Super Bowl VIII

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Super Bowl VIII
Image:SuperBowlVIII.png
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Tot
Vikings 0 0 0 7 7
Dolphins 14 3 7 0 24
Date January 13, 1974
Stadium Rice Stadium
City Houston, Texas
MVP Larry Csonka, Running back
Favorite Dolphins by 7
National anthem Charley Pride
Coin toss Game referee
Referee Ben Dreith
Halftime show University of Texas at Austin Band
Attendance 71,882
TV in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ray Scott, Pat Summerall and Bart Starr
Nielsen Ratings 41.6
Market share 73
Cost of 30-second commercial US$103,000

Super Bowl VIII was the eighth Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game was played on January 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas following the 1973 regular season.

The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings, 24–7. Aided by 24 unanswered points during the first three quarters of the game, the Dolphins won their second consecutive Super Bowl, and became the first team to appear in three consecutive ones.

Dolphins Running Back Larry Csonka, who ran for a 145 yards and 2 touchdowns, was named the game's Most Valuable Player. His 145 rushing yards and his 33 carries were both Super Bowl records. Csonka became the first running back to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.

Contents

[edit] Background

[edit] Miami Dolphins

Although the Dolphins were unable to match their 17-0 perfect season back in 1972, many sports writers and fans felt that the 1973 team was better. Miami finished with a 12-2 regular season, including their opening game victory that tied an NFL record with 18 consecutive wins.

Just like the last 2 previous seasons, Miami's offense relied primarily on their rushing attack. Fullback Larry Csonka recorded his third consecutive 1,000 rushing yard season (1,003 yards), while running back Mercury Morris rushed for 954 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. Running back Jim Kiick was also a key contributor, rushing for 257 yards, and catching 27 passes for 208 yards. Quarterback Bob Griese completed only 116 passes for 1,422 yards, but threw about twice as many touchdown passes (17) as interceptions (8), and earned an 84.3 passer rating. Wide receiver Paul Warfield remained the main deep threat on the team, catching 29 passes for 514 yards and 11 touchdowns. Also, the offensive line was strong, once again led by future hall of famers Jim Langer and Larry Little.

Miami's "No Name Defense" continued to dominate their opponents. Future hall of fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti recovered 3 fumbles and returned one for a touchdown. Defensive back Dick Anderson led the team with 8 interceptions, which he returned for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns. And defensive back Jake Scott, the previous season's Super Bowl MVP, had 4 interceptions and 71 return yards.

[edit] Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings also finished the regular season with a 12-2 record. Minnesota's offense was led by 13-year veteran quarterback Fran Tarkenton. During the regular season, Tarkenton completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 2,113 yard, 15 touchdowns, and just 7 interceptions. He also rushed for 202 yards and another touchdown. The team's primary deep threat was Pro Bowl wide receiver John Gilliam, who caught 42 passes for 907 yards, an average of 21.6 yards per catch, and scored 8 touchdowns. Tight End Stu Voigt was also a key element of the passing game, with 23 receptions for 318 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Vikings' main weapon on their rushing game was running back Chuck Foreman, who rushed for 801 yards, caught 37 passes for 362 yards, and scored 6 touchdowns. The Vikings had 4 other significant running backs: Dave Osborn, Bill Brown, Oscar Reed, and Ed Marinaro combined for 1,469 rushing/receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. The Vikings offensive line was also very talented, led by future hall of famer Ron Yary and 6-time Pro Bowler Mick Tingelhoff.

Their defense was once again anchored by a defensive line nicknamed the "Purple People Eaters", consisting of defensive tackles Gary Larsen and future hall of famer Alan Page, and defensive tackles Jim Marshall and future hall of famer Carl Eller. Behind them, defensive backs Bobby Bryant (7 interceptions, 105 return yards, 1 touchdown), and future hall of famer Paul Krause (4 interceptions) led the defensive secondary.

[edit] Playoffs

For more details on this topic, see NFL playoffs, 1973-74.

The Vikings earned their second trip to the Super Bowl in team history after defeating the Washington Redskins, 27-20, and the Dallas Cowboys 27-10, in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Dolphins went on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-16, and the Oakland Raiders, 27-10.

[edit] Television and entertainment

The game was broadcast in the United States by CBS with play-by-play announcer Ray Scott and color commentators Pat Summerall and Bart Starr.

The University of Texas at Austin Band performed during the pregame festivities. Later, country music singer Charley Pride sang the national anthem.

The halftime show also featured the University of Texas Band in a tribute to American music titled "A Musical America".

