It Was Really a Long Day for Marino : And Raiders’ Howie Long Made It Seem Interminable

Dan Marino, the top-rated passer of all time, had thrown downfield wildly just before the Raider rush reached him. The ball missed the target by no more than 12 inches. And now, as Marino walked slowly back to the Dolphin huddle, he felt a tap on the shoulder.

This was late in the first half, and, turning, he saw Howie Long stride past him toward the Raider huddle. Long was smiling.

“Just saying hello, Dan,” he said.

If Marino replied, his words were lost in the wind that blew through the Orange Bowl Sunday. But he knew Long was there. All day, he knew Long was there.

The Raider rush--led by Long, Rod Martin, Bill Pickel and Sean Jones, among others--didn’t beat him by much but it beat him on a day when the Raiders opened a halftime lead of 23-7 and a fourth-quarter lead of 30-14 before Marino closed the final score to 30-28.

As Raider Coach Tom Flores boosted his lifetime won-lost record to 6-0 over the Dolphins’ Don Shula--who has won more often than any other active National Football League coach, 257 times in 24 years--Marino fell two points short for two reasons:

--The Raider offense, which should have done more against a defense as weak as Miami’s, did enough to keep Marino on the bench most of the afternoon. In elapsed time, the Raiders controlled the ball for almost 21 of the first 30 minutes and finished with an edge of 37:21 to 22:39.

--The Raider rush hurried Marino repeatedly, restricting him to completing only 20 of 34 passes for 286 yards.

“We only sacked him a couple of times, but that’s because he’s nearly impossible to sack,” Long said. “Marino has the quickest release I’ve ever seen on a football field. All you can do is pressure him--keep the pressure on him on every play, hang around him, talk to him, keep reminding him that you’re close. I must have said hello (to Marino) 10 times today.”

The Raiders began and ended the day with a simple two-part defensive game plan: to hurry Marino, and to keep hurrying him when discouraged by his rapid-fire completions.

“The easiest thing to do against Marino is to get frustrated and quit working,” Long said. “He makes you feel helpless sometimes because he almost always unloads the ball two steps before you get there--and unloads it accurately. You have to forget all that and keep working on him, and keep hoping you’ll catch him the next play.”

Defensively, the Raiders’ objective against Marino this time--as it is every time--was to make him move. He’s the most effective in-the-pocket passer in the league, perhaps the most accurate ever. But his effectiveness diminishes sharply when he throws after rolling out or scrambling.

In this respect he differs markedly from Joe Montana, who is at his best when throwing on the run, or John Elway.

“To make Marino move, you’ve got to get in his face,” Flores said.

“Yes, the key is to be in his face when he wants to throw,” Long said.

Strangely Sunday, the Shula-Marino game plan didn’t seem to be drawn with a focus on Sammy Seale, the Raider cornerback who replaced injured Mike Haynes on the right side.

Although Marino directed an early completion to Seale’s man, Mark Duper, he didn’t often follow up with throws to that side. And, in fact, the Marino-Duper 44-yard play setting up a third-quarter touchdown was thrown on Lester Hayes’ side.

Asked why he didn’t continue to go after Seale, Marino said: “That isn’t our style.”

Their style against the Raiders is to contain Long and throw fast, and Sunday they did some of each.

“Whenever they had Long, they were doubling him,” Flores said. “He gets a lot of attention.”

Said Long: “They had a running back waiting for me every time I broke through. This would have been a four-sack game (for Long) against some teams.”

All the same, he’ll never lead the league in sacks.

“I’m not allowed to freelance like (the Jets’ Mark) Gastineau and (the Bears’ Richard) Dent,” Long said. “I play the (run or pass) defense that’s called.”

As usual, Long lined up left, right and in the middle at times in Miami. But even his positioning is called before the snap by his coaches. If he minds, he is satisfied by the overall results.

“Defensively, we’re stronger than last year,” he said. “Jerry Robinson adds speed, and Reggie McKenzie has had another year.”

Even so, Marino moved through the Raiders to four touchdowns on drives of 82, 22, 64 and 92 yards.

“The kid can get rid of the ball,” Long said.

The Raiders were held to three field goals and three touchdowns on marches of 78, 48 and 2 yards.

“Just enough,” Flores said.