Here were the games that we got yesterday 1975.
Everybody gets the same game tonight, of course.
Apologies to William and Doug, but I'll be flipping over to Channel 3 after Rhoda and Phyllis on Channel 12.
Mostly, though, I'll be using that hour to get my football cards in order for kickoff.
OK, now I understand why I petered out pretty quickly on this post back in 2013.
ReplyDeleteRaiders 31, Dolphins 21. It didn't feel that close.
ReplyDeleteThe game opened with Mercury Morris getting a big run outside, and one could trick himself into believing that maybe Morris was just waiting for Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick to go away to become the best running back in the league.
ReplyDeleteBut then Don Nottingham, one of the two Colts bruisers whom Don Shula brought in to replace the World Football League dudes, fumbled, and then it just felt like an evening of Ken Stabler finding Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch or Dave Casper whenever he wanted among six-yard runs by any of about six different running backs named Banahubbeeghan or something.
ReplyDeleteHere’s how Edwin Pope put in in The Miami Herald on Tuesday morning, Sept. 23:
ReplyDeleteThe Dolphins started their 1975 seasons the same way they ended their 1974 season.
The wrong way.
Unlike, however, the high theater of last December’s 28-26 playoff defeat in Oakland, the Dolphins were buried almost before Monday night’s 31-21 loss to the Raiders began.
They were buried in bandages and defections and Oakland’s grinding savagery, 17-0, after 25 minutes.
By then Bob Griese was trying desperately to claw his way out of a twin trap of Raider rushers and boos showering down from his one-time idolators int he Orange Bowl where the Dolphins had won 31 straight games.
Griese was intercepted twice in the fourth quarter, and, watching over the YouTube clip, 2022 me agrees with 2013 me that this was probably the moment that Dad thought it was best to report the unfortunate news that Griese had apparently lost all self control and was letting his hair grow longer. Dad was probably mad at himself for staying up late and sticking with the game after Miami fell behind 17-0.
ReplyDeleteSo the season premiere of NFL Monday Night Football was a pretty big letdown. Rhoda and Phyllis, however, were fine. I really like those shows. Sorry again, William Shatner.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sunday's Week 1 action, ...
ReplyDeleteSteve Bartkowski's debut was a 23-20 loss to the Cardinals. St. Louis scored 10 points in the game's last four minutes, including Jim Bakken's winner field goal as time expired.
ReplyDeleteCincinnati's Ken Anderson completed six passes to Isaac Curtis for 127 yards against Cleveland, and I think this segment shows all six of them. Those two look great. Bengals 24, Browns 17.
ReplyDeleteJim Plunkett is out with an injury, probably for a few weeks, but he continues to hold a spot on the Patriots' active roster because of offseason rules changes that curtail teams' flexibility to stow talent on injured-reserve lists. For now, New England's starting quarterback is Neil Graff, and the Patriots lost in Week 1 to the Houston Oilers, 7-0, in a game in which the only touchdown was a returned fumble for a score.
ReplyDeleteThis episode of This Week In Pro Football opens with Tom Brookshier praising the 34 rookie starters across the NFL in the regular season's first week. Pat Summerall then comes on to laud the dependable old pros of the Minnesota Vikings--in particular, Fran Tarkenton. He notes that league experts once ridiculed Tarkenton for his scrambling style, but, says Pats, "the critics are silent now." Vikings 27, 49ers 17.
ReplyDeleteThe Lions blocked three Green Bay punts (and returned two for touchdowns) in a 30-16 Detroit victory in Bart Starr's debut as the Packers' head coach.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Eagles (Bill Bergey specifically) blocked three Giants kicks but lost to New York, 23-14.
ReplyDeleteOn the Padres’ field, San Diego tried all three of its quarterbacks against the Steelers, and none of them could advance the Chargers beyond the Pittsburgh 40-yard line. Defending champs 37, Chargers 0.
ReplyDeleteLos Angeles was a common offseason pick to represent the NFC in Super Bowl X. But on opening day in Dallas, Tom Landry's refurb appeared to already have leapfrogged Chuck Knox's build: 18-7, Cowboys.
ReplyDeleteThis clip is notable as it appears to be NFL Films' introduction of 1970s innovation: "The Rams defense played tough defense all afternoon long, which forced Landry to change the pace of his multiple offense. Dallas mixed in a formation which they used at times during the preseason, as Staubach shifted seven yards deep into the ’shotgun’ formation. The purpose was to give the passer more time, while spreading the defense out, and Staubach was quick to exploit the open field left by the scattered Rams."
Here's some icy raw WFAA footage of Dallas's "Doomsday Defense."
DeleteHere's Bert Jones making the kind of throws that had us all figuring him for superstardom deep into the 1980s--and taking the kind of hits that had his career all but over by the end of the 1970s. Colts 35, Bears 7.
ReplyDeleteI would watch a documentary on the 1975 to 1977 Colts.
DeleteMe, too!
DeleteMan, Joe Namath can really, really throw the ball. Of course, he completed only 14 of 36 passes to his Jets teammates and four of them to Bills. And O.J. Simpson ran for 173 yards. And Namath hurt his knee. Bills 42, Jets 14.
ReplyDelete