The Miami Dolphins knew they needed a break to come from behind to beat the Denver Broncos, 24-22. Little did they know that the quarterback who connected on two clutch passes to set up Olindo Mare's stunning 53-yard game-winning field goal was throwing with his own break -- a broken right thumb.
Jay Fiedler broke his right thumb with 3:30 to go in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins led, 21-19. Fiedler threw a 5-yard completion to Ricky Williams in the flat. His right thumb hit a helmet. "I came down on a helmet and felt something loose in there, but was still able to grip the ball and throw," he said.
For the next two minutes, Fiedler didn't throw that well. He went one for two as he tried to ice the game and lost a chance at field goal position when he was sacked for a 9-yard loss while rolling out on a third-and-2 at the Broncos' 38. Fiedler felt compelled to run because 10 defenders were stacked at the line of scrimmage to stop Williams, and offensive coordinator Norv Turner had to call a run because the Broncos called their last time out with 2:42 left. Fiedler was just trying to get a first down at the two-minute warning.
"It's a right thumb fracture, down near the joint," Fiedler said with his thumb in a cast. "We'll find out Monday."
What he'll find out is that he'll probably be out a month and that Ray Lucas will take over his job. Still, Fiedler couldn't worry about Monday. There was no tomorrows in this classic game. It was a matchup of two of the best teams in the AFC, and, despite a game in which he made many costly mistakes, Brian Griese drove the Broncos 43 yards in six plays to set up an amazing 55-yard field goal by Jason Elam that gave the Broncos a 22-21 lead.
That kick might have broken the hearts of the Dolphins, but the quarterback with the broken thumb wouldn't let his teammates know that he was playing with pain and was having a hard time gripping the ball. Elam aced his 55-yarder with 45 seconds left in the game.
Here was Fiedler facing what appeared to be an impossible situation. Forty seconds remained on the clock. The Dolphins started their fateful drive at their 26. They were facing a defense that had stuffed Ricky Williams, limiting him to 49 yards on 20 carries. It was Fiedler's job to drive the Dolphins into field goal range with a broken thumb.
"We were confident," Fiedler said. "We had two time outs left. All we needed was a field goal, and our field goal kicker is one of the best in the league."
His first attempt was dropped by rookie tight end Randy McMichael. His second pass didn't connect with wide receiver Dedric Ward. Fiedler faced a third down with 29 seconds left.
"The Broncos were in two deep zone, and we knew we couldn't get deep outside," coach Dave Wannstedt said. "We had to get the ball in the middle of the field between the linebackers and safeties."
McMichael, a clutch performer, made the first step. Fiedler scrambled to buy time and stepped up in the pocket. He fired a 17-yard completion to McMichael in the middle of the field for 17 yards. Fiedler called time out. Twenty seconds remained. The Dolphins had hope.
For that completion, the Dolphins can thank their massive scoreboard that shows the live television broadcast.
"I looked up at the television screen and saw Jay scrambling," McMichael said. "I was running a seam route, and when I saw Jay scrambling, I came back to give him someone to throw to. I wasn't going to drop the ball. I had to make up for the first play."
Turner then called a play that the Dolphins hadn't practiced in three weeks. In the huddle, Fiedler said to Ward, "I'm coming to you, get open for me."
Ward listened. He ran 20 yards downfield and pulled up around the numbers on the field. Fiedler gathered as much strength in his right hand as he could. He fired his pass. Ward's heart almost stopped as he watched Broncos linebacker John Mobley tip the ball before it arrived to him.
"My first thought was that the game was over," Ward said.
Instead the ball fell into his hands for a 22-yard gain and a first down at the Broncos' 35 with 11 second left. Enter Mare, frustrated from missing four field goals this season, including a 48-yarder earlier in the game.
"Jason Elam is over there making field goals all over the field," Mare said. "It's frustrating because I always look at it as if I'm supposed to be better than my opponent. I lost my chance to put three points on the board. But I usually make my best kicks when the pressure is on."
The pressure couldn't have been any tenser. At stake was a chance at having one of the best records in the NFL. Each team entered with a 4-1 record. The Dolphins had a chance to open a two-game lead on the Patriots in the AFC East, a cushion made even more important by the loss of Fiedler for perhaps the next month.
Mare knew he had to swing his foot the hardest to make the field goals. He swung so hard he couldn't watch the results. The field goal cleared the uprights by more than 10 yards. The Broncos were stunned. So were their fans. So were the Dolphins.
"Unbelievable, unbelievable," Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor said on the field less than five minutes after the game. "I'm speechless."
"We had our backs to the wall and we played our best at that time," Fiedler said on the field at that time.
For the Dolphins, it was the sign that this isn't the same old Dolphins team that wins 11 regular-season games and then fades in the second round of the playoffs. They battled back from a 9-0 first-half deficit. Normally a team that relies more on the run than the pass, it scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to beat a top team on the road.
"I think this is the best Dolphins team that I've been a part of," cornerback Patrick Surtain said. "Guys are hungrier. They know that the goal at the end of the road is and they are playing like that. Last year, we were mostly known as a defensive team. Offense is putting points on the board. Special teams are making plays. It's totally different than last year."
Perhaps the biggest thing for the Dolphins is how well they fought through adversity. In the second quarter, Broncos safety Kenoy Kennedy made an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit on wide receiver Chris Chambers and knocked him out for the game with a concussion. McKnight injured his back in the third quarter and all of a sudden, the Dolphins had only two healthy receivers.
McKnight came back and finished the game. Taylor played on a knee that was about 85 percent strong and had one of the greatest games of his carreer -- two sacks, six tackles, one forced fumble and maybe 10 quarterback pressures.
Surtain returned a Brian Griese interception 40 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Sam Madison had one interception that counted and another that was taken away by replay when the camera caught the ball slipping out of his hands in the Dolphins' end zone.
"Our big guns stepped up when they had to," Wannstedt said.
But now the Dolphins have to reload with Ray Lucas. They played the Bills next week and will need their defense to hold down one of the league's most powerful offensive scoring machines. Then comes a bye, followed by road trips to Green Bay and the Jets.
In the locker room, there was celebration. But the last player out of the training room wore a cast on this right thumb. Fiedler won his biggest game as a Dolphin. It was thumbs up, but the cast that covered that right thumb may be a downer for the next month.
