It’s Thanksgiving Week and thoughts turn to food, parades, food, Black Friday and, of course, football.
While the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys long have played on the last Thursday in November, the Miami Dolphins have played eight times on Turkey Day through the years.
In fact, some of the greatest – and most bizarre – games in their history came while you and your family were eating turkey, candied yams and stuffing. Here are 3 of them:
The Leon Lett game on snowy day in Dallas
The Dolphins turned a sure 14-13 loss into a stunning 16-14 win in Dallas on a snowy Nov. 25, 1993.
Pete Stoyanovich, who had never missed a game-winning or late game-tying field goal at that point of his career, attempted a 41-yard field goal that was blocked.
Instead of just letting the ball die on the field and then running out the clock, the Cowboys ended up losing when defensive lineman Leon Lett touched the ball, making it live. Dolphins offensive lineman Jeff Dellenbach fell on the ball, giving Stoyanovich a crack at a 19-yard field goal, which he made as time expired.
“The most bizarre game I’ve ever seen,” Dolphins receiver Irving Fryar said.
The Thanksgiving Bob Griese turned into Dan Marino
The Dolphins of Bob Griese were a ball-control running team. The Dolphins of Dan Marino were a “Go deep fellas and I’ll get you the ball.”
On Nov. 24, 1977, in St. Louis, Griese did his best imitation of Marino (who was 16 at the time, by the way) by tossing six touchdown passes, including three to Nat Moore, in a 55-14 win against the Cardinals.
Don Shula called it “one of the finest football games played” by one of his teams.
The Thanksgiving Dan Marino turned into a turkey
The Dolphins played in Dallas on Nov. 25. 1999. Why, you ask? Well, the NFL thought it would be cute to have then-Miami coach Jimmy Johnson go up against his former club on Thanksgiving Day.
Marino had one of his worst games, completing 15 of 36 passes and throwing five interceptions as the Cowboys easily won, 20-0.
Of course, no one should have been surprised. Marino had a passer rating of 66.0 with1,211 yards, 7 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in 5 games vs. the Cowboys in his career.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins’ Thanksgiving Day record and notable games
Reporting by Nick Pugliese and Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
