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QB redeems himself by rallying Dolphins to a last-minute 18-15 win over the Raiders.
By DARRELL FRY
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 24, 2001
MIAMI -- Sometimes you could just strangle Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler. Sometimes he makes mistakes so idiotic you could grab him by the shoulder pads and shake the living daylights out of him.
No doubt the sellout crowd at Pro Player Stadium was thinking just that Sunday. That is, until Fiedler won the game for Miami in the final seconds, beating the Raiders 18-15 with a short touchdown run.
Then the crowd wanted its hands on Fiedler for a 73,404-person group hug.
Fiedler, often maligned around here for his inconsistency, led the Dolphins on an ingenious two-minute drill, going 80 yards with no timeouts for the winning score and the ensuing two-point conversion. With 12 seconds left, Fiedler scrambled in from 2 yards, diving headfirst into the end zone.
"It was another courageous effort by Jay Fiedler," Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said of his quarterback, who ran or threw for 79 of those final 80 yards. "You have to compliment Jay for that last drive, for his courage and his toughness."
Actually, Miami's defense deserves much of the praise for this win, which pushed Miami to 2-0 and avenged an embarrassing 27-0 loss at Oakland in last season's playoffs.
The Dolphins, who play at St. Louis on Sunday, held the Raiders to 67 yards and two first downs in the second half. And they mashed the Raiders' running game, best in the league a season ago, allowing 96 yards on the ground.
They were at their best when the circumstances couldn't have been worse. They forced Oakland into three-plays-and-out on four of its last five possessions, twice in the fourth quarter when Miami trailed 15-10.
"Our defense was just phenomenal," Wannstedt said. "That was as good of a defensive performance as I've seen."
Miami's defense needed to be that good because, at times, Fiedler was that bad. With the Dolphins clinging to a 10-9 lead early in the fourth quarter, he almost wrecked Miami's day by throwing an ill-advised pass on third and 3. Oakland's Anthony Dorsett picked it off and ran 26 yards for the touchdown, putting the Raiders ahead 15-10.
It was reminiscent of the interception Fiedler threw in the playoff loss last season, which Oakland's Tory James returned 90 yards for a touchdown. Dorsett's interception was Fiedler's second of the game, which would have been enough to pin the blame on him had Miami lost.
"I knew a lot of that game was riding on me with those two interceptions in the second half," Fiedler said, "and I wanted to redeem myself."
Suffice to say, all is forgiven.
"He did an excellent job in a very, very difficult situation," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said.
After a defensive stand that forced an Oakland punt, Miami took over at its 20 with 3:11 left. Three plays later, the Dolphins faced fourth and 4 from their 26 with 2:32 left. In the biggest gamble of the game, Wannstedt chose to punt, nervously banking that his defense would get Miami the ball back. Again.
"I told them, 'I'm throwing this (game) back on you guys,' " Wannstedt said.
The defense delivered, forcing another Raiders punt, then threw the game back on Fiedler and the offense, which took over on its 20 with 1:41 to go and no timeouts left.
Composed and cool, Fiedler went 5-for-7, hitting mostly sideline passes. Two plays were huge: a 9-yard dart to receiver Dedric Ward on fourth and 3, and a 7-yard designed quarterback run to the Raiders 2 on first and goal from the 9.
After an incomplete pass that brought up third and goal, Fiedler rolled right, looked off a couple of covered receivers, then charged toward the end zone, diving across the goal line with five seconds on the clock.
"I saw that patch of green in front of me," Fiedler said, "and I knew I had it."