On September 21, 1986, the NFL witnessed a classic showdown between two of the league’s most prolific passers, a game now famously known as the “Ken O’Brien/Dan Marino Shootout.” Fans at Giants Stadium were treated to a spectacle of offense as the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins combined for 96 points in a 51-45 overtime thriller.
O’BrienvsMarino 1986 Shootout 22 Sep 1986, Mon The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida) Newspapers.com
Miami’s Dan Marino, a future Hall of Famer, put on a masterful performance, completing 30 of 50 passes for 448 yards and six touchdowns. But his Jets counterpart, Ken O’Brien, answered every score, silencing critics who had often compared him unfavorably to Marino from their shared 1983 draft class. O’Brien threw for a career-high 479 yards, connecting with wide receiver Wesley Walker on all four of his touchdown passes.
The game’s final minutes were a whirlwind of drama. With the Dolphins leading 45-38, O’Brien led an 80-yard drive in just over a minute, culminating in a 21-yard touchdown pass to Walker as time expired, forcing overtime. Just three plays into the extra period, O’Brien found Walker again, this time for a 43-yard game-winning bomb. The two quarterbacks combined for 927 net passing yards, a record at the time that stood for 25 years. Marino later summed up the game perfectly: “Man, I threw six touchdowns in a game, and we lost.”
This contest ranked as the 91st Top game in NFL history according to NFL.com in 2020.
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