Wild Card Round: New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (Orange Bowl), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sat January 8, 1983 at 4:00pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins at Orange Bowl is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Orange Bowl shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
New England Patriots versus Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-2 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-3 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4-5 | L1 |
| Houston Oilers | 1-8 | L7 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 7-2 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 6-3 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 5-4 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4-5 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0-8-1 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Raiders | 8-1 | W5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6-3 | L1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-5 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3-6 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 2-7 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 5-4 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4-5 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3-6 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2-7 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 5-3-1 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5-4 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-4 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 4-5 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 8-1 | W4 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-3 | L2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-4 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 4-5 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Patriots | John Smith 23 yard field goal | 3-0 |
| Dolphins | Bruce Hardy 2 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 3-7 |
| Dolphins | Andra Franklin 1 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 3-14 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Patriots | John Smith 42 yard field goal | 6-14 |
| Dolphins | Woody Bennett 2 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 6-21 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Dolphins | Bruce Hardy 2 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 6-28 |
| Patriots | Don Hasselbeck 22 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick) | 13-28 |
Miami Dolphins defeated New England Patriots 28-13 at Orange Bowl in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Patriots: Don Hasselbeck 22 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick). Top line of the day: David Woodley: 246 pass yards on 16-of-19, 2 TD, 0 INT. Miami Dolphins advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
Miami Dolphins walked out of Orange Bowl as the team that survived a Wild Card Round New England Patriots will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 28-13. The final scoring play came from Patriots: Don Hasselbeck 22 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Miami Dolphins advance to the divisional round.
Miami Dolphins 28, New England Patriots 13.
Round: Wild Card Round.
Q2: 3 scoring plays.
Q3: 2 scoring plays.
Q4: 2 scoring plays.
Top performers:
- David Woodley: 246 pass yards on 16-of-19, 2 TD, 0 INT
- Andra Franklin: 112 rush yards on 26 carries
- Don Hasselbeck: 7 catches for 87 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Orange Bowl. Final: New England Patriots 13, Miami Dolphins 28, with Miami Dolphins taking the result by 15.
Second quarter
- Patriots: John Smith 23 yard field goal
- Dolphins: Bruce Hardy 2 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick)
- Dolphins: Andra Franklin 1 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick)
Third quarter
- Patriots: John Smith 42 yard field goal
- Dolphins: Woody Bennett 2 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick)
Fourth quarter
- Dolphins: Bruce Hardy 2 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick)
- Patriots: Don Hasselbeck 22 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick)
Top performers
- David Woodley: 246 pass yards on 16-of-19, 2 TD, 0 INT
- Andra Franklin: 112 rush yards on 26 carries
- Don Hasselbeck: 7 catches for 87 yards
| Patriots | Dolphins | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 14 | 27 |
| Total Yards | 237 | 448 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 3 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 16/30 | 16/19 |
| Pass yards | 189 | 246 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 2 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 0 |
| Sacks taken | 4 | 2 |
| Sack yards lost | 29 | 12 |
| Net pass yards | 160 | 234 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 18 | 45 |
| Rush yards | 77 | 214 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 2 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 1 | 3 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 3 |
| Penalties | 4 | 2 |
| Penalty yards | 27 | 15 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | |||||
| Steve Grogan | 16/30 | 189 | 1 | 2 | 56.1 |
| MIA | |||||
| David Woodley | 16/19 | 246 | 2 | 0 | 153.8 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | ||||
| Mark van Eeghen | 9 | 40 | 0 | 9 |
| Tony Collins | 7 | 35 | 0 | 7 |
| Mosi Tatupu | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Stanley Morgan | 1 | -2 | 0 | -2 |
| MIA | ||||
| Andra Franklin | 26 | 112 | 1 | 12 |
| Tony Nathan | 12 | 71 | 0 | 16 |
| David Woodley | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| Woody Bennett | 5 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| Tommy Vigorito | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | ||||
| Don Hasselbeck | 7 | 87 | 1 | 22 |
| Lin Dawson | 4 | 49 | 0 | 17 |
| Tony Collins | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| Ken Toler | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| Preston Brown | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Andy Johnson | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Mark van Eeghen | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| MIA | ||||
| Tony Nathan | 5 | 68 | 0 | 26 |
| Joe Rose | 2 | 47 | 0 | 35 |
| Tommy Vigorito | 2 | 40 | 0 | 23 |
| Duriel Harris | 1 | 36 | 0 | 36 |
| Jimmy Cefalo | 2 | 27 | 0 | 16 |
| Bruce Hardy | 3 | 23 | 2 | 19 |
| Rich Diana | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
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