A Football Life - A Perfect Backfield
- Thread starter Fins1971
- Start date
What a backfield. Nothing like it since that lasted more. Hard to even fathom two backs w 1,000+ yards and a third w 521 in 14 games. And the YPC was insane. What a line too.
Watching Csonka bull ahead for 5-8 yards and then the change of pace of lightning quick Morris, adding the versatility of Kiick...hard to beat that triple threat.
And, on top of that, Griese would scramble when the opportunity presented itself.
That oline mauled some of best dlines in history.
It should be a great show. Hopefully lots of film.
And, on top of that, Griese would scramble when the opportunity presented itself.
That oline mauled some of best dlines in history.
It should be a great show. Hopefully lots of film.
Wishfishin
Waterboy
It was the best of times for Dolphin fans. And easy to tell you were there, you're one of the few on here who spells "Csonka" correctly.
In the early 70's I was a teenager, and since my dad was not a fan of football, I never got to go to the games until I was able to drive myself there in 1977.
I watched the games on TV when they were on.
Csonka also went by the nickname "Zonk" which was appropriate.
I am also one of the few here that spell "probably" correctly instead of "prolly". Even with spell check, it is hard to understand the laziness. lol
The entire oline and dline from 1971-1973 should be in the HOF in my opinion. Those cats destroyed players that are in the HOF.
Fernandez and Keuchenberg should definitely be in the HOF.
When I watched the tape of this year's Bears game a few nights ago, I was struck by how quickly it was played. That game ended well before 4 PM, and was several minutes into the 3rd quarter while other 1 PM games were still late in the 2nd quarter.
During those awesome early '70s, the Miami games routinely ended at 3:35 or 3:40. I had time for a quick lunch before the 4 PM games. Not only was it a run oriented era in general, but the Dolphins abused the trend, particularly at the end of the game. If we took over on our own end with 7 or 8 minutes remaining, that game was over. We'd methodically churn out one first down after another on the ground. It was especially satisfying on the road with the crowd silent and departing.
I was spoiled by run oriented football. Nothing like it. It's one of the reasons I never appreciated the Marino era, and greatly prefer college football to pro football today. The college game is still majority running game. Spread teams like Auburn and Oregon hurry up and run the ball. Although not everybody understands to differentiate. Somehow Tim Reynolds wrote on twitter about a month ago that college football is heavy pass oriented. What a joke. Every season only about 50 or 54 college teams among 128ish throw the ball more often than they run it. The percentage of teams with more passes than runs declines throughout the season. Every year you might have nearly 60 teams with more passes than runs early in the year, then it drops as the weather changes.
Here are the numbers: http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/passing-play-pct
Notice that Mike Leach is in a one-dimensional league of his own. That's why I love to bet against him when sensible.
It's true that college football sacks are counted as running plays. That skews the stat but only a little bit, if you actually chart the games. I learned that in the stats office I worked at.
Here's the same stat in the NFL. Note that only two teams currently run more often than they throw it, although nobody is nearly as pass heavy as the brilliant Mike Leach. Somebody might want to help educate Tim Reynolds with the two contrasting percentages:
http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/passing-play-pct
During those awesome early '70s, the Miami games routinely ended at 3:35 or 3:40. I had time for a quick lunch before the 4 PM games. Not only was it a run oriented era in general, but the Dolphins abused the trend, particularly at the end of the game. If we took over on our own end with 7 or 8 minutes remaining, that game was over. We'd methodically churn out one first down after another on the ground. It was especially satisfying on the road with the crowd silent and departing.
I was spoiled by run oriented football. Nothing like it. It's one of the reasons I never appreciated the Marino era, and greatly prefer college football to pro football today. The college game is still majority running game. Spread teams like Auburn and Oregon hurry up and run the ball. Although not everybody understands to differentiate. Somehow Tim Reynolds wrote on twitter about a month ago that college football is heavy pass oriented. What a joke. Every season only about 50 or 54 college teams among 128ish throw the ball more often than they run it. The percentage of teams with more passes than runs declines throughout the season. Every year you might have nearly 60 teams with more passes than runs early in the year, then it drops as the weather changes.
Here are the numbers: http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/passing-play-pct
Notice that Mike Leach is in a one-dimensional league of his own. That's why I love to bet against him when sensible.
It's true that college football sacks are counted as running plays. That skews the stat but only a little bit, if you actually chart the games. I learned that in the stats office I worked at.
Here's the same stat in the NFL. Note that only two teams currently run more often than they throw it, although nobody is nearly as pass heavy as the brilliant Mike Leach. Somebody might want to help educate Tim Reynolds with the two contrasting percentages:
http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/passing-play-pct