On the day the Miami Dolphins won their first game of the 2007 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrated.
That wasn't the way it was supposed to work. The Dolphins were one loss away from matching Tampa Bay's infamous 0-14 record, set in 1976, when the Buccaneers lost 14 games because those were all they were allowed to play. The '76 Bucs had a vested interest in the Dolphins' 0-for-07 run. They needed Miami to lose to Baltimore on Sunday . . . and New England next week . . . and Cincinnati in Week 17 to lose their millstone as the Only NFL Team to Complete a Winless Regular Season.
Miami's bid for infamy ended at 0-13. It ended in overtime, on a quick pass over the middle from Cleo Lemon to Greg Camarillo that splintered the Baltimore defense and resulted in a did-that-just-really-happen? 64-yard touchdown play that resulted in a 22-16 Dolphins' triumph.
Lemon to Camarillo.
That doesn't have quite the same resonance as Griese-to-Warfield or Marino-to-Clayton in the Dolphin's touchdown-pass pantheon, but don't try telling that to Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who cried at the sight of his team's first victory of the season, or Miami Coach Cam Cameron, who needed 14 tries to win his first game as an NFL head coach.
Compared with the historic performance of the Buccaneers' kickoff-return squad, 0 for 14 doesn't sound so bad. Before Micheal Spurlock's 90-yard return in Tampa Bay's 37-3 rout of Atlanta, no Tampa Bay player had ever run back a kickoff for a touchdown. Before that, Buccaneers over the span of 32 years had gone 0 for 1,864 on kickoff tries.
So Tampa Bay will have to live at least a few months longer with the solitary stigma of 0-14. At least the franchise now has video evidence that, after more than three decades, it finally figured out what to do with a kickoff.
The Dolphins' breakthrough was charmed in more ways than one.
First, Miami had to rally from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to take a 16-13 lead late in regulation.
Then, the Ravens had a golden opportunity to keep the streak alive, needing half a yard on fourth down for a game-winning touchdown -- only to have Baltimore Coach Brian Billick signal retreat and go for the tying field goal with eight seconds left in regulation.
Then, Ravens kicker Matt Stover, who never misses in overtime, missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt five minutes into the extra period.
The Dolphins and their fans could not believe what they were seeing.
