The Canarsie Cup V: '73-MIA 24, '73-LA 17

The wait is finally over – and after a brilliant season of action-packed football, we are left with the only the Championship game to be decided. Who will walk away the Canarsie Cup this year….the 1973 Miami Dolphins, who took First Place in their respective Conference with a solid 11-1 record – and coming off a playoff win against Pittsburgh….or…the 1973 LA Rams, with a young coach who also took First Place in their Conference and took out Detroit with solid D ??

Welcome to Tulane Stadium, on this day…February 3, 2008. It is a brisk 47 and the clouds overhead spell R-A-I-N. It should be quite a battle between these 2 teams that bring in a balanced attack and a solid Defense. This should be a good one
The Dolphins win the toss – and here we go……

With good field position to start after the 32-yard return by Charlie Leigh, Griese came out firing. His pass to Jim Mandich for 24 yards kept the opening drive alive down to the Ram 28 – and Larry Csonka cut inside for another 11 yards. Griese capped off the opening drive with a 3-yard toss to Paul Warfield. Dolphins quickly led 7-0 after just 4 minutes of play. The Rams on their first possession also came out firing, as John Hadl hit Jack Snow for 9 yards – and hit Harold Jackson for another 16 yards. The Rams now went to their bread & butter…Lawrence McCutcheon and the running game, but the Dolphin D clamped down to force a punt – down to the Dolphin 13. Sensing an early advantage over a dazed Ram D, the Dolphins began mixing it up pretty good and slowly marched down the field – and managed 4 First Downs as the First Quarter ended.

To start the Second Quarter, the Dolphins crossed midfield – but the Rams D finally awoke to force a deep punt – down to the Rams 9. Taking no chances, the Rams kept feeding McCutcheon and Jim Bertelsen for 8 minutes – and rode them to the Miami 3. Facing First & Goal, the Miami D stepped up BIG and held McCutcheon to 1 yard on 3 straight carries – not an easy task – and the Rams had to settle for a David Ray FG. Dolphins 7…Rams 3…with 6:14 left in the half. The Rams D got real stingy on this possession and forced a quick 3 & out. But, a shank punt of 36 yards from Larry Seiple gave the Rams great field position at the Miami 47. The Rams wasted no time, as Hadl threw a 32-yard missile to Jackson and got down to the Miami 10. A couple of runs later saw Bertelsen score on a flare pass from Hadl. The Rams now had the lead…10-7.

With just 2:31 left to play in the Half, the Dolphins took over on their own 38. The Dolphins went back to work and mixed it up again, while the Rams played a conservative D. With help from a 12-yard pass to Marlin Briscoe and an 8-yard Draw from Csonka, the Dolphins marched down to the Ram 26 – with 0:38 left and no timeouts. Griese was feeling pretty confident now, as the Dolphins marched up & down the field this Half – which led to the decision to “go for it”. Griese threw a 7-yard flare pass down the line to Jim Kiick to stop the clock at 0:31. Griese then threw a quick pass to the sideline for Mandich. With 0:23 left to play and facing Third & 2 on the Ram 18, Griese rolled out of the pocket and was looking into the endzone…when out of nowhere Jack Youngblood got to him for a 9-yard sack to run out the clock. A pretty gutsy call by the savvy veteran coach, but the Dolphins missed an opportunity there to tie the game. Would it haunt them later…??...we shall see.

The Rams headed into the locker room feeling pretty good with a narrow 10-7 lead – but they will be getting the ball back.

The Rams got the ball back to start the Second Half – but the Miami D forced a quick 3 & out. With the ball, the Dolphins ran with their workhorse – and Csonka helped set up a 28-yard Garo Yapremian FG to tie the game 10-10 at the 8:02 mark. On this possession, Hadl threw a quick slant to Bertelsen and then an 18-yard pass to Jackson to get to the Miami 35. Hadl then threw another slant pass McCutcheon down to the Miami 21. Hadl went to the well once too often – and threw an Interception to Dick Anderson at the Miami 12 – who then returned it 32 yards to the Miami 44 with 3:29 left to play in the Third Quarter…that was not a good decision by the young Ram coach. Miami went back to the ground game and got down to the Ram 36 to end the Third Quarter.

On the very first play of the Fourth Quarter, Charlie Leigh (doing his best Timmy Smith or David Tyree) cut inside and went 36 yards untouched for the score. Miami now led 17-10 to start the Quarter. The Rams D were shaking their heads. However, as the Offense gathered at the sidelines to formulate a plan, the kickoff was returned 90 yards for the score by Cullen Bryant – and just like that the score was even again at 17. Eager to get back at Miami, the Rams D forced a quick 3 & out. The Rams now went back to the ground game – but could only manage a couple of First Downs – and were forced to punt. The Dolphins had the ball back on their own 20 – with 8:52 left to play in the game. Miami began the drive with a Mercury Morris run for 22 yards. Griese then hit Warfield for 16 yards – and hit Briscoe for another 13 yards – which gave Miami a First Down on the Ram 13 with 3:12 left to play. In “slow-down” mode, the Dolphins were just eating up the clock. Griese hit Warfield twice again for 6 yards each to set up a First & Goal at the 1 – right at the 2:00 warning. The very next play saw Csonka power his way into the endzone – to give Miami the 24-17 lead.

The Rams were now up against a wall – but saw some light when Dick Gordon took the kickoff down to the Miami 43 – with 1:41 left to play. The Rams had all of their timeouts, so they were looking to force Overtime. Unfortunately, the Rams were looking for quick strikes to Harold Jackson and fell short – and the Miami D held for a quick 3 & out. Using their 3 timeouts, the Rams D forced a punt of their own. The Rams got the ball back with 0:33 left to play – but were on their own 19. A deep bomb to Harold Jackson produced an Interception by Tim Foley – and the Miami Dolphins held on to win 24-17, as they ran out the clock.

What a GREAT game !!!
Congrats to Marc Weiss – and his Miami Dolphins for preserving the victory – and going home with the Cup. Don Shula would be proud !!!

The Rams coach, George Bseirani, appeared very content after the game and was simply satisfied with just being able to guide his team to the Championship game – and to be given a chance to win. The Rams D did exactly that, they gave the Offense a chance – but they fell short of their goal. But, this team should be proud as well.

Highlights:
The First & Goal stand by the Miami D in the Second Quarter that held McCutcheon to 1 yard on 3 straight carries was huge. But, it was early.
The Rams D did counter by sacking Griese on an apparent scoring drive to end the Half.
In the Third Quarter, the Rams threw an Interception at the Miami 12 on what seemed to be a scoring drive. That mistake could have been the turning point in the game.
The Miami D held strong when the Rams had that last opportunity by starting at the Miami 43, with 1:41 left to play and all 3 timeouts. So close.
A key stat in this game was the Time of Possession for the Fourth Quarter. Miami held the ball for 10:39 in the Quarter, while the Rams had the ball for just 4:21. Until then, Time of Possession was pretty even – as both Offenses were very methodical in their approach.
Despite the rain, there were very few turnovers. Hadl threw for 2 Interceptions – with 1 being at the very end of the game with that Hail Mary attempt – and that’s it. No Fumbles.
Griese threw for 133 yards & 1 TD and Hadl threw for 181 yards & 1 TD.
Larry Csonka ran for 80 yards on 19 carries & 1 TD, while Lawrence McCutcheon ran for just 28 yards on 9 carries. The Miami D appeared to shut down the Rams running game. However, the Rams went away from their standard game plan – by passing more often – but it was working.
Paul Warfield caught 6 passes for 53 yards and 1 TD – while Harold Jackson caught 3 passes for 66 yards.