The New York Jets are much-improved this season thanks to the autocratic Bill Parcells, one of the NFL's best coaches. But they still floundered against their old nemesis, the Miami Dolphins, led by Dan Marino. Marino, now a 36-year-old veteran, has received less than wholehearted endorsement from Jimmy Johnson, Miami's perfectionist coach, this season. Johnson heretically declared a few weeks ago that he was considering benching Marino, who has collected an armful of records although he has never won a Super Bowl ring, in favour of the obscure Craig Erickson. Not the quarterback he used to be, was Johnson's verdict of the quarterback, one of the greatest ever to play the game.
In Miami's entertaining scrap against the Jets at New Jersey's Meadowlands, Johnson had nothing but praise for his quarterback. "Marino was great today," said Johnson, who handed Marino one of the game balls. Marino threw for 372 yards and two touchdowns in Miami's 31-20 victory. It was Marino's best passing day since amassing 450 yards against Cincinnati two years ago.
Marino's pin-point accuracy and Miami's stalwart defence ended the Jets' three-game winning streak.
The Dolphins sacked Neil O'Donnell, the Jets quarterback, five times, and contained Adrian Murrell, one of the league's best backs, to 29 yards.
The Jets started with a flourish as Wayne Chrebet, the receiver, streaked downfield for a 78-yard pass reception.
Rookie Leon Johnson ran in for a one-yard touchdown on the next play. Marino responded with a 36yard TD pass to Karim AbdulJabbar, the Miami back, in an action-packed second quarter. The teams each scored another TD, but the half ended with Miami leading 17-14 thanks to a 23-yard field goal from Olindo Mare.
Miami dominated the second half, but did not add to their score until late in the game. First, O J McDuffie scooped up the ball after Charles Jordan dropped Marino's pass and scored a four-yard TD. Minutes later, O'Donnell fumbled the ball after getting sacked, setting up Miami's final TD. Irving Spikes scrambled for an eight-yard TD with 1:56 left to put the game beyond New York's reach.
Barry Sanders almost singlehandedly ripped apart the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the Detroit Lions handed the Buccaneers their second defeat of the season. Sanders was a blue blur, scampering for TD runs of 80 and 82 yards, as well as catching a seven-yard TD pass, in Detroit's 27-9 victory.
Life without Jerry Rice, the league's best receiver, has not hurt the San Francisco 49ers yet. Since losing the season opener to Tampa, the 49ers have ploughed through the opposition, albeit an unimpressive list. On Sunday, San Francisco brushed aside the errorprone St Louis Rams, 30-10.
The Indianapolis Colts are a spent force after making the playoffs two years in a row. They have yet to win a game this season. On Sunday, they went down 24-22 to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team who thrashed them in last year's play-offs.
