1984 Miami Dolphins season

1984 Miami Dolphins season
Head Coach	Don Shula
Home Field	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	14–2
Place	1st AFC East
Playoff Finish	Lost Super Bowl XIX
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1983	1985

1984 was the 18th season in football for the Miami Dolphins and the fifteenth for coach Don Shula with the club. The Dolphins sought to build on a spectacular 1983 season where they went 12–4 with rookie quarterback Dan Marino only to be upended by the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs. Marino's passing ability became the focal point of Miami's offense and in 1984 he exploded to set league records with 5,084 passing yards and 48 touchdowns; the yardage record still stands while his touchdown record was broken by Peyton Manning (49) twenty years later. The Dolphins made a run at a perfect season twelve years after pulling off the feat as they won their first eleven games but were upended in overtime by the San Diego Chargers. The Dolphins broke 500 points scored for the first and to date only time in their history as they scored 513 points and finished 14–2, their best record since the undefeated season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
14	Miami Dolphins	Jackie Shipp	Inside Linebacker	University of Oklahoma

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
1	September 2, 1984	at Washington Redskins	W 35–17
2	September 9, 1984	New England Patriots	W 28–7
3	September 17, 1984	at Buffalo Bills	W 21–17
4	September 23, 1984	Indianapolis Colts	W 44–7
5	September 30, 1984	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 36–28
6	October 7, 1984	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–7
7	October 14, 1984	Houston Oilers	W 28–10
8	October 21, 1984	at New England Patriots	W 44–24
9	October 28, 1984	Buffalo Bills	W 38–7
10	November 4, 1984	at New York Jets	W 31–17
11	November 11, 1984	Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–23
12	November 18, 1984	at San Diego Chargers	L 28–34
13	November 26, 1984	New York Jets	W 28–17
14	December 2, 1984	Los Angeles Raiders	L 34–45
15	December 9, 1984	at Indianapolis Colts	W 35–17
16	December 17, 1984	Dallas Cowboys	W 28–21

Roster

Miami Dolphins 1984 roster
Quarterbacks 13 Dan Marino 10 Don Strock Running Backs 22 Tony Nathan HB 31 Eddie Hill HB 20 Joe Carter HB 34 Woody Bennett FB 46 Pete Johnson FB 37 Andra Franklin FB Wide Receivers 83 Mark Clayton 85 Mark Duper 89 Nat Moore 81 Jimmy Cefalo 88 Vince Heflin KR 11 Jim Jensen WR/RB/QB 82 Fernanza Burgess WR/S Tight Ends 87 Dan Johnson 84 Bruce Hardy 80 Joe Rose 86 John Chelsey		Offensive Linemen 79 Jon Giesler T 68 Eric Laakso T 61 Roy Foster G 57 Dwight Stephenson C 60 Jeff Toews C 64 Ed Newman G 72 Ronnie Lee G/T/TE 74 Cleveland Green T Defensive Linemen 75 Doug Betters DE 78 Charles Benson DE 58 Kim Bokamper DE 71 Mike Charles DE 70 Bill Barnett DE 73 Bob Baumhower DT 76 Steve Clark DT/G Linebackers 59 Bob Brudzinski OLB 55 Earnest Rhone OLB 77 A.J. Duhe MLB 51 Mark Brown MLB 53 Jay Brophy MLB 50 Jackie Shipp MLB 56 Charles Bowser OLB 52 Sanders Shiver OLB 54 Rodell Thomas LB 91 Ed Judie OLB		Defensive Backs 49 William Judson CB 44 Paul Lankford CB 28 Don McNeal CB 41 Fulton Walker CB/KR/PR 45 Robert Sowell CB 42 Lyle Blackwood FS 40 Mike Kozlowski FS 47 Glenn Blackwood SS 43 Bud Brown SS Special Teams 5 Uwe von Schamann K 4 Reggie Roby P Reserve Lists 32 Tommy Vigorito HB 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 52 Ron Hester LB Practice Squad Rookies in italics

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
Division	December 29, 1984	Seattle Seahawks	W 31–10
Conference Championship	January 6, 1985	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–28
Super Bowl	January 20, 1985	N San Francisco 49ers	L 16–38

Standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Miami Dolphins	14	2	0	.875	513	298
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	362	352
New York Jets	7	9	0	.438	332	364
Indianapolis Colts	4	12	0	.250	239	414
Buffalo Bills	2	14	0	.125	250	454

Player stats

Passing

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	INT	Rating
Dan Marino	564	362	5084	48	17	108.9

Postseason

AFC Divisional Playoff

A year after being upended in the playoffs by the Seattle Seahawks the Dolphins routed Seattle 31–10. Dan Marino threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns despite being intercepted twice by Seahawks defensive back John Harris. The Dolphins rushed for 143 yards and a Tony Nathan rushing score as well.

AFC Championship Game

Miami Dolphins 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 28 1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 7 7 7 7 28 Dolphins 7 17 14 7 45 at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C), sunny Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

In a shootout, quarterback Dan Marino led the Dolphins to a victory by throwing for 421 yards and 4 touchdowns with 1 interception. Steelers quarterback Mark Malone recorded 312 yards and 3 touchdowns, but was intercepted 3 times.

Super Bowl XIX

Scoring summary

• MIA – FG: Uwe von Schamann 37 yards 3–0 MIA
• SF – TD: Carl Monroe 33 yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick) 7–3 SF
• MIA – TD: Dan Johnson 2 yard pass from Dan Marino (Uwe von Schamann kick) 10–7 MIA
• SF – TD: Roger Craig 8 yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick) 14–10 SF
• SF – TD: Joe Montana 6 yard run (Ray Wersching kick) 21–10 SF
• SF – TD: Roger Craig 2 yard run (Ray Wersching kick) 28–10 SF
• MIA – FG: Uwe von Schamann 31 yards 28–13 SF
• MIA – FG: Uwe von Schamann 30 yards 28–16 SF
• SF – FG: Ray Wersching 27 yards 31–16 SF
• SF – TD: Roger Craig 16 yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick) 38–16 SF

Awards and honors

• Dan Marino, 1984 NFL MVP
• Dan Marino, 1984 PFWA MVP
• Dan Marino, 1984 NEA MVP
• Dan Marino, 1984 NFL Offensive Player of the Year
• Dan Marino, 1984 UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year
• Dan Marino, Bert Bell Award

Notes and references

• Miami Dolphins on Pro Football Reference
• Miami Dolphins on jt-sw.com