1990 Miami Dolphins season

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 Miami Dolphins season
General manager	Eddie Jones
Head coach	Don Shula
Home stadium	Joe Robbie Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoffs	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Chiefs) 17–16 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Bills) 34–44
Pro Bowlers	3 TE Ferrell Edmunds LT Richmond Webb DE Jeff Cross
← 1989 Dolphins seasons 1991 →

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 2025, 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 President – Tim Robbie Executive vice president/general manager – Eddie Jones Vice president – Don Shula Assistant general manager – Bryan Wiedmeier Director of player personnel – Charley Winner Director of pro personnel – Monte Clark Director of college scouting – Tom Heckert, Sr. Head coaches Head coach – Don Shula Assistant head coach – John Sandusky Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/pass offense – Gary Stevens Offensive backs – Carl Taseff Receivers – Larry Seiple Offensive line – John Sandusky Coaches' assistant – Tony Nathan

Defensive coaches Defense – Tom Olivadotti Defensive line – Dan Sekanovich Linebackers – George Hill Defensive backs – Mel Phillips Special teams coaches Special teams – Mike Westhoff Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Junior Wade

Roster

1990 Miami Dolphins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 13 Dan Marino 19 Scott Mitchell  9 Scott Secules Running backs (RB) 34 Tony Collins 32 Garrett Limbrick 20 Marc Logan KR 49 Tony Paige FB 33 Sammie Smith Wide receivers (WR) 83 Mark Clayton 85 Mark Duper 11 Jim Jensen 89 Tony Martin PR 81 James Pruitt Tight ends (TE) 84 Greg Baty LS 80 Ferrell Edmunds

Offensive linemen (OL) 65 Jeff Dellenbach 74 Mark Dennis T 61 Roy Foster G 62 Harry Galbreath G 69 Keith Sims G 63 Jeff Uhlenhake 78 Richmond Webb T 60 Bert Weidner C/G Defensive linemen (DL) 91 Jeff Cross DE 90 Eric Kumerow DE 98 Shawn Lee NT 96 Alfred Oglesby NT 70 Brian Sochia DE 95 T. J. Turner DE 77 Karl Wilson DE

Linebackers (LB) 55 Hugh Green OLB 92 David Griggs OLB 54 E. J. Junior OLB 93 Cliff Odom ILB 56 John Offerdahl ILB 52 Mike Reichenbach ILB Defensive backs (DB) 47 Stefon Adams CB/S 37 J. B. Brown CB 35 Kerry Glenn CB 44 Paul Lankford CB 22 Tim McKyer CB 27 Stevon Moore FS 25 Louis Oliver FS 24 Rodney Thomas CB 26 Jarvis Williams SS Special teams (ST)  4 Reggie Roby P 10 Pete Stoyanovich K

Practice squad 66 John Jurkovic DT Reserve 86 Fred Banks WR (IR) 97 John Bosa DE (IR) 82 Andre Brown WR (IR) 99 Rick Graf LB (IR) 41 African Grant S (IR) 45 Bobby Harden S (IR) 21 Mark Higgs (IR) 29 Liffort Hobley S (IR) 38 Leroy Holt FB (IR) 88 Brian Kinchen (IR) 58 Barry Krauss LB (IR) 28 Mike McGruder CB (IR) 81 Scott Schwedes (IR) 23 Troy Stradford RB (IR) 43 George Swarn RB (IR) 48 Sean Vanhorse CB (IR) Rookies in italics 47 active, 16 reserve, 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
view talk edit	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

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	3	7	6	0	16
Dolphins	0	3	0	14	17

at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C), cloudy
• Game attendance: 67,276
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

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

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	3	14	3	14	34
Bills	13	14	3	14	44

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C), rain and snow
• Game attendance: 77,087
• Referee: Bob McElwee
• TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire

Awards and honors

• Jeff Cross, AFC Pro Bowl selection

Milestones

• Dan Marino, 7th Consecutive 3,000 Yard Passing Season