Good article on homepage re: Steve Towel | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Good article on homepage re: Steve Towel

royalshank

royalshank

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The late 70's was the era my fandom for the fins really, truly began. We had some really good linebackers during that time in Towle, Rusty Chambers (RIP), Larry Gordon (RIP), AJ Duhe, Ernie Rhone. Towel's 217 tackles in a 14 game season is really impressive and yes, I would have guessed Zach as well. Had no idea what Towle had been up to - very cool story.
 
Miss the days when we were a team to be reckoned with. Its only been over 20 years since we were a consistent good team and 40 since a consistent great team
 
I still remember the untimely deaths of Rusty Chambers (1981) in a MVA and Larry Gordon (1983) sudden card death while jogging.
Chambers was a very solid, above average MLB and Gordon was one of the better pass rushing OLBs in the league.
The Phins lost to the Niners in the SB in 1984. Bill Walsh in interviews had said that the Niner offense attacked Miami's weakness (the LB position).
Shula tried in vain to replace Chambers and Gordon by drafting Jackie Shipp and Jay Brophy. They turned out to be the weak link on that SB team and Walsh/Montana/Craig exploited it.
I still feel that the Phins could have won that game had it not been for the deaths of those 2 LBs. At the very least it would have been a very competitive game.
 
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jlfin said:
I still remember the untimely deaths of Rusty Chambers (1981) in a MVA and Larry Gordon (1983) sudden card death while jogging.
Chambers was a very solid, above average MLB and Gordon was one of the better pass rushing OLBs in the league.
The Phins lost to the Niners in the SB in 1994. Bill Walsh in interviews had said that the Niner offense attacked Miami's weakness (the LB position).
Shula tried in vain to replace Chambers and Gordon by drafting Jackie Shipp and Jay Brophy. They turned out to be the weak link on that SB team and Walsh/Montana/Craig exploited it.
I still feel that the Phins could have won that game had it not been for the deaths of those 2 LBs. At the very least it would have been a very competitive game.
Click to expand...

Not to mention we lost David Overstreet the season of the superbowl to accident and Andra Franklin to injury.
 
jlfin said:
I still remember the untimely deaths of Rusty Chambers (1981) in a MVA and Larry Gordon (1983) sudden card death while jogging.
Chambers was a very solid, above average MLB and Gordon was one of the better pass rushing OLBs in the league.
The Phins lost to the Niners in the SB in 1984. Bill Walsh in interviews had said that the Niner offense attacked Miami's weakness (the LB position).
Shula tried in vain to replace Chambers and Gordon by drafting Jackie Shipp and Jay Brophy. They turned out to be the weak link on that SB team and Walsh/Montana/Craig exploited it.
I still feel that the Phins could have won that game had it not been for the deaths of those 2 LBs. At the very least it would have been a very competitive game.
Click to expand...

True, but it also didn't help that Marino had pressure in his face the entire game. Had the offense been on the field more consistently, then the linebackers would have had less time to be exposed on the field.
 
coalesce said:
True, but it also didn't help that Marino had pressure in his face the entire game. Had the offense been on the field more consistently, then the linebackers would have had less time to be exposed on the field.
Click to expand...

They got to our qb we basically got no pressure on theirs. We ran the ball 8 friggin times which set up defense with easy target of marino.
This superbowl was not one of Shula's finest hours. Joe Carter was also injured I believe. That we we made it to a superbowl on the legs of woody bennet and tony nathen is quite amazing in itself
 
There is a documentary of this game that NFL films did and they make a huge point of showing how our LBs were exploited by the short pass game and QB tuck and run up the gut as the backers were so preoccupied w getting to the flats to cover Craig and Tyler. Athletically they couldn't get there and wound up selling out leaving the middle wide open for Montana to tuck and run. Also, the Niners adjusted to us by going 3 D-linemen and 8 DBs - when they did that for some reason they got pass rush AND when we tried to run they abused our o-line and dropped our backs for no gain etc. Their 3 downlinmen were beating our 5. We did have RB injuries and jfin brings up a good point about the LB situation. Not to mention I believe Ed Newman (our pro bowl guard) hurt his knee or foot and didn't play (I remember seeing him on crutches going in at half time). A real shame that game turned out the way it did.
 
coalesce said:
True, but it also didn't help that Marino had pressure in his face the entire game. Had the offense been on the field more consistently, then the linebackers would have had less time to be exposed on the field.
Click to expand...

The Dolphins were up 16-10 at one point in that game (1st half). The Miami defense couldn't get a stop in the 2nd half and as the Niners took the lead and the game wore on, Marino starting pressing too much. The Niners just pinned their ears back and came after him.
Had the defense been able to keep the game close, I think the offense could have been a bit more unpredictable.
With Chambers and Gordon on the field, I don't believe the Niners put up 38 points, but more likely 24-28 points.
The Phins offense would have had more opportunities and likely not been shut out in the 2nd half.
It would have been a one score differential heading down the stretch and been a close game.
Man time flies. I still remember being at a SB party and being ecstatic halfway through the 2nd quarter and then just getting dejected and depressed as the 2nd half wore on.
 
jlfin said:
The Dolphins were up 16-10 at one point in that game (1st half). The Miami defense couldn't get a stop in the 2nd half and as the Niners took the lead and the game wore on, Marino starting pressing too much. The Niners just pinned their ears back and came after him.
Had the defense been able to keep the game close, I think the offense could have been a bit more unpredictable.
With Chambers and Gordon on the field, I don't believe the Niners put up 38 points, but more likely 24-28 points.
The Phins offense would have had more opportunities and likely not been shut out in the 2nd half.
It would have been a one score differential heading down the stretch and been a close game.
Man time flies. I still remember being at a SB party and being ecstatic halfway through the 2nd quarter and then just getting dejected and depressed as the 2nd half wore on.
Click to expand...

Thats depressing? Try handing your whole weeks paycheck over to a big mouth niner fan who didnt even know all the players on his team. All week i heard his chow hole yaking non stop how "his niners" were going beat down "mr overrated" marino. THAT is depressing my friend.

So was elbow macaroni and ketchup for 5 days.

WORD to young bucks: no matter how good or how good you THINK your team is, NEVER, and i mean NEVER bet your paycheck. Its a sure jinx. I guess if your bank account is flush, you can take the hit. But the only bank account i had in those days was packed deep in my nose. Oh to be young (but not as dumb) again!!
 
Brutal. Gotta love those "fans" who can't name half their team. So annoying.
 
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