Marino Takes the Boos and Many a Bruise in 31-16 Loss to 49ers

The last time he allowed himself to be thumped by the 49ers, Dan Marino at least got a nice soda commercial for it, he and Joe Montana clowning over who gets to buy. But this time, once again bottled by a San Francisco pass defense, Marino got an entirely different kind of pop. Again and again.

Following Sunday’s 31-16 loss to San Francisco, a near replay of their Super Bowl XIX game, Marino was a mass of welts, bruised up one side and down the other. Looking at him and his equally disappointed teammates, it was difficult to say who required more sympathy: Marino, who threw an unprecedented 4 interceptions, or the floundering Dolphins, an unprecedented 1-3 to begin their season. Not in 17 years have the Dolphins had so poor a record.

Hearing Marino being booed as he left the field, you might be inclined to give him the benefit of sympathy. The dissatisfaction with the declining level of Dolphin play has become very personalized.

But, easy to single him out. The only thing he did right all afternoon was get out of the way of Keena Turner, who was impersonating a run-away train as he cleared the way for Tom Holmoe’s 66-yard interception return for a touchdown.

It was almost comic, Marino drifting over to get in Holmoe’s way, perhaps to minimize the damage his errant throw had begun--an easy interception by Ronnie Lott and the ensuing lateral to Holmoe. But Marino somehow caught a glimpse of 228-pound Turner bearing down on him, menace in his eyes. Marino raced in front of Holmoe to reach the sidelines, his safety assured, if not his dignity.

Almost unnecessarily, Miami Coach Don Shula duplicated the feat, running Marino off the field in favor of Don Strock late in the game. So you know how the Dolphins’ season is going. “Embarrassing,” Shula said.

Miami has mostly been troubled by a poor defense, a unit that has allowed more than 50 points in two of its three defeats. But Sunday, the defense seemed to measure up to Joe Montana’s replacement, Jeff Kemp. Not that they shut him down; Kemp completed 14 of 29 passes for 168 yards, one of those passes a 50-yard scoring play to Roger Craig.

It was the offense that fell apart. Poor Marino, who only last week became the all-time passing leader in the NFL’s rating system (eclipsing Montana). At one point in the third quarter, he had been sacked twice, hurried seven times and knocked down three times.

This, according to defensive end Jeff Stover, is exactly how to stop the NFL’s best quarterback. “I don’t think he likes to get hit,” Stover said. “He likes to sit back and fire. But we got to him early, if not hitting him, at least getting in his face. He was pressured, that’s for sure.”

It was hardly a one-man breakdown. The Dolphins’ Fuad Reveiz missed two field goals and an extra point. And when the Dolphins did catch a break, Lyle Blackwood intercepting Kemp and returning the ball to the San Francisco 26-yard line midway in the third quarter, a drive fizzled and came to nothing but a missed field goal.

“This is about as bad as you can get,” Shula said. “And as far as the booing goes, we deserve it.”

Some of the Dolphins weren’t so sure about that. “It hurts you to see that stuff coming out of the stands,” safety Mike Kozlowski said. They were especially certain that Marino shouldn’t be booed.

“I don’t think the fans should boo Dan,” said wide receiver Mark Duper, who caught 7 of Marino’s passes for 102 yards.

Said running back Tony Nathan: “The man’s not God. Can’t be perfect every day. I mean, you talk about players having to have class, what about the fans?”

Nathan suggested this might be a ticklish time for Marino and, thus, the Dolphin dynasty. “We were all telling him to keep his head up,” Nathan said. “If he quits, we’re done for real.”

Marino, whose 4 interceptions belie some otherwise impressive numbers (27 of 46, 301 yards), agreed that he “didn’t have a very good day. I didn’t play very smart. Sometimes you get into the habit of trying to make something happen when it’s not really there.”

That recalls Marino trying to force a pass to one of his wide receivers near the sideline. The ball was dead-on to 49er Tim McKyer. In his lap.

“He’s got the confidence in his arm and in his receivers so he might make a pass he shouldn’t,” Lott said. “Tomorrow, he’s going to look at the film and he’s going to say, ‘I should have held on.’ ”

But Lott said Marino had little choice. His fellow backs kept forcing Marino to go to his second and third choices. And often Marino, given the pass rush, had little time to locate them. “I made some bad decisions,” Marino said.

On the other hand, his counterpart, who is subbing wonderfully for Montana, had a nice day. Kemp, who passed for more than 300 yards the week before, has a nice touch with the long ball, perhaps even better than Montana has. Certainly his bomb to Craig to end the first half was a killing blow, pushing the 49ers (3-1) to a 17-9 lead.

And then he did something equally fun to watch in his team’s next touchdown. With the 49ers at the Miami five-yard line, Kemp faded to pass, with Craig blocking in front of him. Then he reached around Craig’s back and put the ball in his arms. Craig scored easily.

The 49ers seem to be doing fine with their new young quarterback and their season, even without Montana, remains hopeful. But the Dolphins, even with Marino, could be in trouble.

“We’re bitterly disappointed,” Shula said. “We’ve never been in this situation before. We’ve never been 1-2, let alone 1-3.”

Of course, it could get worse. And the rest of the Dolphins could get a taste of what Marino’s been getting, not the sweet drink of preference but lots of boos.