Dan Marino's Fake Spike Play
Dan Marino's Fake Spike Play
November 27, 1994

Dan Marino's Fake Spike Play

"It worked out perfectly." - Dan Marino

At Giants Stadium on a cold afternoon in November 1994, Dan Marino made one of the most heads up plays in NFL history. The Hall of Fame quarterback had nearly led the Dolphins all the way back from a 24-6 second half deficit against the Jets: under a minute remained, and the Dolphins trailed 24-21 with one timeout remaining and were on the move, with the ball at the New York 19. Marino dropped back and fired a complete pass to receiver Mark Ingram, who went down inside the 10. As the clock ticked down towards the 30-second mark, Marino motioned to his teammates that he intended to spike the ball. He took the snap and, along with the offensive and defensive line, appeared to stop – and Marino made a move to spike the ball to kill the clock. Instead, Marino, eyeing the right side of the field, held onto the ball and drilled a pass to Ingram, who had run into the end zone and was being guarded lazily by a defender. In front of a stunned Jets defense and stadium crowd, Ingram caught the ball for a touchdown that won the game, 28-24. Marino finished the day with 359 yards passing for four touchdowns – all of them to Ingram.