Denver Broncos vs. Miami Dolphins: Inside the Series
By Chris Krier
The Denver Broncos travel to Sun Life Stadium this weekend to play the Miami Dolphins in their 17th overall matchup all-time.
There are plenty of story lines going into this game: Tim Tebow’s first start, The pro-Tebow crowd, the first game without Brandon Lloyd, the first game against former wide receiver Brandon Marshall, the implications to the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, etc. But the story line I’m most interested in is will the Broncos end their 3-game losing streak? There are not very many games left on the schedule where Denver has a shot at being favored, so they need to take advantage of these opportunities. Denver has played well in defeat up to this point, but moral victories only get you so far. I think Denver will be sparked by all the recent changes and take this game 27-13, but if for some reason they don’t get it done, it is going to be a very tough season in Broncos Country.
Let’s take a look at the series history between the Broncos and the Dolphins:
The Dolphins lead the all-time regular season series at 11-3-1 and Denver leads the post-season series at 1-0. Surprisingly, these teams matched up only 3 times during the John Elway-Dan Marino era with Miami winning both regular season games and Denver taking the only post-season matchup. Denver has never won a game in Miami, and their only modern-era victories in the series came in Denver during the 1998 and 2004 seasons.
From a Denver perspective, the most memorable game played in this series was a Divisional Playoff game in Denver after the 1998 season. It was a rematch from a late-season loss in Miami where the Broncos fell for only the 2nd time all season. I was actually at that loss in Miami, and I remember telling several of the more the exuberant fans after the game that the road to the Super Bowl still went thru Denver, and boy was that true. The Mile High playoff crowd was crazy from start to finish, and the Denver players matched that intensity on the field. It was a demolition as the Broncos steamrolled the Dolphins by a final score of 38-3. It was the 2nd to last home game of Elway’s career, the last time Elway and Marino ever played, and it led to the second straight Super Bowl Championship for the Broncos.
The Series
Miami Leads Overall Series, 11-4-1:
1966—Dolphins, 24-7 (Miami)
1966 – Broncos, 17-7 (Denver)
1967—Dolphins, 35-21 (Miami)
1968—Broncos, 21-14 (Denver)
1969—Dolphins, 27-24 (Miami)
1971—Tie, 10-10 (Denver)
1975—Dolphins, 14-13 (Miami)
1985—Dolphins, 30-26 (Denver)
1998—Dolphins, 31-21 (Miami)
1999 – Broncos, 38-3 (Denver — Divisional Playoff Game)
1999—Dolphins, 38-21 (Denver)
2001—Dolphins, 21-10 (Miami)
2002—Dolphins, 24-22 (Denver)
2004—Broncos, 20-17 (Denver)
2005—Dolphins, 34-10 (Miami)
2008—Dolphins, 26-17 (Denver)
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