Week 3: The Phish that Staved (off) Pittsburgh

In this week's AFC marquee matchup the 2-0 Miami Dolphins (1973) headed to Pittsburgh to face the 1-1 Steelers (1974). Both squads won the Super Bowl in their respective season and both seemed to be mirror images of the other (great running game / strong defense). The subtle difference between both teams is at the Quarterback position. The Dolphins are lead by the calm and cool Bob Griese who efficiently runs his teams offense and exploits weakness in his opponents. Pittsburgh doesn't have a set QB. For the previous 5 seasons the Steelers have relied on the unreliable/unpredictable Terry Bradshaw...aka "The Bayou Bumbler". Bradshaw was the #1 overall pick in the 1969 draft, but he has only showed a glimmer of promise here and there. With the arrival of "Jefferson Street" Joe Gilliam, the Steelers now have another option. Gilliam is fleet of foot and strong of arm. He demands to be recognized and reward with playing time.

The game started out to be a defensive struggle. Miami looked to draw first blood after stopping the Steelers on their first possession. Starting out on Pittsburgh's 44 the Dolphins were on the Steeler 13 yard line four plays later and poised to go on top. Griese hit wide out Paul Warfield with a perfect strike only to see him fumble on the Steeler six yard line. Mel Blount recovered the ball and Pittsburgh was out of danger for the time being.

The Steelers went 3 and out and rewarded the Dolphins with good field position again. This time Miami capitalized on a methodical 8 play drive that culminated in a Griese to Warfield TD strike. Griese being as cool as he is looked off his original target (Marlin Briscoe) and found that Warfield had beaten his man 11 yards down field. Yepremian kicked the XP and the Dolphins had themselves a 7-0 lead.


That tenuous lead would last until the waining moments of the third quarter when Bradshaw rose up and drove his team 80 yards for a 10 play 7 minute extravaganza to Paydirt, which culminated in a 26 yard toss to Franco Harris that seemed to be more run than throw.

With the score knotted at 7 the true mettle of both teams was about to be tested.

Early in the 4th Bradshaw hit wide out Frank Lewis with a 39 yard strike to move to Miami's 33 yard line. The hometown faithful sensed that he was coming of age right before their very eyes. Hope springs eternal. Unfortunately for them Bradshaw can tease the Three Rivers crowd like no one else. On the next play he held on to the ball too long and was sacked for 13 yards. Trying to make up for his misfortune Bradshaw attempted a QB run, but was held to no gain. On 3rd and 23 Bradshaw eschewed good sense and attempted to force a ball into double coverage to Ron Shanklin. Dolphin safety Dick Anderson had other ideas and promptyly picked off the errant throw and returned it 16 yards to his teams own 45 yard line.

Three plays later Griese hit Warfield for his second TD strike of the day and the Steelers looked to be done. Penalties and poor judgment by Bradshaw victimized the Steelers all day. The ensuing drive was just a microcosm of that. On the day Pittsburgh was penalized 11 times for 101 yards. Countless drives were stalled and/or ended because of their lack of discipline.

Miami added a Yepremian FG to put the game out of reach as they moved to 3-0. Pittsburgh dropped to 1-2.

Statistically Griese was 12-17-131-2TD. His percission passing complemented the 3 headed running attack that yielded 148 yards on the ground. Bradshaw and Gilliam were a combined 12-23-110-1TD-1INT-4SACKS. Franco Harris only had 43 yards on the ground. Rocky Bleier seemed to be the favored ballcarrier as Miami keyed Harris all afternoon.