[edit] Game summary

The Dolphins dominated the Vikings right from the beginning. First, Dolphins defensive back Jake Scott gave his team good field position by returning the opening kickoff 31 yards to the Miami 38-yard line. Then Mercury Morris ran right for 4 yards, Larry Csonka crashed through the middle for 2, and quarterback Bob Griese completed a 13-yard pass to receiver Jim Mandich to advance the ball to the Vikings 43-yard line. Csonka then ran on second down for 16 yards, then Greise completed a 6-yard pass to receiver Marlin Briscoe to the 21-yard line. Three more running plays, two by Csonka and one by Morris moved the ball to the Vikings 5-yard line. Csonka then finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Then after forcing Minnesota to punt, the Dolphins went 56 yards in 10 plays (aided with three runs by Csonka for 8, 16, and 8 yards; and Griese's 13-yard pass to Briscoe) to score on running back Jim Kiick's 1-yard run to give them a 14-0 lead.

By the time the first quarter ended, Miami had ran 20 plays for 118 yards and 8 first downs, and scored touchdowns on their first two possessions. Meanwhile the Miami defense held the Minnesota offense to only 25 yards, 6 plays from scrimmage and 1 first down.

The situation never got much better for the Vikings in the rest of the game. After each team traded punts early in the second period, a 28-yard field goal from kicker Garo Yepremian increased the Dolphins lead to 17-0 midway through the second quarter.

The Vikings then had their best opportunity to score in the first half on their ensuing drive. Starting at their own 20-yard line, Minnesota marched to the Miami 15-yard line, aided by Fran Tarkenton's completions of 17 and 14 yards to tight end Stu Voigt and wide receiver John Gilliam's 30-yard reception. Tarkenton's 8-yard run on first down then advanced the ball to the 7-yard line. But on the next 2 plays, Vikings running back Oscar Reed gained only 1 yard on two rushes, bringing up a fourth down and 1 with less than a minute left in the half. Instead of kicking a field goal, Minnesota attempted to convert the fourth down with another running play by Reed. However, Reed lost the ball while being tackled by linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and Scott recovered the fumble.

Gilliam returned the second half kickoff 65 yards to the Miami 34-yard line, but a holding penalty on the play moved the ball all the way back to the Minnesota 11-yard line. Two plays later, Tarkenton was sacked for an 8-yard loss by linebacker Manny Fernandez on third down, forcing Minnesota to punt from their own 7-yard line. Scott then returned the punt 12 yards to the Minnesota 43-yard line.

Aided by Griese's third down 24-yard pass to wide receiver Paul Warfield at the Minnesota 11-yard line, Miami marched 43 yards in 8 plays to score on Csonka's 2-yard touchdown run to increase their lead to 24-0. Meanwhile, the Dolphins' defense dominated the rest of the game, only allowing a meaningless touchdown on a 4-yard run by Tarkenton early in the fourth quarter, making the final score 24-7.

Griese finished the game with just 6 out of 7 pass completions for 73 yards. Tarkenton finished 18 out of 28 completions for 182 yards, with 1 interception, and rushed for 17 yards and a touchdown. Reed was the leading rusher for the Vikings, but with just 32 yards. Voight was the top receiver of the game with 3 catches for 46 yards.

[edit] Scoring summary

  • MIA- Csonka 5 run (Yepremian kick)
  • MIA- Kiick 1 run (Yepremian kick)
  • MIA- FG Yepremian 28
  • MIA- Csonka 2 run (Yepremian kick)
  • MIN- Tarkenton 4 run (Cox kick)

[edit] Trivia

  • This was the first time in Super Bowl history that the game site was a true neutral field. All of the previous Super Bowls were held at a home field of an existing NFL team. The Houston Oilers did in fact play at Rice Stadium from 1965 to 1967, but moved to the Houston Astrodome in 1968.
  • This was also the first Super Bowl not to be held in either the Los Angeles, Miami, or New Orleans markets. The NFL would continue on a New Orleans/Miami/Los Angeles (Pasadena) rotation until Super Bowl XVI in 1982 (which was held in Pontiac, Michigan).
  • Houston would not host another Super Bowl until Super Bowl XXXVIII was played at Reliant Stadium on February 1, 2004. The 30-year wait is the longest gap between Super Bowls in one city.
  • The Dolphins became the first team to take the game's opening kickoff and march down the field for a touchdown.
  • Miami's 7 pass attempts were the fewest ever thrown by a team in the Super Bowl

[edit] Officials

  • Referee: Ben Dreith
  • Umpire: Ralph Morcroft
  • Head Linesman: Leo Miles
  • Line Judge: Jack Fette
  • Field Judge: Fritz Graf
  • Back Judge: Stan Javie

Note: A seven-official system was not used until 1978

[edit] See also

[edit] References

The Super Bowl
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NFL | Super Bowl Champions | Most Valuable Players | Broadcasters | Pre-Super Bowl NFL champions
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