Super Bowl VIII
SuperBowl|
sb_name = VIII |
image =
| visitor =
Vikings | home =
Dolphins |
visitor_total = 7 |
home_total = 24
visitor_qtr1 = 0 |
visitor_qtr2 = 0 |
visitor_qtr3 = 0 |
visitor_qtr4 = 7
home_qtr1 = 14 |
home_qtr2 = 3 |
home_qtr3 = 7 |
home_qtr4 = 0
date =
January 13,
1974 |
stadium = Rice Stadium |
city = Houston, Texas |
attendance = 71,882 |
odds =
Dolphins by 7| MVP =
Larry Csonka,
Running back | anthem =
Charley Pride |
coin_toss = Game referee |
referee =
Ben Dreith | halftime =
University of Texas at Austin Band | network =
CBS | announcers =
Ray Scott,
Pat Summerall and
Bart Starr |
rating = 41.6 |
share = 73 |
commercial = $103,000 |}}
Super Bowl VIII was the eighth
Super Bowl, the championship game of the
National Football League (NFL). The game was played on
January 13,
1974 at
Rice Stadium in
Houston, Texas following the
1973 regular season.
The
American Football Conference (AFC) champion
Miami Dolphins defeated the
National Football Conference (NFC) champion
Minnesota Vikings, 24–7. Aided by 24 unanswered points during the first three quarters of the game, the Dolphins won their second consecutive Super Bowl, and became the first team to appear in three consecutive ones.
Dolphins
Running Back Larry Csonka, who ran for a 145 yards and 2 touchdowns, was named the game's
Most Valuable Player. His 145 rushing yards and his 33 carries were both Super Bowl records. Csonka became the first running back to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.
Miami Dolphins
Although the Dolphins were unable to match their 17-0 perfect season back in 1972, many sports writers and fans felt that the 1973 team was better. Miami finished with a 12-2 regular season, including their opening game victory that tied an NFL record with 18 consecutive wins.
Just like the last 2 previous seasons, Miami's offense relied primarily on their rushing attack. Fullback
Larry Csonka recorded his third consecutive 1,000 rushing yard season (1,003 yards), while running back
Mercury Morris rushed for 954 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. Running back
Jim Kiick was also a key contributor, rushing for 257 yards, and catching 27 passes for 208 yards. Quarterback
Bob Griese completed only 116 passes for 1,422 yards, but threw about twice as many touchdown passes (17) as interceptions (8), and earned an 84.3
passer rating. Wide receiver
Paul Warfield remained the main deep threat on the team, catching 29 passes for 514 yards and 11 touchdowns. Also, the offensive line was strong, once again led by future
hall of famers Jim Langer and
Larry Little.
Miami's "No Name Defense" continued to dominate their opponents. Future hall of fame linebacker
Nick Buoniconti recovered 3 fumbles and returned one for a touchdown. Defensive back
Dick Anderson led the team with 8 interceptions, which he returned for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns. And defensive back
Jake Scott, the previous season's Super Bowl MVP, had 4 interceptions and 71 return yards.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings also finished the regular season with a 12-2 record. Minnesota's offense was led by 13-year veteran quarterback
Fran Tarkenton. During the regular season, Tarkenton completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 2,113 yard, 15 touchdowns, and just 7 interceptions. He also rushed for 202 yards and another touchdown. The team's primary deep threat was Pro Bowl wide receiver
John Gilliam, who caught 42 passes for 907 yards, an average of 21.6 yards per catch, and scored 8 touchdowns. Tight End
Stu Voigt was also a key element of the passing game, with 23 receptions for 318 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Vikings' main weapon on their rushing game was running back
Chuck Foreman, who rushed for 801 yards, caught 37 passes for 362 yards, and scored 6 touchdowns. The Vikings had 4 other significant running backs:
Dave Osborn,
Bill Brown,
Oscar Reed, and
Ed Marinaro combined for 1,469 rushing/receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. The Vikings offensive line was also very talented, led by future hall of famer
Ron Yary and 6-time Pro Bowler
Mick Tingelhoff.
Their defense was once again anchored by a defensive line nicknamed the "
Purple People Eaters", consisting of defensive tackles
Gary Larsen and future hall of famer
Alan Page, and defensive tackles
Jim Marshall and future hall of famer
Carl Eller. Behind them, defensive backs
Bobby Bryant (7 interceptions, 105 return yards, 1 touchdown), and future hall of famer
Paul Krause (4 interceptions) led the defensive secondary.
Playoffs
The Vikings earned their second trip to the Super Bowl in team history after defeating the
Washington Redskins, 27-20, and the
Dallas Cowboys 27-10, in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Dolphins went on to beat the
Cincinnati Bengals, 34-16, and the
Oakland Raiders, 27-10.
The game was broadcast in the
United States by
CBS with
play-by-play announcer Ray Scott and
color commentators
Pat Summerall and
Bart Starr.
