More at Stake Tonight Than Just a Streak

When the New England Patriots last won a game in the Orange Bowl, Miami quarterback Dan Marino was 5 years old, New England quarterback Tony Eason was 7, and Don Shula was coaching the Baltimore Colts--who had a wide receiver by the name of Raymond Berry--to a 9-5 record in the NFL’s Western Conference.

Marino and Eason now quarterback the Dolphins and Patriots, respectively, Shula came to Miami in 1970 and built the Dolphins into one of the league’s most successful franchises, and Berry is in his second year as head coach of the Patriots. Still, the streak goes on.

The Patriots beat the Dolphins, 20-14, Oct. 17, 1966, the first time they played in the Orange Bowl. Since then, the Patriots have lost 17 straight games in 19 years.

The losses range from a 16-13 overtime defeat in 1980 to a 52-0 blowout in 1972.

Yet neither the Dolphins or the Patriots will be concerned with the streak when the teams meet tonight at Miami in a battle for sole possession of first place in the AFC East. With the New York Jets’ loss to Chicago Saturday, the winner is almost guaranteed a first-place finish.

“There’s nothing to it,” Patriot running back Craig James said of the jinx. “You go down there and play football. That (the jinx) is a bunch of malarkey. You just go play football.

“When we went to Seattle and beat them there (Nov. 17), that proves we can win anywhere in any situation.”

“I don’t believe in jinxes,” New England linebacker Steve Nelson said. “That’s for the papers. It’s going to be a real battle.”

About the Patriots, Shula said: “They’re a very talented football team. Things that have happened in the past really don’t have any bearing on our preparation for this.”