Legendary Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula’s final NFL season had its ups and downs. After a 4-0 start, the Dolphins dropped six of their next eight games before closing the year with wins in three of their last four.
On this day 30 years ago, Shula picked up his final win at Joe Robbie Stadium. Miami did so with a 13-6 upset of the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
The Chiefs had the best record in the NFL at 11-2 as the teams took the field on Dec. 11, 1995. Miami was coming off a thrilling 21-20 win over the Atlanta Falcons, and at 7-6, was fighting for its playoff lives.
In his 13th year, quarterback Dan Marino was the face of the Dolphins’ franchise. That night, however, belonged to the Miami defense.
After two 33-yard Pete Stoyanovich field goals in the first quarter, Miami scored the game’s first touchdown late in the first half as Marino found O.J. McDuffie for a 3-yard touchdown. The Dolphins led 13-0 at halftime, but in the second half, offense was non-existent for Miami.
The defense, however, forced three turnovers. Troy Vincent had an interception. But late in the game, the Kansas City offense seemed to finally be finding its footing.
With just over five minutes remaining, the Chiefs broke up the shutout on Steve Bono’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter. Lin Elliott missed the extra point to keep the score at 13-6. Three plays later, Bernie Parmalee fumbled, giving the Chiefs the ball inside the Miami 40-yard-line.
After a Bono scramble for 11 yards on 4th-and-8 kept the Kansas City drive alive, the Chiefs again were down to one play. On 4th-and-6 from the 9-yard-line, Bono looked toward Slaughter in the end zone. There to knock it away and preserve the win was Miami cornerback Terrell Buckley.
Kansas City finished with 333 yards to just 248 for the Dolphins, but Miami possessed the ball for nearly 36 minutes. Parmalee led the Dolphins with 83 yards rushing and 92 yards from scrimmage. Marcus Allen ran for 88 yards for Kansas City in the loss.
With the win, Miami improved to 8-6. The Dolphins would lose to the Buffalo Bills the following week but clinched a playoff berth during the final week of the season before falling at Buffalo in the AFC Wild Card game. The Chiefs finished with the best record in the NFL at 13-3 but were upset by the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs.
As for Shula, he finished with stellar career with 347 wins — an NFL record. His last home game and last home win came on this day three decades ago.