The
University of Texas at Austin Band performed during the pregame festivities. Later,
country music singer Charley Pride sang the national anthem.
The halftime show also featured the University of Texas Band in a tribute to American music titled "A Musical America".
The Dolphins dominated the Vikings right from the beginning. First, Dolphins defensive back
Jake Scott gave his team good field position by returning the opening kickoff 31 yards to the Miami 38-yard line. Then
Mercury Morris ran right for 4 yards,
Larry Csonka crashed through the middle for 2, and quarterback
Bob Griese completed a 13-yard pass to receiver
Jim Mandich to advance the ball to the Vikings 43-yard line. Csonka then ran on second down for 16 yards, then Greise completed a 6-yard pass to receiver
Marlin Briscoe to the 21-yard line. Three more running plays, two by Csonka and one by Morris moved the ball to the Vikings 5-yard line. Csonka then finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Then after forcing Minnesota to punt, the Dolphins went 56 yards in 10 plays (aided with three runs by Csonka for 8, 16, and 8 yards; and Griese's 13-yard pass to Briscoe) to score on running back
Jim Kiick's 1-yard run to give them a 14-0 lead.
By the time the first quarter ended, Miami had ran 20 plays for 118 yards and 8 first downs, and scored touchdowns on their first two possessions. Meanwhile the Miami defense held the Minnesota offense to only 25 yards, 6
plays from scrimmage and 1 first down.
The situation never got much better for the Vikings in the rest of the game. After each team traded punts early in the second period, a 28-yard field goal from kicker
Garo Yepremian increased the Dolphins lead to 17-0 midway through the second quarter.
The Vikings then had their best opportunity to score in the first half on their ensuing drive. Starting at their own 20-yard line, Minnesota marched to the Miami 15-yard line, aided by
Fran Tarkenton's completions of 17 and 14 yards to tight end
Stu Voigt and wide receiver
John Gilliam's 30-yard reception. Tarkenton's 8-yard run on first down then advanced the ball to the 7-yard line. But on the next 2 plays, Vikings running back
Oscar Reed gained only 1 yard on two rushes, bringing up a fourth down and 1 with less than a minute left in the half. Instead of kicking a field goal, Minnesota attempted to convert the fourth down with another running play by Reed. However, Reed lost the ball while being tackled by linebacker
Nick Buoniconti, and Scott recovered the fumble.
Gilliam returned the second half kickoff 65 yards to the Miami 34-yard line, but a holding penalty on the play moved the ball all the way back to the Minnesota 11-yard line. Two plays later, Tarkenton was sacked for an 8-yard loss by linebacker
Manny Fernandez on third down, forcing Minnesota to punt from their own 7-yard line. Scott then returned the punt 12 yards to the Minnesota 43-yard line.
Aided by Griese's third down 24-yard pass to wide receiver
Paul Warfield at the Minnesota 11-yard line, Miami marched 43 yards in 8 plays to score on Csonka's 2-yard touchdown run to increase their lead to 24-0. Meanwhile, the Dolphins' defense dominated the rest of the game, only allowing a meaningless touchdown on a 4-yard run by Tarkenton early in the fourth quarter, making the final score 24-7.
Griese finished the game with just 6 out of 7 pass completions for 73 yards. Tarkenton finished 18 out of 28 completions for 182 yards, with 1 interception, and rushed for 17 yards and a touchdown. Reed was the leading rusher for the Vikings, but with just 32 yards. Voight was the top receiver of the game with 3 catches for 46 yards.
Scoring summary
*MIA- Csonka 5 run (Yepremian kick)
*MIA- Kiick 1 run (Yepremian kick)
*MIA- FG Yepremian 28
*MIA- Csonka 2 run (Yepremian kick)
*MIN- Tarkenton 4 run (Cox kick)
*This was the first time in Super Bowl history that the game site was a true neutral field. All of the previous Super Bowls were held at a home field of an existing NFL team. The
Houston Oilers did in fact play at Rice Stadium from 1965 to 1967, but moved to the
Houston Astrodome in 1968.
*The Dolphins became the first team to take the game's opening kickoff and march down the field for a touchdown.
*Miami's 7 pass attempts were the fewest ever thrown by a team in the Super Bowl
*
Referee: Ben Dreith*
Umpire: Ralph Morcroft
*
Head Linesman: Leo Miles
*
Line Judge: Jack Fette
*
Field Judge: Fritz Graf
*
Back Judge: Stan Javie
Note: A seven-official system was not used until 1978*
1973 NFL season*
NFL playoffs, 1973-74*
Super Bowl official website* http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large online database of NFL data and statistics
*
Super Bowl play-by-plays from
USA Today (Last accessed September 28, 2005)
*
All-Time Super Bowl Odds from The Sports Network (Last accessed October 16, 2005)
