1989 Miami Dolphins season

The 1989 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 24th as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's 6–10 W-L record, winning eight games. Despite this improvement they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, tying the longest such record in franchise history when the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs from 1966 to 1969. This was also the longest such record for coach Don Shula in his NFL career. 1989 was summed up for Miami in its season premiere and season finale, both losses at home: Buffalo stunned the Dolphins when they scored a TD as time ran out to win in week 1, and Kansas City won in week 16 in a contest where the gametime temperature was 32 degrees, a record for the coldest home game the Dolphins had ever played up to that time.

1989 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Don Shula
Home field	Joe Robbie Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	3 ILB John Offerdahl TE Ferrell Edmunds P Reggie Roby

Shortly after the season ended, Miami Dolphins founder Joe Robbie died on January 7, 1990, at the age of 73.

This was the first of 15 consecutive non-losing seasons for the Dolphins.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1989 NFL draft

1989 Miami Dolphins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	9	Sammie Smith	Running back	Florida State
1	25	Louis Oliver	Safety	Florida
Made roster

Personnel

Staff

1989 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office President – Joe Robbie Executive vice-president/general manager – Mike Robbie Vice-president – Don Shula Vice-president of administration and Finance – Eddie Jones Director of pro personnel – Charley Winner Director of college scouting – Tom Heckert, Sr. Head coaches Head coach – Don Shula Assistant head coach – John Sandusky Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/pass offense – Gary Stevens Offensive backs – Carl Taseff Receivers – Larry Seiple Offensive line – John Sandusky Assistant offensive line – Mike Westhoff Coaches' assistant – Tony Nathan

Defensive coaches Defense – Tom Olivadotti Defensive line – Dan Sekanovich Linebackers – George Hill Defensive backs – Mel Phillips Special teams coaches Special teams – Mike Westhoff Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Junior Wade

Roster

1989 Miami Dolphins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 13 Dan Marino  9 Scott Secules 18 Cliff Stoudt Running backs (RB) 36 Tom Brown FB 27 Lorenzo Hampton KR 11 Jim Jensen FB 20 Marc Logan 33 Sammie Smith Wide receivers (WR) 86 Fred Banks 82 Andre Brown 83 Mark Clayton 85 Mark Duper 89 Tony Martin 81 Scott Schwedes PR Tight ends (TE) 80 Ferrell Edmunds 88 Brian Kinchen LS

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Louis Cheek T 65 Jeff Dellenbach 74 Mark Dennis T 61 Roy Foster G 62 Harry Galbreath G 72 Ronnie Lee T 76 Tom Toth G 63 Jeff Uhlenhake C Defensive linemen (DL) 97 John Bosa DE 98 Jackie Cline DE 91 Jeff Cross DE 90 Eric Kumerow DE 70 Brian Sochia NT 95 T. J. Turner DE

Linebackers (LB) 59 Bob Brudzinski OLB 51 Greg Clark ILB 55 Hugh Green OLB 92 David Griggs OLB 54 E. J. Junior OLB 55 Barry Krauss ILB 56 John Offerdahl ILB Defensive backs (DB) 37 J. B. Brown CB 42 Ernest Gibson CB 29 Liffort Hobley FS 44 Paul Lankford CB 28 Don McNeal CB 25 Louis Oliver FS 24 Rodney Thomas CB 26 Jarvis Williams SS Special teams  4 Reggie Roby P 10 Pete Stoyanovich K

Practice squad 75 Pat Marlatt DE 71 Barry Pettyjohn T 60 Bert Weidner NT 47 active, 10 inactive, 3 practice squad Reserve 50 Dave Ahrens ILB (IR) 66 Dana Batiste LB (IR) 30 Ron Davenport FB (IR) 79 Jon Giesler T (IR) 99 Rick Graf OLB (IR) 41 African Grant DB (IR) 84 Bruce Hardy TE (IR) 73 Greg Johnson T (IR) 49 William Judson CB (IR) 23 Troy Stradford (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 10	Buffalo Bills	L 24–27	0–1	Joe Robbie Stadium	54,541
2	September 17	at New England Patriots	W 24–10	1–1	Sullivan Stadium	57,043
3	September 24	New York Jets	L 33–40	1–2	Joe Robbie Stadium	65,908
4	October 1	at Houston Oilers	L 7–39	1–3	Astrodome	53,326
5	October 8	Cleveland Browns	W 13–10 (OT)	2–3	Joe Robbie Stadium	58,444
6	October 15	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–13	3–3	Riverfront Stadium	58,184
7	October 22	Green Bay Packers	W 23–20	4–3	Joe Robbie Stadium	56,624
8	October 29	at Buffalo Bills	L 17–31	4–4	Rich Stadium	80,208
9	November 5	Indianapolis Colts	W 19–13	5–4	Joe Robbie Stadium	52,680
10	November 12	at New York Jets	W 31–23	6–4	Giants Stadium	65,923
11	November 19	at Dallas Cowboys	W 17–14	7–4	Texas Stadium	56,044
12	November 26	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–34	7–5	Joe Robbie Stadium	59,936
13	December 3	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 21–26	7–6	Arrowhead Stadium	54,610
14	December 10	New England Patriots	W 31–10	8–6	Joe Robbie Stadium	55,918
15	December 17	at Indianapolis Colts	L 13–42	8–7	Hoosier Dome	55,665
16	December 24	Kansas City Chiefs	L 24–27	8–8	Joe Robbie Stadium	43,612

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills(3)	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	409	317	W1
Indianapolis Colts	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–5	298	301	L1
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–8	331	379	L2
New England Patriots	5	11	0	.313	4–4	5–7	297	391	L3
New York Jets	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–9	253	411	L3

Season summary

Week 1

See also: 1989 Buffalo Bills season and Bills–Dolphins rivalry

Week One: Buffalo Bills (0–0) at Miami Dolphins (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	3	0	10	14	27
Dolphins	0	10	7	7	24

at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida

• Date: September 10, 1989
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 83 °F (28 °C)
• Game attendance: 54,541
• Referee: Jerry Markbreit
• Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database

Game information

First quarter BUF – Scott Norwood 34 yard field goal, 2:34. Bills 3–0. Drive: Second quarter MIA – Troy Stradford 1-yard run (Pete Stoyanovich kick), 8:48. Dolphins 7–3. Drive: MIA – Pete Stoyanovich 29-yard field goal, 0:03. Dolphins 10–3. Drive: Third quarter BUF – Larry Kinnebrew 2-yard run (Scott Norwood kick), 11:58. Tie 10–10. Drive: MIA – Marc Logan 2-yard blocked punt return (Pete Stoyanovich kick), 7:03. Dolphins 17–10. Drive: BUF – Scott Norwood 37-yard field goal, 2:11. Dolphins 17–13. Drive: Fourth quarter MIA – Andre Brown 8-yard pass from Dan Marino (Pete Stoyanovich kick), 4:17. Dolphins 24–13. Drive: BUF – Flip Johnson 26-yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick), 2:50. Dolphins 24–20. Drive: BUF – Jim Kelly 2-yard run (Scott Norwood kick), 0:00. Bills 27–24. Drive: 51 yards. 51 Top passers BUF – Jim Kelly – 25/40, 265 yards, TD MIA – Dan Marino – 25/38, 255 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers BUF – Thurman Thomas – 13 rushes, 94 yards MIA – Troy Stradford – 12 rushes, 43 yards, TD Top receivers BUF – Thurman Thomas – 8 receptions, 65 yards MIA – Ferrell Edmunds – 5 receptions, 58 yards