Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Packers fall flat in loss to Dolphins
Editor’s note: This story was published Sept. 12, 1994.
The Green Bay Packers swallowed a giant dose of reality at County Stadium Sunday afternoon — the kind that’s easy to choke on.
Facing what they felt was a winnable game against a susceptible Miami defense, the Packers were thoroughly outplayed in all phases of the game and fell, 24-14, in front of a disappointed crowd of 55,011.
Touted as Super Bowl contenders, the Packers (1-1) came out like Super Bowl pretenders against the Dolphins (2-0) and veteran quarterback Dan Marino. The Packers didn’t score until the 6:27 mark of the fourth quarter, and by that time it was too little, too late.
It was a complete reversal from the previous Sunday’s victory over division rival Minnesota, leaving questions as to how the Packers might respond next week at Philadelphia.
“Good teams bounce back from things like this, but we have to go in and find out why we got beat this bad,” said strong safety LeRoy Butler. “A lot of guys might look like they don’t want to talk to the media. But they don’t know what to say.”
Marino called a masterful game, using audibles at least 15 times as the Packers threw a variety of defensive looks at him. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns, a far cry from his 473-yard, 5-touchdown performance last week against New England.
But Marino was in command from the start and comfortable enough to let his maligned running game take over. Led by rookie Irving Spikes’ 70 yards on 13 carries, the Dolphins piled up 146 yards on the ground, much of which came against the Packers’ nickel and dime defenses.
The Packers’ response to Miami’s attack was anemic. They rolled up 383 yards but couldn’t get in the end zone when it counted.
Their biggest guns, quarterback Brett Favre, wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, defensive end Reggie White and Butler didn’t step forward when needed.
“We weren’t very good,” said frustrated Packer Coach Mike Holmgren. “Miami’s a fine football team, but we were not ready to play for whatever reason. I’ll take responsibility for that. We just weren’t ready.”
Asked if the Packers were flat, Holmgren said, “Flat. That’s a good word. That’s a really good word.”
Favre completed 31 of 51 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns, but much of that came in the second half when the Packers eschewed the run in an attempt to come back from a 24-0 deficit. Their seven rushing attempts was the lowest total in club history.
A bizarre fumble in which the ball slipped out of Favre’s hands while he was attempting a pass allowed Miami to go from a 10-0 lead with 4:32 left in the second quarter to 17-0 at halftime. Later in the third quarter with the Packers down, 24-0, Favre threw a pass that was tipped and intercepted by defensive lineman Craig Veasey at the Miami 6.
One play earlier, Favre threw a partially tipped pass to Sharpe in the end zone, but the all-pro receiver let it slip through his hands. A catch would have cut Miami’s lead to 17 points with about 18 minutes left.
Asked if Favre struggled, Holmgren said, “It seemed like it. Everything was quick. We were out of our rhythm. Exactly why, I don’t know.”
White wasn’t much of a factor. Doubleteamed and run away from as usual, he did not get near Marino and finished with just two assists. Butler missed two big tackles, including a one-on-one with Irving Fryar that would have forced the Dolphins to kick a field goal rather than drive for a touchdown and an early 10-0 lead.
“There’s never a good explanation for something bad like this,” said defensive end Sean Jones, who had five tackles and a sack. “We screwed it up. We didn’t tackle very well. I’m not talking about anybody else but myself.”
The game seemed to be up for grabs early on. The Packers made their move with a 10-play, 53-yard drive in the first quarter, but in an ominous sign of things to come, Chris Jacke’s 46-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright.
Miami then took control, driving 33 yards to set up Pete Stoyanovich’s 48yard field goal with 2:55 to go in the first quarter. After a Packers punt, Spikes gained 41 yards on three straight carries to help set up another Miami score.
Fryar broke free from a Butler tackle on third-and-8 from the Green Bay 24 and scampered to the 12. On fourth-and-1 from the 3, Marino threw a play-action pass to a wide open Keith Jackson for a touchdown and 10-0 lead.
The Favre fumble led to another Marino touchdown pass of 4 yards to Keith Byars to make it 17-0.
Holmgren said he considered replacing Favre with Ty Detmer in the second half but stuck with his starter. As it turned out, it didn’t matter.
The defense buckled again on Miami’s opening series of the half, allowing Marino to drive his team 80 yards in 12 plays. Butler missed a key tackle on a thirddown pass to Terry Kirby, and Corey Harris missed another on Byars on secondand-10 from the 15.
The result was Kirby’s 6-yard scamper for a touchdown and 24-0 lead. There wasn’t much the Packers could do after that.
“All this loss means is that we’re not going to go undefeated,” Jones said. “That’s all. It’s too early to complain and look for reasons to abandon the season.”