrew 2-yard run (Scott Norwood kick), 11:58. Tie 10–10. Drive:
MIA – Marc Logan 2-yard blocked punt return (Pete Stoyanovich kick), 7:03. Dolphins 17–10. Drive:
BUF – Scott Norwood 37-yard field goal, 2:11. Dolphins 17–13. Drive:
Fourth quarter
MIA – Andre Brown 8-yard pass from Dan Marino (Pete Stoyanovich kick), 4:17. Dolphins 24–13. Drive:
BUF – Flip Johnson 26-yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick), 2:50. Dolphins 24–20. Drive:
BUF – Jim Kelly 2-yard run (Scott Norwood kick), 0:00. Bills 27–24. Drive: 51 yards.
51
Top passers
BUF – Jim Kelly – 25/40, 265 yards, TD
MIA – Dan Marino – 25/38, 255 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
BUF – Thurman Thomas – 13 rushes, 94 yards
MIA – Troy Stradford – 12 rushes, 43 yards, TD
Top receivers
BUF – Thurman Thomas – 8 receptions, 65 yards
MIA – Ferrell Edmunds – 5 receptions, 58 yards :