Pope: Orange Bowl’s artificial turf gets slicker than the Oilers for Dolphins
Replacing the original Poly-Turf with Poly-Turf II, it now appears, was something like jailing Bonnie and Clyde only to have Charles Manson escape.
The Orange Bowl is supposed to be a friendly spot for Miami’s football pros. But Poly-Turf II was tougher than the Houston Oilers were Sunday. The Dolphins creamed the Oilers, 34-13. Poly-Turf II creamed the Dolphins.
Fullback Larry Csonka said he was so battered from water-logged Funny Field II that if he had to play against Minnesota today instead of next Sunday, he’d retire. Zonk also personally volunteered to lead a crew of jack-hammermen into the stadium to rip out American Biltrite’s trouble-ridden second rug.
Quarterback Bob Griese said a passer not only couldn’t set up, he couldn’t get a grip on the slimy ball.
Even mild-mannered receiver Paul Warfield — changing back into street clothes after discarding his soaked Superman suit — groused that the footing made running any sharply veering pass pattern all but impossible.
Runner Mercury Morris racked off 94 yards and said he never felt like he could go all-out on the synthetic turf.
Jim Kiick said he wouldn’t blame the Oilers if they complained about Poly-Turf II.
It was that bad.
ALL THIS leaves the twice-victorious and unbeaten Dolphins in the unique position of anticipating road games more than those at home. Five “away” opponents — Vikings, Jets, Bills, Colts and Giants - play on regular grass.
“And the next two in a row — at Minnesota and against the Jets in Shea Stadium — are on grass,” Coach Don Shula said. “So we’ll get plenty of grass Dolphins for a little while anyway.”
The Dolphins couldn’t be happier about that. They COULD have been a lot happier than they were in Sunday’s dressing room. It was a unique scene: Runaway winners grimacing and griping as though they’d been horsewhipped.
“It’s getting to where I’m worrying more about how I’m going to land instead of where and how I’m going to run,” Csonka said after running for 79 yards, atop his 118 at Kansas City last week, “and that’s an awful attitude to have. It’s really something when you have to fight the field as much as or more than your opponent. ‘Course, it’s bad on the other team, too. But we have to play seven-regular season games in here, not to mention the ones before and after.
“You have to be in a guarded position all the time because this new rug is so slippery to run on and so painful to fall on. The field wasn’t the reason for my fumble (Csonka’s second in two seasons), but it sure was a factor when Kiick and Mercury fumbled on running plays.
“I’ll tell you, if I had to play Minnesota tomorrow, I’d retire. That’s how beat-up I feel.”
Csonka smiled wanly. “If this was back in my home town (Stow, Ohio), my buddies would go out and burn up that field for me. As it is, I’d dedicate my time to organizing a bunch of guys with jack-hammers and coming out here and ripping out the PolyTurf.
“And it’s not just the players that are hurt. It detracts from the game for the spectators because it makes things so much slower, so much sloppier, bad running, guys falling all over the place, bad passing, bad catching, fumbles, interceptions ... all sorts of freak plays.”
Griese was cool as usual after his 11-for-16 passing show raised his figures to 19-for-31 for 61 per cent completions in two superbly quarterbacked games. But he wasn’t passing up a shot at Poly-Turf II.
“You could wet down the bad Poly-Turf last year when it was hot and dry, and it was playable,” Griese said. “It was good when it rained, too. But you can’t dry or drain this new stuff when it rains during a game.”
What it does to a quarterback, by Griese’s lights, “is, first, keep you from setting up quickly and properly. You can’t dig in. Then the ball is so slippery you can’t really grip it. You sort of have to palm it and flip it. It must have been worse for (Dan) Pastorini than me. At least I’ve been here before.”
Pastorini was 9x21 and actually had a net passing yardage of minus 10 in the first half.
But wouldn’t a muddy grass field have been just as bad as a sodden Poly-Turf II?
“No,” Griese said firmly. “On a muddy field, you can wear long cleats and get traction. This stuff just slips right out from under you.”
Warfield was one of the few Dolphins to address himself to the game as a game.
“Houston’s secondary wasn’t quite as strong as it might ordinarily be, because of injuries,” he said.
Warfield had three catches for 67 yards. One was a 39-yarder to the 10 that set up Miami’s 20-0 touchdown. Another was an important third-down catch for 10 yards that gave the Dolphins first down at their own 22 on their final 93-yard drive to ice the game.
“But this field makes it rough on all receivers. Outside patterns are a special problem. If you’re doing a corner pattern or a sideline pattern, you have to be awfully careful making your break.”
The Oilers stopped Warfield for a yard loss on a second-quarter reverse. “They had it defensed very well,” he conceded. “But there again the field makes you cautious. It involves an exchange of the ball with Griese and then cutting back upfield. I was being careful not to get trapped way behind the line. You just can’t make normal moves on a surface like this.”
IT could not have been terribly evident to spectators that Funny Field II was any great deterrent to Morris, running as he did 15 times for a 6.3-yard average including a 25-yard sprint.
“Well, it sure was,” Morris said.
Even in a drenching rain against Oakland here two years ago on the then-fresh Poly-Turf I, Morris recalled, backs could maintain their footing. “But this stuff, you have to discipline yourself to run flat-footed. You can never go full-steam. Before the game I told George Webster, their linebacker, he’d better get himself some ‘tenni-pumps, like a lot of us have, if he wanted to stay up out there.
“I know one time I was running against the flow of the play and I slipped. If it had been dry, I’d have kept going.”
Morris’ “alternate” — the redoubtable Kiick, who started Sunday — was happy to get back in the thick with 55 yards in nine carries.
“I feel great because I was able to contribute something,” Kiick said. “Mercury did a heck of a job, and I think I contributed, too, and after all that’s the goal of all of us: Back to the Super Bowl.
“But this turf is just unbelievable. We played in weather three times this bad in Boston two years ago and the field (then grass) was still better. There’s some kind of coating that gets on the ball out here when it’s wet.
“I don’t know what the Oilers have to say about the field, but I wouldn’t blame ‘em one bit if they complained.”
They did.
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 8:15 AM.
