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1985 Miami Dolphins

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1985 Miami Dolphins season
Head Coach Don Shula
Home Field Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record 12–4
Place 1st AFC East
Playoff Finish Lost AFC Championship Game
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1984 1986

The 1985 Miami Dolphins season was the 20th season in franchise history. The club won their fourth consecutive AFC East championship[1] and appeared in the AFC Championship Game.

Due to Dan Marino's offseason holdout, and an injury to receiver Mark Duper, the Dolphins were only 5-4 through Week Nine, and in third place in the AFC East, behind the 7-2 Jets and 6-3 Patriots. Their 220 points scored through Week Nine were fifth in the league,[2] and 85 points fewer -- 9.4 per game -- than in 1984 at the same point in the season.[3]

The Dolphins righted the ship, however, and won their final seven games, including a stunning upset of the then-undefeated Chicago Bears in a Week Thirteen Monday Night contest. (It would be Chicago's only loss of the season.) Miami won the division and defeated the AFC Central Champion Cleveland Browns 24-21 in their first playoff game. Their season would end, however, with a 31-14 home loss to division rival New England in the AFC Championship Game.

Offseason[]

Quarterback Dan Marino, coming off a record-shattering 1984 season, held out through training camp.[4] This and an injury to wide receiver Mark Duper got the Dolphins out to a slow start.

NFL Draft[]

1985 Miami Dolphins draft picks
Round Pick # Player Position College Made
team? 		Notes
1 27 Lorenzo Hampton Running Back Florida Y
3 65 George Little Defensive tackle Iowa Y
3 83 Alex Moyer Linebacker Northwestern Y
4 91 Mike Smith Cornerback UTEP Y
4 111 Jeff Dellenbach Offensive tackle Wisconsin Y
6 145 George Shorthose Wide receiver Missouri N
6 167 Ron Davenport Fullback Louisville Y
7 195 Fuad Reveiz * Kicker Tennessee Y
8 223 Dan Sharp Tight end TCU N
9 251 Adam Hinds Defensive back Oklahoma State N
10 279 Mike Pendleton Defensive back Indiana N
11 307 Mike Jones Running back Tulane N
12 335 Ray Noble Defensive back California N
*     = Made roster  *  †  = Pro Football Hall of Fame *  *  Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel[]

Staff / Coaches[]

1985 Miami Dolphins final staff
Front Office
  • Owner / Team President – Joe Robbie
  • General Manager – Mike Robbie

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Quarterbacks – David Shula
  • Running backs – Carl Taseff
  • Wide receivers – David Shula
  • Offensive line – John Sandusky
   Defensive Coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Chuck Studley
  • Defensive line – Mike Scarry
  • Linebackers – Bob Matheson
  • Secondary – Mel Phillips

Special Teams Coaches

  • Special teams – Tom Keane

Strength and Conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Junior Wade

Roster[]

1985 Miami Dolphins final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

  • 34 Woody Bennett
  • 23 Joe Carter
  • 30 Ron Davenport
  • 27 Lorenzo Hampton
  • 22 Tony Nathan
  • 32 Tommy Vigorito

Wide receivers

  • 83 Mark Clayton
  • 85 Mark Duper
  • 82 Duriel Harris
  • 88 Vince Heflin
  • 11 Jim Jensen
  • 81 Frank Lockett
  • 89 Nat Moore

Tight ends

  • 84 Bruce Hardy
  • 87 Dan Johnson
  • 80 Joe Rose
 Offensive linemen
  • 76 Steve Clark G
  • 65 Jeff Dellenbach C
  • 79 Jon Giesler T
  • 74 Cleveland Green T
  • 63 Larry Lee G
  • 72 Ronnie Lee T
  • 57 Dwight Stephenson C
  • 60 Jeff Toews G
  • 61 Roy Foster G

