Dolphins Memorable Season Openers
The Miami Dolphins will be looking to make it three victories in a row in season openers when they face the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 10.
This will be the second season opener between the teams, with the Chargers coming out with a 50-28 victory at Jack Murphy Stadium back in 1986. The Dolphins also played their first game of the 2017 season against the Chargers at StubHub Center in Los Angeles, but that was a Week 2 game because the scheduled opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was pushed back because of Hurricane Irma.
Overall, the Dolphins have a 31-25-1 record in openers, and along the way there have been some memorable games. We'll list some of them right here in chronological order.
1967: Miami 35, Denver 21
The Dolphins’ second season opened with first-round pick Bob Griese having to come off the bench after starting quarterback John Stofa was injured in the first quarter. The Dolphins got a 68-yard touchdown pass from Griese to Auer, and broke a 21-21 tie in the fourth quarter with touchdown runs by Abner Hayes of 3 and 65 yards.
1972: Miami 20, Kansas City 10
This was the much-anticipated rematch of the Christmas Day classic, as well as the first game at Arrowhead Stadium, and the Dolphins dominated to start their march to a perfect season. The Dolphins took advantage of four turnovers to build a 20-0 lead on a day when Larry Csonka rushed for 118 yards.
1982: Miami 45, N.Y. Jets 28
The Dolphins ended an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1) against the Jets in style, scoring three touchdowns on returns (Tom Vigorito punt return, Glenn Blackwood interception return, Don McNeal interception return) as well as on a pass from running back Tony Nathan to quarterback David Woodley.
1984: Miami 35, Washington 17
This masterful performance by Dan Marino served as an opening act to his record-setting 1984 season. Marino threw five touchdown passes to help the Dolphins dominate a Washington team coming off two consecutive Super Bowl appearances.
1990: Miami 27, New England 24
This was Sammie Smith’s finest game in a Dolphins uniform. The 1989 first-round pick rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown, though it was fullback Tony Paige who scored the game-winning touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Marino.
1992: Miami 27, Cleveland 23
This actually was a Week 2 game, but it became the Dolphins opener after the original opener against New England was postponed because of Hurricane Andrew. The Dolphins won on a late Mark Higgs touchdown after future Miami backup Bernie Kosar had brought the Browns back from a 20-3 fourth-quarter deficit to take a 23-20 lead.
1993: Miami 24, Indianapolis 20
This was a classic Marino moment, as he drove the Dolphins 80 yards in 13 plays and threw a game-winning 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Baty in the final minute.
1994: Miami 39, New England 35
Maybe the most memorable Dan Marino moment in a career filled with them. In his first regular season game since he had torn his Achilles tendon the previous October, Marino outdueled Drew Bledsoe in a dazzling display of passing. Three of Marino’s five touchdown passes on the day went to Irving Fryar, including the game-winning 35-yard hook-up on a fourth-and-5.
1995: Miami 52, N.Y. Jets 14
This wasn’t a particularly exciting game, but beating the Jets by 38 points deserves recognition. The Dolphins took advantage of six Jets turnovers.
1999: Miami 38, Denver 21
The Dolphins opened the 1999 season with a Monday night road game against the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, though it was Denver’s first game without John Elway. Future Dolphins backup Brian Griese actually had a good game for Denver, but the Dolphins played a clean game and got a Jason Taylor fumble return for a touchdown as an exclamation point.
2001: Miami 31, Tennessee 23
The Dolphins had a tough opening assignment on the road for a Sunday night game, but pulled off an impressive victory thanks to Lamar Smith’s 65-yard touchdown reception and new Hall of Famer Zach Thomas’ famous pick-six punctuated by his forward flip into the end zone.
2014: Miami 33, New England 20
The second half of that opener, when the Dolphins outscored the Patriots 23-0, might have been the finest half of the millennium. Newcomer Knowshon Moreno set the tone with 134 rushing yards, while Cameron Wake had two sacks and two forced fumbles.
2017: Miami 19, L.A. Chargers 17
Like 1992, this was a Week 2 game after the threat of Hurricane Irma postponed the scheduled opener. The Dolphins won this game when Cody Parkey kicked a 54-yard field goal with 1:05 left and the Chargers’ Younghoe Koo then missed a 44-yard attempt on the final play.
2018: Miami 27, Tennessee 20
This game forever will be remembered for the two lengthy lightning delays that made it the longest game in NFL history, clocking at a ridiculous 7 hours, 8 minutes. But it also was a game filled with big plays — in the fourth quarter alone, the Dolphins got a 102-yard kickoff return by Jakeem Grant and a 75-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to Kenny Stills, and the Titans got a 94-yard kickoff return by Darius Jennings.
2021: Miami 17, New England 16
This game marked Tua Tagovailoa's first NFL season opener, as well as his first battle against former University of Alabama teammate Mac Jones. This was a defensive struggle for most of the game and the outcome wasn't decided until Xavien Howard recovered a fumble at the Miami 9-yard line and the offense sealed the victory with two first downs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Check out our daily podcast (All Dolphins Podcast) on YouTube and also available wherever you get your audio podcasts under Miami Dolphins Insider on the Fans First Sports Network. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.
