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"Prior to the 1978 AFC wild card game between the Houston Oilers and Miami Dolphins, Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini was severely injured. He was hospitalized for multiple days, did not practice all week, and was dealing with injuries to his elbow, his knee, his ankle, and his ribs, of which he had three of them that were cracked. What followed was a game where not only did Pastorini play and somehow send the Oilers to the next round of the NFL playoffs, but a game where despite all the pain, Pastorini had arguably the best game of his career at the time."
Dan Pastorini wasn't a great NFL QB. At best, he was a system's quarterback, who needed a strong offensive line and running game, to be a successful QB. As a backup, I think he would've been one of the best backups in the NFL during his career. But as a starter, he needed the people and coaching around him, to be successful. He needed a power offense, that only three off of play action a and threw the ball vertically, to be successful. Which is exactly what he had in Houston, with head coach Bum Phillips and the Oilers.
As far as this game, I think Dan Pastorini, what ever he think of him and career in the NFL, cemented his legacy as one of the toughest QB's to ever play in the NFL. To not only play an NFL game, but a playoff game, on the road, in the heat and humidity of Miami, Florida, at Orange Bowl Stadium, where the Dolphins were almost unbeatable, against a team as good as the 1978 Dolphins, to play that game with broken ribs and on drugs to deal with the pain, you know he was a tough guy and clutch QB.
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