CFL Super Bowl Preview by Bob Kalec (70-DET)

(AP) NEW ORLEANS – This year’s CFL Super Bowl V is perhaps as it should be, a battle between two teams that each placed first in their respective conferences over the grueling course of the regular season – the ’73 Miami Dolphins and the ’73 Los Angeles Rams.
The Dolphins dominated the AFC with an 11-1 record. Defense is the hallmark of this team. Miami was ranked first in the CFL in team defense giving up a league low 122 points during the regular season. Just how good this defense is, however, can not be appreciated just by looking at normal statistics.

Miami’s defensive prowess is best understood when viewed through the lens of an extreme hypothetical handicap. During the regular season, if the Dolphins were limited in each game to just the points they scored in the first quarter, the Miami defense so overpowered the opposition that their opponent’s total score for the game still would have resulted in the Dolphins’ compiling a 7-4-1 record – good enough to clinch first place in the AFC.
The Dolphins have a fine offensive unit as well, led by the running back combination of Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris who placed second and fourth respectively in total rushing yardage this season. Miami’s kicker, Garo Yepremian, led the CFL in points scored (124) and field goals (33).
Miami’s only blemish on an undefeated season came in week eleven with a 23-9 loss at the hands of the ’70 Detroit Lions. And herein lay the hopes of all Rams supporters.
The Rams met Detroit three times, twice in the regular season and again in the NFC Championship Game, and walked away with two victories.

The Rams offense is both balanced and loaded with talent. At quarterback is the experienced veteran John Hadl who led the CFL in passer rating (94.8). His favorite target is Harold Jackson who caught 9 touchdown passes and averaged 21 yards per reception. The Rams running game is well tailored for the talents of Lawrence McCutcheon who averaged 4.9 per carry and placed third in the league for total rushing yardage. McCutcheon doubles as a viable pass threat coming out of the backfield.

On the defensive side of the ball, Los Angeles boasts the best rushing defense in the CFL. As exhibited in the NFC Championship game, the Rams “bend but don’t break” defense is also both opportunistic and ever ready to come up with a key turnover.

Coaching seems a toss up as both the Dolphins Marc Weiss and the Rams George Bseiraini are experienced coaches who have demonstrated repeatedly throughout the season an ability to stymie their opponents on both sides of the ball.
In the end, the best of the CFL go head to head in what should be one of the most physically contested games of the year. -contributed by Bob Kalec (70-DET)-