It was raining. Not just a drizzle, but that miserable, humid South Florida soak that makes a football feel like a greased watermelon. If you were a betting person in January 1986, you weren't putting a dime on the New England Patriots. No way. They were heading into the Orange Bowl to face a Miami Dolphins team that basically owned them. The Dolphins had won 18 straight games against the Patriots in that stadium. Eighteen. That’s a decade and a half of psychological scarring.
But the 1985 AFC Championship Game didn't follow the script.
People remember the '85 Bears. Of course they do. But the path to that Super Bowl went through a soggy field in Miami where a wild-card team did the unthinkable. The Patriots weren't supposed to be there. They had to win two road games just to get a shot at Don Shula’s juggernaut. Miami was the only team to beat the Bears that year, and everyone—literally everyone—wanted a rematch between Dan Marino and that Chicago 46 defense. The NFL world was already printing the "Marino vs. The Monsters of the Midway" posters.
New England had other plans.
The Squid and the Ground War
Raymond Berry, the Patriots coach, was a technician. He knew he couldn't out-finesse Dan Marino. If you let Marino sit back and flick his wrist, he’d carve you up before you could even smell the grass. So, the Patriots went old school. They ran the ball. Then they ran it again. Then they ran it some more.
Craig James and Tony Collins were the workhorses. It wasn't flashy. It was muddy, grinding, "three yards and a cloud of dust" football. The Patriots finished with 255 rushing yards. Think about that for a second. In an era where Marino was redefining the passing game, New England went back to the Stone Age and just physically overwhelmed the Dolphins' defensive front.
Tony Eason, the Patriots quarterback, only had to throw the ball 12 times. He completed 10. He didn't need to be a hero because the offensive line was playing like they were possessed by the ghosts of offensive lines past. They took the air out of the ball. They kept Marino on the sideline, shivering in a cape, watching his season evaporate.
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Why the Dolphins Crumbled
It’s easy to blame the rain. Sure, the weather sucked. But the Dolphins turned the ball over six times. Six. You can't win a middle school game with six turnovers, let alone a trip to the Super Bowl.
Mark Duper and Mark Clayton, the "Marks Brothers," were stifled. The Patriots' secondary, led by guys like Raymond Clayborn and Fred Marion, played a physical brand of bump-and-run that frustrated the Miami receivers. And then there was the fumbles. The Dolphins fumbled the ball away four times. Every time Miami seemed to catch a bit of momentum, the ball would squirt loose or Marino would get hurried into a bad decision.
Specifically, the "Squid" defense—a nickname for the way New England swarmed—was everywhere. They weren't just reacting; they were dictating. It was a masterclass in situational football. Don Shula, arguably the greatest coach to ever whistle on a sideline, looked completely baffled. His high-flying offense was stuck in the mud.
The Momentum Shift Nobody Saw Coming
Halfway through the game, there was this feeling in the stadium. You know the one. It’s that eerie silence when a home crowd realizes the "sure thing" is actually a disaster. The Patriots led 24-7 at one point. In the Orange Bowl! Where they hadn't won since 1966.
The turning point was arguably the way New England handled the start of the second half. Most teams would have played "not to lose." They would have gotten conservative and let Marino chip away at the lead. Instead, Berry kept the pressure on. The Patriots' defense forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, and even though they didn't score a touchdown off every mistake, they flipped the field consistently.
The Forgotten Legends of '85
We talk about Brady and Belichick now, but that 1985 roster had some absolute dogs. John Hannah, maybe the best offensive guard to ever live, was in his final season. He was pulling and trapping and erasing linebackers. Andre Tippett was a terror off the edge. People forget Tippett was right there with Lawrence Taylor in terms of pure impact during those years. He had 16.5 sacks that season.
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Then you had Mosi Tatupu. The guy was a special teams demon and a short-yardage hammer. He represented the soul of that team—unheralded, tough, and willing to do the dirty work.
The "Squish the Fish" Phenomenon
If you lived in New England in January 1986, "Squish the Fish" was the only phrase that mattered. It was on every t-shirt, bumper sticker, and radio station. It was a catharsis. For years, the Dolphins had been the big brother who lived in the tropics and took your lunch money.
Beating them 31-14 wasn't just a win. It was an exorcism.
But there’s a bittersweet layer to this. By winning that game, the Patriots earned the right to be sacrificed to the 1985 Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX. Some fans jokingly say the Patriots should have stayed home. But that’s revisionist history. The 1985 AFC Championship Game was the peak of that era of Patriots football. It was the moment they proved they belonged.
What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of folks think Marino played a terrible game. Honestly? He wasn't that bad given the conditions. He threw for two touchdowns. But he was under constant duress. The Patriots' pass rush didn't always get the sack, but they moved him off his spot.
Another misconception is that it was a fluke. It wasn't. New England had already beaten the Jets and the top-seeded Raiders on the road. They were the first team in NFL history to win three road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. That’s not a fluke; that’s a gauntlet. They were battle-hardened.
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Key Stats from the 1985 AFC Championship
- Rushing Yards: New England 255, Miami 68.
- Turnovers: New England 0, Miami 6.
- Time of Possession: New England nearly 40 minutes.
- The Streak: 18 games of losing in Miami, snapped.
The Legacy of the Game
This game changed how people looked at "warm weather" teams. It proved that a physical, ball-control offense could neutralize a legendary passing attack if the conditions were right and the discipline was there. It also cemented Raymond Berry’s legacy as a coach who could prepare a team for a specific opponent better than almost anyone.
The Patriots wouldn't return to the Super Bowl for another eleven years (the 1996 season), and they wouldn't win one until the 2001 season. But for one rainy night in January, they were the kings of the AFC.
If you're looking to dive deeper into this era of football, there are a few things you should actually do to appreciate the nuance of this game.
First, go find the highlights of John Hannah’s blocks from that game. Modern linemen are bigger, but nobody moved like Hannah. Second, look at the defensive alignments the Patriots used to confuse Marino; they frequently disguised their blitzes, which was somewhat revolutionary for the time. Finally, read Ron Borges’ contemporary coverage of the game—he captured the "disbelief" in the locker room better than anyone.
The 1985 AFC Championship Game remains a masterclass in how to dismantle a superior opponent through grit and a refusal to follow the "expected" narrative. It wasn't pretty, but it was perfect.
Next Steps for the Football Historian
- Study the 1985 Patriots Defensive Scheme: Look into the "3-4" variations they ran under defensive coordinator Rod Rust. It was designed to stifle the quick-release passing game that Marino pioneered.
- Compare Rushing Distributions: Analyze how New England split carries between Craig James, Tony Collins, and Robert Weathers. It’s a blueprint for a modern "running back by committee" approach.
- Check the Weather Logs: Verify the humidity and wind speeds from that night at the Orange Bowl to understand why the Dolphins' "Marks Brothers" struggled with deep ball tracking.