Читать книгу FINS AT 50 - Greg Cote - Страница 45

44

1974

December 15:

Paul Warfield catches four touchdown passes (21, 7, 16 and 4 yards) from Bob Griese in the first half of a 34-7 victory over Detroit at the Orange Bowl. Miami finishes 12-2.

December 30:

Dolphins win their third consecutive AFC Championship, rushing for 266 yards in a 27-10 victory against Oakland at the Orange Bowl.

January 13:

Dolphins dominate Minnesota, 24-7, in Super Bowl 8 at Rice Stadium in Houston to win their second consecutive NFL championship. Larry Csonka is named MVP after gaining 145 yards on 33 carries.

DOLPHINS ARE SUPER AGAIN

Monday, January 14, 1974

Gary Long

All week the Minnesota Vikings grumbled they were getting second-class treatment. Sunday, in Super Bowl 8, the Dolphins gave them worse.

Don Shula’s magnificent mercenaries mauled Minnesota, 24-7, to reassert their superiority over pro football.

The Dolphins bludgeoned the Vikings 33 times with a muscular sledgehammer named Larry Csonka and frustrated them with a defense that is losing its architect, Bill Arnsparger.

Csonka, who slammed for a record 145 yards and two TDs, and Arnsparger, next head coach of the New York Giants, both received game balls.

“That ought to put that rumor to rest,” Shula said when announcing Arnsparger’s award. “All I can say is the Giants are getting one hell of a coach.”

The thrashing of Minnesota before a Rice Stadium crowd of 68,142 (the no-show count was 3,740) confirmed that the National Football League is dealing with a Dolphin dynasty.

The Super Bowl appearance was the Dolphins’ third straight, a record. And the back-to-back victories matched the mark of the late Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in Super Bowls 1 and 2.

In addition, the triumph was Miami’s 32nd in the last 34 games that counted and eighth in its last nine win-or-out playoff games.

The 17-point victory margin over Minnesota matched the difference between the Dolphins and Oakland Raiders in the American Conference title game. Miami