1990 Miami Dolphins season

1990 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Don Shula
Home field	Joe Robbie Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs

The 1990 Miami Dolphins season was the team’s twenty-first season in the National Football League and twenty-fifth overall. After four seasons out of the playoffs with a combined record of 30 wins and 31 losses, the Dolphins returned to postseason play for the first time since 1985 with twelve wins and four losses. They defeated the Chiefs in the first round before being knocked out of contention by eventual AFC champions the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Playoff.

1990 marked the first time since their record 1972 perfect season that the Dolphins played the New York Giants, and merely the second in team history.^[1] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.^[2]

Offseason

= Pro Bowler [3]

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
9	Miami Dolphins	Richmond Webb	Tackle	Texas A&M
40	Miami Dolphins	Keith Sims	Guard	Iowa State
67	Miami Dolphins	Alfred Oglesby	Nose Tackle	Houston
94	Miami Dolphins	Scott Mitchell	Quarterback	Utah

Personnel

Staff

1990 Miami Dolphins staff
	Front office President – Tim Robbie Executive Vice President/General Manager – Eddie Jones Vice President – Don Shula Assistant General Manager – Bryan Wiedmeier Director of Player Personnel – Charley Winner Director of Pro Personnel – Monte Clark Director of College Scouting – Tom Heckert, Sr. Head coaches Head Coach – Don Shula Assistant Head Coach – John Sandusky Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Pass Offense – Gary Stevens Offensive Backs – Carl Taseff Receivers – Larry Seiple Offensive Line – John Sandusky Coaches' Assistant – Tony Nathan			Defensive coaches Defense – Tom Olivadotti Defensive Line – Dan Sekanovich Linebackers – George Hill Defensive Backs – Mel Phillips Special teams coaches Special Teams – Mike Westhoff Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Junior Wade

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 9, 1990	at New England Patriots	W 27–24	45,305
2	September 16, 1990	Buffalo Bills	W 30–7	68,142
3	September 23, 1990	at New York Giants	L 20–3	76,483
4	September 30, 1990	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 28–6	54,691
5	October 7, 1990	New York Jets	W 20–16	69,678
6	Bye
7	October 18, 1990	New England Patriots	W 17–10	62,630
8	October 28, 1990	at Indianapolis Colts	W 27–7	59,213
9	November 4, 1990	Phoenix Cardinals	W 23–3	54,294
10	November 11, 1990	at New York Jets	W 17–3	68,362
11	November 19, 1990	Los Angeles Raiders	L 13–10	70,553
12	November 25, 1990	at Cleveland Browns	W 30–13	70,225
13	December 2, 1990	at Washington Redskins	L 42–20	53,599
14	December 9, 1990	Philadelphia Eagles	W 23–20	67,034
15	December 16, 1990	Seattle Seahawks	W 24–17	57,851
16	December 23, 1990	at Buffalo Bills	L 24–14	80,235
17	December 30, 1990	Indianapolis Colts	W 23–17	59,547

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Buffalo Bills	13	3	0	.813	7–1	10–2	428	263	L1
^(4) Miami Dolphins	12	4	0	.750	7–1	10–2	336	242	W1
Indianapolis Colts	7	9	0	.438	3–5	5–7	281	353	L1
New York Jets	6	10	0	.375	2–6	4–10	295	345	W2
New England Patriots	1	15	0	.063	1–7	1–11	181	446	L14

Player stats

Passing

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	Touchdowns	INT	Rating
Dan Marino	531	306	3563	21	11	82.6

Receiving

Player	Receptions	Yards	Average	Long	Touchdowns
Mark Clayton	32	406	12.7	43	3

Defense

Player	Tackles	Sacks	Fumble Recoveries
Jeff Cross	60	11.5	2

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card Game

Miami Dolphins 17, Kansas City Chiefs 16

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	3	7	6	0	16
Dolphins	0	3	0	14	17

at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C), cloudy
• Game attendance: 67,276
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

With 2:28 left in the game, the Dolphins capped an 85-yard drive with quarterback Dan Marino's winning 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Clayton.

AFC Divisional Playoff

Buffalo Bills 44, Miami Dolphins 34

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	3	14	3	14	34
Bills	13	14	3	14	44

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C), rain and snow
• Game attendance: 77,087
• Referee: Bob McElwee
• TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire

Awards and honors

• Jeff Cross, AFC Pro Bowl selection

Milestones

• Dan Marino, 6th Consecutive 3,000 Yard Passing Season

References

1. New York Giants v Miami Dolphins
2. History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats
3. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.

• Miami Dolphins on Pro Football Reference