Marino Throws for 5 Touchdowns in 34-24 Win

Dan Marino threw five touchdown passes, equaling his career-best, and the Miami Dolphins needed all of them to finish off the Green Bay Packers.

Marino hit Joe Rose with a two-yard scoring pass with 3:18 left for the winning points and Marino added another touchdown pass to ensure a 34-24 victory Sunday.

“They played us very hard,” said Marino, who completed 30 of 44 passes for 345 yards. “We got a couple big plays when we had to have them. It’s something we’ve been able to do.

“I kind of get up for these cold-weather games, and let’s face it, our backs were up against the wall. But there was no way we were going to let this one slip away.”

Marino threw touchdowns passes of 10, 21 and 16 yards in the first half, giving Miami (10-4) a 20-3 lead, then added his two scoring passes in the final quarter.

Rose said most of the credit for the winning score goes to Marino, who put the ball in the right place.

“We work on that,” Rose said. “The guy never ceases to amaze me.”

The Packers (6-8) threatened after Rose’s touchdown when Phillip Epps ran the kickoff back 48 yards, but moments later Paul Lankford intercepted a Jim Zorn pass with 2:48 left.

Miami scored its insurance touchdown with 2:10 remaining when Dan Johnson hauled in a toss from Marino and ran to the end zone to complete a 61-yard play.

Zorn passed for 247 yards and threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to lead Green Bay’s second-half comeback. Zorn’s third-quarter touchdown passes went to Preston Dennard for 29 yards and to James Lofton for 56 yards.

Eddie Lee Ivery dived over from the one with 8:32 left in the game to give Green Bay a 24-20 lead.

But Marino wasn’t through.

Marino’s five scoring passes equals his performance in a game against Washington on Sept. 2, 1984.

Green Bay jumped to a 3-0 lead, taking advantage of a Miami fumble on the opening series. Al Del Greco’s 22-yard field goal followed a fumble by Mark Clayton that was recovered by Green Bay near midfield.

Zorn, an ex-Seattle Seahawk acquired by the Packers this season, started in place of regular Lynn Dickey who was out of action because of a neck spasms suffered Thursday after practice.

It was Zorn’s third start of the season, and the fourth time Dickey has missed a start.

The weather and field conditions hardly affected the game. The field, with more than a foot of snow before shoveling began last week, was soft in some places. The temperature at game time was 28 degrees, and no new snow fell.