1990 Miami Dolphins season
General managerEddie Jones
Head coachDon Shula
Home fieldJoe Robbie Stadium
Results
Record12–4
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Chiefs) 17–16
Lost Divisional Playoffs
(at Bills) 34–44
Pro Bowlers
3

The 1990 Miami Dolphins season was the team's twenty-first season in the National Football League and twenty-fifth overall. After four seasons out of the playoffs with a combined record of 30 wins and 33 losses, the Dolphins returned to postseason play for the first time since 1985 with twelve wins and four losses. They defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 17–16 in the Wild Card Game, before being knocked out of contention by the Buffalo Bills, 44–34 in the Divisional Playoff Game.

1990 marked the first time since their record 1972 perfect season that the Dolphins played the New York Giants, and merely the second in team history.[1] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team's division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season. Also, the scheduled game between the Giants and Dolphins in 1987 was cancelled due to a players' strike. [2]

As of 2022, this was also the last time the Dolphins finished with at least twelve wins in the regular season.

Offseason

= Pro Bowler [3]

NFL Draft

Pick # NFL team Player Position College
9 Miami Dolphins Richmond Webb Tackle Texas A&M
40 Miami Dolphins Keith Sims Guard Iowa State
67 Miami Dolphins Alfred Oglesby Nose Tackle Houston
94 Miami Dolphins Scott Mitchell Quarterback Utah

Personnel

Staff

1990 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Junior Wade

Roster

1990 Miami Dolphins final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 47 active, 16 inactive, 1 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 9 at New England Patriots W 27–24 1–0 Foxboro Stadium 45,305
2 September 16 Buffalo Bills W 30–7 2–0 Joe Robbie Stadium 68,142
3 September 23 at New York Giants L 3–20 2–1 Giants Stadium 76,483
4 September 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 28–6 3–1 Three Rivers Stadium 54,691
5 October 7 New York Jets W 20–16 4–1 Joe Robbie Stadium 69,678
6 Bye
7 October 18 New England Patriots W 17–10 5–1 Joe Robbie Stadium 62,630
8 October 28 at Indianapolis Colts W 27–7 6–1 Hoosier Dome 59,213
9 November 4 Phoenix Cardinals W 23–3 7–1 Joe Robbie Stadium 54,294
10 November 11 at New York Jets W 17–3 8–1 Giants Stadium 68,362
11 November 19 Los Angeles Raiders L 10–13 8–2 Joe Robbie Stadium 70,553
12 November 25 at Cleveland Browns W 30–13 9–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,225
13 December 2 at Washington Redskins L 20–42 9–3 RFK Stadium 53,599
14 December 9 Philadelphia Eagles W 23–20 (OT) 10–3 Joe Robbie Stadium 67,034
15 December 16 Seattle Seahawks W 24–17 11–3 Joe Robbie Stadium 57,851
16 December 23 at Buffalo Bills L 14–24 11–4 Rich Stadium 80,235
17 December 30 Indianapolis Colts W 23–17 12–4 Joe Robbie Stadium 59,547
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(1) Buffalo Bills 13 3 0 .813 7–1 10–2 428 263 L1
(4) Miami Dolphins 12 4 0 .750 7–1 10–2 336 242 W1
Indianapolis Colts 7 9 0 .438 3–5 5–7 281 353 L1
New York Jets 6 10 0 .375 2–6 4–10 295 345 W2
New England Patriots 1 15 0 .063 1–7 1–11 181 446 L14

Player stats

Passing

Player Att Comp Yds Touchdowns INT Rating
Dan Marino 531 306 3563 21 11 82.6

Receiving

Player Receptions Yards Average Long Touchdowns
Mark Clayton 32 406 12.7 43 3

Defense

Player Tackles Sacks Fumble Recoveries
Jeff Cross 60 11.5 2

Playoffs

AFC wild card game

Miami Dolphins 17, Kansas City Chiefs 16
Period 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 3 7 6016
Dolphins 0 3 01417

at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida

With 2:28 left in the game, the Dolphins capped an 85-yard drive with quarterback Dan Marino's winning 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Clayton.

AFC Divisional Playoff

Buffalo Bills 44, Miami Dolphins 34
Period 1 2 34Total
Dolphins 3 14 31434
Bills 13 14 31444

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Awards and honors

Milestones

References

  1. ^ New York Giants v Miami Dolphins
  2. ^ History of the NFL's Structure and Formats
  3. ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
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