Marino Gets Going and Stops Bengals’ Streak at Riverfront

Dan Marino snapped out of a first-half slump and revved up Miami’s offense with his long passing as the Dolphins ended Cincinnati’s home winning streak at 12 games with a 20-13 victory Sunday.

Marino, just five of 15 for 59 yards in the first half, completed passes of 41, 34 and 36 yards to Mark Duper on three separate drives in the second half, setting up two touchdowns and a field goal.

The 17 second-half points sent the Bengals (4-2) to their first loss at Riverfront Stadium since the end of the 1987 season.

“It’s got to end sometimes,” said Boomer Esiason, who was bothered all game by the Miami pass rush.

“This just goes to show you that even if you feel you have the better football team, if there’s an explosive guy like that at quarterback, he can beat you.”

The victory was Miami’s fifth straight over Cincinnati.

Marino and the Miami offense fizzled in the first half, managing three points and 95 total yards. The Dolphins had one scoring threat--and settled for a field goal.

But the Bengal offense was struggling, too, leaving Miami (3-3) within striking distance at the half, trailing only 13-3.

Then Marino took took matters into his hands.

He scored on a one-yard bootleg midway through the third quarter to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 13-10, set up Pete Stoyanovich’s tying 33-yard field goal, and drove the Dolphins to the winning touchdown, which came on a five-yard run by Troy Stradford with 5:31 to play.

Miami then held the Bengals and ran out the clock with the help of a 30-yard completion to Mark Clayton on a third-down play.

“They came out and threw the ball in the second half, and it worked,” Bengal cornerback Eric Thomas said. “Marino is one of those guys that no matter how much pressure you put on him, he’s going to step out of it and get the ball off.”

Marino completed 11 of 18 passes in the second half for 207 yards and avoided a sack to extend the Dolphins’ NFL record to 18 games without allowing a sack. He also scored his first rushing touchdown since Dec. 7, 1987.

“They were kind of shocked I was running the ball there,” Marino said. “I got lucky and got it in there. They weren’t expecting it.”

The Bengals also weren’t expecting as much pressure from the Dolphins’ defense, which led the American Conference with 20 sacks. Miami dropped Esiason three times and forced numerous quick throws on third-down plays. Esiason completed 16 of 24 for 194 yards, throwing for the Bengals’ only touchdown after fooling the Miami secondary with a play fake.