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All 'Boys Aikman leads Dallas to 20-0 rout of Marino, Dolphins
Posted: Friday November 26, 1999 09:46 AM
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- In a battle of superstar quarterbacks, Dan Marino had more rust than Troy Aikman. Marino, playing for the first time in six weeks, tied a career-worst with five interceptions, one of them returned 46 yards for a touchdown by Dexter Coakley as Dallas beat Miami 20-0 Thursday. The game was scoreless until Coakley's big play midway through the third quarter. The Cowboys (6-5) then added two field goals from Richie Cunningham and a 65-yard touchdown pass from Aikman to Raghib Ismail in the fourth quarter. It was the first time the Dolphins (8-3) had been shut out in nearly two years and it came on Jimmy Johnson's return to Texas Stadium. Miami has lost two of three to fall a half-game behind Indianapolis in the AFC East. Dallas remained unbeaten in five home games and moved within a half-game of Washington in the NFC East. Johnson also was the loser in the last Thanksgiving game in Texas Stadium between these teams. On a snowy afternoon exactly six years ago, Miami won 16-14 on a last-second field goal after Dallas' Leon Lett dived on a blocked field-goal attempt and fumbled it, giving the Dolphins another chance. Marino was playing for the first time since Oct. 10 because of a pinched nerve in his neck and the layoff obviously made him rusty. His aim was off, he had little touch and his arm strength was way down. Deion Sanders picked him off in the Dallas end zone to snuff one drive and he had another in the fourth quarter. Two plays after that one, Aikman -- who had missed the last two games recovering from concussions -- hit Ismail to put the Cowboys up 17-0. Marino was 14-of-35 for 176 yards. Three of his interceptions came in the fourth quarter on consecutive drives as the Dolphins tried rallying. Coakley matched Sanders' two interceptions and rookie Duane Hawthorne had the other. The only other five-interception game in Marino's career was Oct. 23, 1988, against the New York Jets. He had only five this year coming into the game and the Dolphins had thrown just eight. Aikman struggled, too, especially in the first half while Ismail was in the locker room recovering from a mild concussion. He had just 69 passing yards at halftime. Aikman finished 16-of-29 for 232 yards. He also became the 22nd passer to surpass 30,000 career passing yards. Emmitt Smith, playing his second straight game with a broken right hand, had 103 yards on 31 carries. Although Dallas hurt itself with penalties and struggled on third downs, an unusual special teams breakdown by Miami prevented it from taking control. Olindo Mare, who had made field goals in a team record-tying 20 straight games and entered the game 29-of-32 this season, missed from 52 and 47 yards and had a 47-yarder blocked. Cunningham made kicks from 36 and 23 yards, after coming into the game 8-for-17. His unreliability prompted Dallas coach Chan Gailey to go for it on fourth-and-15 from the 35 and fourth-and-16 from the 36, both during the scoreless first half. The Cowboys failed miserably on both attempts.
Before the game, Johnson shook hands and spoke for about 30 seconds with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, further burying the feud that tore them apart after their second straight Super Bowl victory in 1993.
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