Defensive linemen

  • 70 Bill Barnett DE
  • 75 Doug Betters DE
  • 58 Kim Bokamper DE
  • 71 Mike Charles NT
  • 99 George Little DE
  • 91 Mack Moore DE
 Linebackers
  • 51 Mark Brown ILB
  • 56 Charles Bowser OLB
  • 53 Jay Brophy
  • 59 Bob Brudzinski OLB
  • 55 Hugh Green OLB
  • 54 Alex Moyer
  • 52 Robin Sendlein OLB
  • 50 Jackie Shipp ILB
  • 96 Sanders Shiver OLB

Defensive backs

  • 47 Glenn Blackwood SS
  • 42 Lyle Blackwood
  • 43 Bud Brown FS
  • 49 William Judson CB
  • 40 Mike Kozlowski
  • 44 Paul Lankford CB
  • 28 Don McNeal
  • 18 Mike Smith
  • 42 Robert Sowell
  • 29 John Swain
  • 41 Fulton Walker

Special teams

  •  4 Reggie Roby P
  •  7 Fuad Reveiz K
 Reserve lists
  • 73 Bob Baumhower DT (IR)
  • 64 Ed Newman G (IR)


Practice squad

  • None - N/A


Rookies in italics
 Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 8 at Houston Oilers L 26–23 0-1
47,656
2 September 15 Indianapolis Colts W 30–13 1-1
53,693
3 September 22 Kansas City Chiefs W 31–0 2-1
69,791
4 September 29 at Denver Broncos W 30–26 3-1
73,614
5 October 6 Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–20 4-1
72,820
6 October 14 at New York Jets L 23–7 4-2
73,807
7 October 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 41–38 5-2
62,335
8 October 27 at Detroit Lions L 31–21 5-3
75,291
9 November 3 at New England Patriots L 17–13 5-4
58,811
10 November 10 New York Jets W 21–17 6-4
73,965
11 November 17 at Indianapolis Colts W 34–20 7-4
59,666
12 November 24 at Buffalo Bills W 23–14 8-4
50,474
13 December 2 Chicago Bears W 38–24 9-4
75,594
14 December 8 at Green Bay Packers W 34–24 10-4
52,671
15 December 16 New England Patriots W 30–27 11-4
69,489
16 December 22 Buffalo Bills W 28–0 12-4
64,811

Monday Night game vs. Chicago[]

Miami finished 12–4 in 1985 and, in an epic Monday Night Football showdown on December 2, handed the previously-undefeated Chicago Bears their only defeat of the season. Several members of the 1972 Dolphins were in attendance at the game.

After rallying from a 21–3 third quarter deficit in the divisional playoffs to beat the Cleveland Browns 24–21, many people were looking forward to a rematch with Chicago in Super Bowl XX. The Cinderella New England Patriots, the Dolphins' opponents in the AFC Championship, had different plans. New England forced six turnovers on the way to a 31–14 win – the Patriots' first in Miami since 1966. The Patriots had lost 18 games in a row at the Orange Bowl. In 1969, the Boston Patriots had beaten the Dolphins at Tampa Stadium.

Standings[]

1985 AFC East Standings
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Miami Dolphins 12 4 0 .750 428 320
New York Jets 11 5 0 .688 393 264
New England Patriots 11 5 0 .688 362 290
Indianapolis Colts 5 11 0 .313 320 386
Buffalo Bills 2 14 0 .125 200 381

Player stats[]

Passing[]

Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating
Dan Marino 567 336 4137 30 21 84.1

Playoffs[]

AFC Divisional Playoff[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 7 7 7 0 21
Dolphins 3 0 14 7 24




AFC Championship Game[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Patriots 3 14 7 7 31
Dolphins 0 7 0 7 14



In an upset, the Patriots converted 6 Dolphins turnovers into 24 points.

Awards and honors[]

  • Dan Marino, AFC Pro Bowl Selection
  • Mark Duper, Franchise Record, Most Receiving Yards in One Game, 217 yards on November 10.[5]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ Numbelivable!, p.105, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference: In a single season, in 1985, in the regular season, from team's 1st game to 9th game, sorted by descending Points For
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, in 1984, in the regular season, from team's 1st game to 9th game, sorted by descending Points For
  4. ↑ [Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p.506, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
  5. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 60

External links[]

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