Divisional Round: Miami Dolphins at Denver Broncos (Mile High Stadium), with a Conference Championship spot at stake. Kickoff: Sat January 9, 1999 at 4:15pm. Winner advances to the Conference Championship. The losing team's season is over.[1][2]
The divisional round is where the bracket is supposed to take its real shape. Miami Dolphins traveling to Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium, with the league watching to see whether the better team or the better matchup wins. Bye-week home favorites carry the weight of expectation; the visiting wild-card winner walks in with no one expecting them and nothing to lose.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Mile High Stadium shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Miami Dolphins versus Denver Broncos in the Divisional 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 Miami Dolphins-Denver Broncos 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 11-5 | W1 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8-8 | L2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-9 | L5 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6-10 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3-13 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New York Jets | 12-4 | W6 |
| Buffalo Bills | 10-6 | W1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 10-6 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 9-7 | L1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3-13 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | 14-2 | W1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 8-8 | L1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8-8 | L1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7-9 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 5-11 | L5 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 14-2 | W9 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 12-4 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6-10 | L3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 4-12 | W2 |
| St. Louis Rams | 4-12 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | 15-1 | W8 |
| Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | W3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 8-8 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5-11 | L4 |
| Chicago Bears | 4-12 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 10-6 | W2 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 9-7 | -- |
| New York Giants | 8-8 | W4 |
| Washington Redskins | 6-10 | L1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3-13 | L3 |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 03333 |
| Denver Broncos | 14 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 1421243838 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Broncos | Terrell Davis 1 yard rush ( Jason Elam kick) | 0-7 |
| Broncos | Terrell Davis 20 yard rush ( Jason Elam kick) | 0-14 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Dolphins | Olindo Mare 22 yard field goal | 3-14 |
| Broncos | Derek Loville 11 yard rush ( Jason Elam kick) | 3-21 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Broncos | Jason Elam 32 yard field goal | 3-24 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Broncos | Rod Smith 28 yard pass from John Elway ( Jason Elam kick) | 3-31 |
| Broncos | Neil Smith 79 yard defensive fumble return ( Jason Elam kick) | 3-38 |
Denver Broncos defeated Miami Dolphins 38-3 at Mile High Stadium in the Divisional Round. The final scoring play was Broncos: Neil Smith 79 yard defensive fumble return ( Jason Elam kick). The 35-point margin made it a one-sided afternoon. Top line of the day: Dan Marino: 243 pass yards on 26-of-37, 0 TD, 2 INT. Denver Broncos move on to the conference final.[1][2]
Denver Broncos walked out of Mile High Stadium as the team that survived a Divisional Round Miami Dolphins will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 38-3. This was a 35-point margin, which is unusual for this round of the postseason and tells a story about which staff out-prepared the other from the opening series. The final scoring play came from Broncos: Neil Smith 79 yard defensive fumble return ( Jason Elam kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Denver Broncos move on to a conference championship.
Denver Broncos 38, Miami Dolphins 3. Round: Divisional Round. Attendance: 75729. Q1: 2 scoring plays. Q2: 2 scoring plays. Q3: 1 scoring play. Q4: 2 scoring plays. Top performers:
- Dan Marino: 243 pass yards on 26-of-37, 0 TD, 2 INT
- Terrell Davis: 199 rush yards on 21 carries
- O.J. McDuffie: 9 catches for 118 yards
Divisional Round, played at Mile High Stadium. Final: Miami Dolphins 3, Denver Broncos 38, with Denver Broncos taking the result by 35. **First quarter**
- Broncos: Terrell Davis 1 yard rush ( Jason Elam kick)
- Broncos: Terrell Davis 20 yard rush ( Jason Elam kick)
Second quarter
- Dolphins: Olindo Mare 22 yard field goal
- Broncos: Derek Loville 11 yard rush ( Jason Elam kick)
Third quarter
- Broncos: Jason Elam 32 yard field goal
Fourth quarter
- Broncos: Rod Smith 28 yard pass from John Elway ( Jason Elam kick)
- Broncos: Neil Smith 79 yard defensive fumble return ( Jason Elam kick)
Top performers
- Dan Marino: 243 pass yards on 26-of-37, 0 TD, 2 INT
- Terrell Davis: 199 rush yards on 21 carries
- O.J. McDuffie: 9 catches for 118 yards
The 35-point margin says most of what needs saying about how the day went; the box score is the rest.
| Dolphins | Broncos | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 14 | 24 |
| Total Yards | 252 | 424 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 0 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 26/37 | 14/23 |
| Pass yards | 243 | 182 |
| Pass TD | 0 | 1 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 0 |
| Sacks taken | 1 | 1 |
| Sack yards lost | 5 | 8 |
| Net pass yards | 238 | 174 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 13 | 38 |
| Rush yards | 14 | 250 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 3 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 1 | 0 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 0 |
| Penalties | 10 | 5 |
| Penalty yards | 57 | 41 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | |||||
| Dan Marino | 26/37 | 243 | 0 | 2 | |
| DEN | |||||
| John Elway | 14/23 | 182 | 1 | 0 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | ||||
| Bernie Parmalee | 7 | 14 | 0 | 12 |
| Karim Abdul-Jabbar | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Damon Huard | 2 | -2 | 0 | -1 |
| Stanley Pritchett | 1 | -3 | 0 | -3 |
| DEN | ||||
| Terrell Davis | 21 | 199 | 2 | 62 |
| Derek Loville | 8 | 34 | 1 | 11 |
| John Elway | 3 | 19 | 0 | 11 |
| Bubby Brister | 6 | -2 | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | ||||
| O.J. McDuffie | 9 | 118 | 0 | 23 |
| Oronde Gadsden | 4 | 36 | 0 | 14 |
| Lamar Thomas | 3 | 31 | 0 | 17 |
| Bernie Parmalee | 5 | 24 | 0 | 9 |
| Stanley Pritchett | 3 | 23 | 0 | 12 |
| Nate Jacquet | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Karim Abdul-Jabbar | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| DEN | ||||
| Rod Smith | 4 | 71 | 1 | 28 |
| Ed McCaffrey | 3 | 52 | 0 | 33 |
| Shannon Sharpe | 5 | 38 | 0 | 10 |
| Howard Griffith | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Terrell Davis | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
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