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Marino Passes for 521 Yards, but Miami Falls : Only Van Brocklin Has Thrown for More

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<i> From Times Wire Services </i>

Dan Marino’s 521 yards passing Sunday earned him another place in the National Football League record book.

His 5 interceptions cost Miami a victory.

Marino rallied the Dolphins from a 30-10 halftime deficit by throwing for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns in the second half, but he was intercepted 3 times in the final 5:07 as the Jets defeated Miami, 44-30.

Marino’s 521 yards is the second-highest total in NFL history, topped only by Norm Van Brocklin’s 554 yards in 1951 while he was with the Rams.

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Marino completed 35 of a career-high 60 passes with 3 going for touchdowns. He broke his own team record for passing yardage, 470, set against the Raiders in 1984. The 6-year veteran topped the 400 mark for the 8th time in his career, extending his own NFL record.

“You can throw for a lot of yards--that’s nice, but you want to win,” Marino said. “If you throw for 900 yards and you throw an interception when you have a chance to win, that (the yardage) doesn’t make any difference.”

The victory was a key one for the Jets, who were coming off an embarrassing 37-14 loss to Buffalo. The Jets (4-3-1) also played without defensive end Mark Gastineau, who announced his retirement earlier this week.

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New York scored 24 second-quarter points to build a 20-point halftime advantage.

Miami (4-4) cut its deficit to 37-30 with 13:11 left on Troy Stradford’s 1-yard dive.

Tony Franklin, subbing for the injured Fuad Reveiz, missed a 37-yard field goal attempt with 8:09 left. Marino was intercepted in the end zone by Carl Howard on a first-and-goal from the New York 9 with 5:07 left. On Miami’s next play from scrimmage, Marino overthrew Mark Duper and was intercepted by Rich Miano.

The Jets then drove for Hector’s touchdown run.

The Jets also scored on Ken O’Brien passes of 35 yards to Wesley Walker, 6 yards to Al Toon, and 13 yards to Kurt Sohn; Pat Leahy field goals of 33, 38, and 28 yards; and a 55-yard interception return by rookie Erik McMillan, who had 3 interceptions.

Miami had 584 total yards, breaking the team record of 569 set in the 1985 playoffs against Pittsburgh.

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