Sack Preserves Dolphin Victory

When the last second had ticked off the clock Saturday at Pro Player Stadium and the last points had been scored and the last turnover had been coughed up and the last flag had been thrown and the last angry word had been uttered at an official, Miami Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson let down his Teflon-strength hair and threw a party in the locker room.

OK, so it wasn’t New Year’s Eve.

And those weren’t confetti and streamers flying through the air. They were Flutie Flakes from cereal boxes stomped open by Johnson.

So what? Nobody in a Dolphin uniform complained.

They knew how fortunate they were to have escaped with a 24-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills, sending the Dolphins on the road to face either the Denver Broncos or the New York Jets in a second-round playoff game next weekend.

The Dolphins knew that it took a burst of anger by Andre Reed, almost a season’s worth of fumbles by the Bills and a game-saving sack by the grand old man of the Miami defensive line to assure them of surviving to play another day.

“It was nice to see,” Miami linebacker Zach Thomas said of the impromptu celebration by Johnson. “He has a lot of pressure on him.”

It seemed some of the pressure was off when Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino, throwing into double coverage, connected with Lamar Thomas at the goal line for an 11-yard touchdown pass, moving Miami into a 24-14 advantage with 4:20 to play.

But Buffalo quarterback Doug Flutie, bitten by costly turnovers all day, responded quickly, driving his team back down the field.

Coming out of the two-minute warning, Flutie had first and goal at the Miami 10. It appeared that Flutie got all 10 yards on one pass when he connected with Reed, who, spinning away from defender Brian Walker, fell at the goal line, his shoulder clearly breaking the plane.

But the officials ruled that Reed’s knees already had touched the grass. That still would have given the Bills second and goal only inches from the end zone.

Would have if Reed had been able to control his temper as effectively as he controlled his body to make the catch.

Instead, the 14-year veteran leaped to his feet, furious at the call, and bumped field judge Steve Zimmer.

Goodbye touchdown.

Goodbye Reed.

The officials slapped Buffalo with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty and ejected Reed, who later insisted that the bump was inadvertent, although a replay seemed to show otherwise.

But after the game, Reed hadn’t seen anything to change his mind.

“I was in the end zone,” he continued to insist. “I wasn’t trying to bump the official. I don’t even know who I ran into. I’ve never been thrown out of a game in my life.”

His coach also was sticking to his story after the game.

“There wasn’t any doubt it was a touchdown,” said Wade Phillips, his mood having gone from fierce anger after the call to sad resignation in the locker room. “Not only did we lose the touchdown, but we also lost him [Reed].”

Still, all was not quite lost.

Shaking off the controversy, the Bills, after two incomplete passes by Flutie, scored on a 33-yard field goal by Steve Christie to pull to within 24-17.

When the Bills’ Kurt Schulz recovered the ensuing onside kick, Flutie and his offense had one more shot starting at their 31.

Ninety seconds remained.

Mixing short-slant patterns with sideline routes and his own scrambling ability, Flutie moved the Bills quickly down the field.

“It was desperation time,” Zach Thomas said. “It was nerve-racking.”

With 24 seconds to play and the crowd of 72,698 having gone from party time to nervous time, Flutie took off up the middle from the Miami nine, diving to the five for a first down.

Seventeen seconds to play.

Back Flutie faded, first looking left to where he had two receivers.

“Then I looked over to Kevin Williams on the right,” said the Buffalo quarterback. “I was going to throw it out of the end zone, but I first took another peep to the left.”

Because of that peep, he got popped.

Trace Armstrong, the 33-year-old, 10-year veteran, came charging in.

“I was able to duck under and get a shot at him,” Armstrong said. “I could see him cocking his arm and I was thinking, ‘Hold it, hold it.’ ”

Flutie held the ball just long enough for Armstrong to get there and hit him, jarring the ball loose. Dolphin defender Shane Burton recovered to end the Bills’ season.

But after delivering the fatal blow, Armstrong never saw what happened.

“[Cornerback] Sam Madison told me he [Flutie] had fumbled,” Armstrong said. “I was elated because I didn’t think I had another play in me.”

Although they lost only six fumbles in the regular season, the Bills shouldn’t have been surprised that their season ended on such a play. They learned early Saturday how the day was going to go when they fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. Flutie connected with Eric Moulds, who would go on to catch nine passes for a postseason-record 240 yards receiving, on a 65-yard pass play. But at the end of the play, defender Terrell Buckley stripped the ball from the receiver and the Dolphins recovered.

Before the day was over, the Dolphins would recover three more fumbles, Flutie losing the ball twice and Reed once, giving Buffalo two-thirds of its season fumble total in one disastrous afternoon.

Still, it remained a close game. Two Olindo Mare field goals, of 31 and 40 yards, gave Miami the early lead, but Buffalo’s Thurman Thomas scored on a one-yard run to give the Bills a 7-6 halftime lead. Miami moved back in front when Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who finished with a game-high 95 yards rushing, scored on a three-yard run in the third quarter. Stanley Pritchett carried the ball into the end zone on the subsequent two-point conversion, giving the Dolphins a 14-7 lead. Moulds and Flutie hooked up on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to tie the score, 14-14, but Mare added a third field goal from 23 yards to put Miami back on top.

And soon, the Flutie Flakes were flying.

Better to Receive

Buffalo rookie Eric Moulds set an NFL postseason record for yards receiving Saturday. The top four performances:

Player, Team: Eric Moulds, Buffalo

Yards: 240

Year: 1999

Player, Team: Anthony Carter, Minnesota

Yards: 227

Year: 1988

Player, Team: Jerry Rice, San Francisco

Yards: 215

Year: 1989

Player, Team: Tom Fears, L.A. Rams

Yards: 198

Year:1950