Marino Back in Form; Miami Prevails

Dan Marino, who threw only one touchdown pass in his previous three games, threw two in one minute late in the second quarter as the Miami Dolphins came from behind and beat the New England Patriots, 20-10, Sunday.

Marino completed six of seven passes for 112 yards on the two possessions.

“Vintage Marino,” Miami Coach Don Shula said. “Marino got it heated up. Those are the things that he is capable of doing.”

New England (2-4) struck quickly against Miami (3-3), as Jerome Henderson returned a punt 40 yards to the Miami 28 to set up a one-yard scoring run by John Stephens.

But Marino, who hadn’t played up to his past performances through his first five games and the first quarter of his sixth, took advantage of the worst pass defense in the NFL.

His touchdown passes of 24 yards to Mark Clayton with 1:22 left in the first half and five yards to Jim Jensen with 22 seconds remaining gave Miami a 17-7 halftime lead.

Marino completed 25 of 38 passes for 321 yards and no interceptions, becoming the third quarterback in six games to throw for more than 300 yards against the Patriots. His previous high this season was 267 yards in the first game.