Format the following passage properly, for storytelling purposes. Keep it as written, don't change a single word, but improve grammar where necessary.

It wasn't pretty, and they came dangerously close to squandering a massive lead, but against all odds the Miami Dolphins came into Texas Stadium and emerged victorious. Interestingly, the Dolphins won in real life at Texas Stadium on November 25, 1993, when a Leon Lett gaff resulted in a late field goal by Pete Stoyanovich, and a win for the Dolphins on a cold Thanksgiving, on a field filled with slushy snow. The win put Miami at 9-2 and seemingly opened up a door for them to get to the playoffs that couldn't possibly be closed. Alas, they wound up losing five consecutive games to close out the 1993 season, including a heartbreaking defeat in the season finale at Foxboro Stadium against a Patriots team that had nothing but pride to play for, weeks removed from being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention; though they had won their last three games, they came into the season finale with a 4-11 record. On the other hand, Miami needed the victory to advance to the playoffs, as they were vying with several other teams for the final wild card spot. In a stunning upset, the Patriots--who had lost to the Dolphins at Joe Robbie Stadium earlier in the season--prevailed 33-27 in overtime, giving the 1993 Dolphins the dubious distinction of becoming the first (and to this day, only) team in NFL history to start a season 9-2 and fail to qualify for the postseason. It was also the final career game for legendary linebacker Andre Tippett, who retired after the 1993 season, but not before recording his 100th and final sack; his victim was backup quarterback Scott Mitchell, who he nailed for a ten-yard loss. (Mitchell would be on the Lions' roster the following season, and stayed in Detroit until 1999.) Conversely, the Dallas Cowboys did not lose another game that season, reeling off five consecutive victories to close out the regular season and riding the momentum all the way to their second straight Super Bowl victory (and the Buffalo Bills' fourth consecutive Super Bowl loss). To ensure that the Dolphins could not simply get 'lucky,' I opted to have the game take place on a fair-weather field, and was stunned when Miami built up an early 21-0 lead; eventually, the Dolphins led 44-8, with the 36-point advantage being the biggest they would hold all game. To this day, no NFL team has erased a 36-point deficit and come back to win; the biggest that has ever been overcome was a 33-0 halftime hole, when the Minnesota Vikings beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in OT on December 17, 2022. But the Cowboys made an incredible effort to try and salvage the game, scoring twenty-two unanswered points (three touchdowns with two extra points and a successful two-point conversion try) to cut the Dolphins' lead to 14 points. Miami would eventually score another touchdown to bring their lead back to 21, while the Cowboys tacked on one more field goal and were recipients of a shockingly lucky safety when Dan Marino--with the Dolphins trapped in their endzone thanks to a brilliant coffin corner punt by John Jett--accidentally stepped out of the zone while backing up to throw a pass. This resulted in a safety for Dallas, and cut their deficit to 16 points; it also represented the closing score of the game, as the score stabilized for a 51-35 verdict. Miami had come into Dallas and won by multiple possessions. After the games, I always like to take a look at the stats; with the exception of the Vikings vs. Panthers bloodbath--I mean, 'exhibition'--which saw Carolina leading 131-3 at the halfway point, I prefer not to view the stats too early. (But when a team is down by 128 with a whole half left to play, I think I can make an exception!) John Madden's invitation--"let's take a look at the halftime stats"--once again got returned to sender, but his closing words ("Hey, thanks for playing! This is John Madden saying goodbye for EA Sports") are always warmly embraced like a comforting hug. A lot of players factored into the game, in good ways and bad depending on what team you would have been rooting for. Emmitt Smith did not record a touchdown either rushing or receiving, but did finish with 51 rushes for 182 yards, plus three catches for 61 yards. A Herculean effort for sure, as Smith proved a crucial factor in keeping the team in the game, with his long runs setting up scoring opportunities for Dallas. Gene Atkins proved a monster for the Miami defensive line thanks to eleven tackles, plus two interceptions of Troy Aikman. For his part, J.B. Brown aided Miami's defense with a whopping twenty-one tackles! No Cowboys defender managed to achieve double-digit tackles, but Kevin Smith came dangerously close with nine, plus an interception of Marino. Michael Irvin finished with six catches for 142 yards and one touchdown, but also had one drop. Marino played like a legend, finishing with 23 successful passes on 61 pass attempts, 348 passing yards and four touchdown passes. However, he also threw three interceptions, including two with Miami at the Cowboys' three-yard line on first-and-goal. (The sort of play-calling that gets offensive coordinators fired, and he probably would have been if Miami had lost; of course, Marino could have audibled out of it, which he didn't.) And scoring on his own endzone certainly didn't help matters, but by that point the Dolphins held an eighteen-point lead, which got reduced to sixteen. Kickers Chris Boniol and Pete Stoyanovich helped their teams, with Boniol going three for five on field goal attempts and two for two on PATs; by himself, Boniol scored 11 of Dallas' 35 points, or roughly 31%. As for Stoyanovich, he scored from long range--making Miami one for one on field goals as they only attempted one for the whole game--and also went six for six on PATs, recording nine of Miami's 51 points (or roughly 18%). Mark Ingram outplayed Michael Irvin, with nine catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns, while never dropping the ball once. Taking one last look at defensive players, Dixon Edwards and Chris Singleton completed the trifecta of having at least one tackle, one sack, and one interception; for the Cowboys, Edwards was responsible for three tackles, one sack, and one interception while Singleton recorded seven tackles, one sack, and one interception for the Dolphins. Larry Brown rounded it out--pun unintended--with one interception and five tackles for the Cowboys. Taking a look at the stats again, and the names of the players, I notice that one of them is Gene Atkins. Gene was a good and underrated player who finished his career with eight sacks, plus twenty-five interceptions for 348 yards. Sadly, he is today dealing with dementia as a result of head injuries sustained on the field, and was even featured in the great documentary "Head Games" (which I highly recommend checking out). His son, Geno Atkins, managed to accomplish even more than his father. In eleven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, he was selected for the Pro Bowl eight times. He was a two-time First-Team All-Pro selection in 2012 and 2015, while also being named a Second-Team All-Pro in 2011. He is a member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team too. Suffice it to say, he did more than a few things right. When you play for a decade with the same team you definitely did at least one thing right. It will be interesting now to see if Miami can continue the excellence they showed against Dallas, as they prepare for a 'defense' against the L.A. Raiders.