page_title: History of the Miami Dolphins
section_title: The 1980s: The Marino era (Part 1)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Miami Dolphins / The 1980s: The Marino era (Part 1)
caption_attribution_description: English: A football card from the 1986 Jeno's Pizza NFL football card stickers set of San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig rushing the ball during Super Bowl XIX. The card is numbered #28 in the set. The back of the card reads: CRAIG GOES OVER THE TOP
context_page_description: The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference East division. The Dolphins team was founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas. They began play in the AFL in 1966. The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts.
context_section_description: In 1980, David Woodley, an athletic quarterback out of LSU, took over for Bob Griese, who severely injured his shoulder in a game against the Baltimore Colts. Griese would never play again, retiring after the season. The Dolphins finished 8–8 and did not make the playoffs. Their season ender with the Jets was notable for being the only NFL game ever broadcast without commentary.
  The Dolphins were back on top of the AFC East in 1981 with an 11–4–1 record. That season, the Dolphins' quarterback position was actually manned by both Woodley and backup Don Strock, causing the local media to identify the Miami quarterbacks as "Woodstrock." They reached the divisional playoff against the San Diego Chargers, regarded as one of the most memorable games in NFL history, known as The Epic in Miami. After being down 24–0 after the end of the 1st quarter, Strock entered the game for an ineffective Woodley and engineered a frenetic comeback, which included the historic "Hook and Lateral" play, in which wide receiver Duriel Harris caught a pass from Strock and immediately lateraled the ball to the streaking running back Tony Nathan for the score on the last play of the first half, which cut the Chargers lead to 24–17. After the Dolphins took the lead in the 4th quarter, San Diego tied it up 38–38 with under a minute to play. Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow, playing through exhaustion, blocked Uwe von Schamann's field goal try on the last play of regulation. Von Schamann had another field goal attempt blocked in overtime, and Rolf Benirschke kicked the game-winner for San Diego late in overtime. Strock finished the game with 403 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.
  In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Dolphins, led by the "Killer B's" defense (Baumhower, Bill Barnett, brothers Lyle Blackwood and Glenn Blackwood, Kim Bokamper, Doug Betters, and Bob Brudzinski), held five of their nine opponents to 14 or fewer points en route to their fourth Super Bowl appearance. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, they got revenge for previous losses, crushing the New England Patriots 28–13 (revenge for the infamous Snow Plow game at Schaeffer Stadium played earlier in the season) and the San Diego Chargers 34–13 at the Orange Bowl. Late in the season, in a snowy game against the Patriots, a convicted felon on work-release cleared a path for Patriots kicker John Smith to score the game-winning field goal. In the first round in Miami, they met again, with the Dolphins winning easily. In the second round against San Diego, the Dolphins got revenge for their loss the previous year, winning even more handily. After shutting out the New York Jets in the AFC Championship 14–0 behind three interceptions by A. J. Duhe, they lost Super Bowl XVII to the Washington Redskins, 27–17. After enjoying success rooted in a defense-first philosophy, and employing a ball control offense to take pressure off of lackluster quarterbacks, the next 17 seasons would be marked by an average rushing game and defense that limited a great quarterback.
  The Dolphins began 1983 with the offense struggling. In the season opener at Buffalo, David Woodley passed for only 40 yards, and they had to simply kick their way to victory with four FGs in a 12–0 win. Although he played well against New England in Week 2, a loss to the Los Angeles Raiders prompted Don Shula to bench him in favor of rookie Dan Marino, drafted out of the University of Pittsburgh, who went on to win the AFC passing title helped by a ratio of 20 touchdowns versus 6 interceptions and Rookie of the Year award. Seldom sacked by defenders, Marino was protected by an outstanding offensive line as he passed to receivers such as Mark Clayton and Mark Duper, who were known collectively as "The Marks Brothers." Despite the regular season success (the Dolphins went 12–4 winning their last five regular season games and was the only team in the AFC East with a winning record), they were upset in the divisional playoffs by the Seattle Seahawks at the Orange Bowl.  Defensive end Doug Betters was named the NFL's Defensive Pla
caption: The Dolphins facing the 49ers in Super Bowl XIX.
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