Pope: Dolphins originals prove great company for quarterback Griese vs. Vikings
When it came time to fish or cut bait Sunday, Bob Griese felt better about having the last two active original Dolphins in there with him.
Norm Evans was blocking at right tackle against Minnesota, the meanest defensive line the Dolphins have met in their seven seasons. And Howard Twilley was in for Marlin Briscoe at wide receiver opposite Paul Warfield.
One minute and 44 seconds to go and zap! Griese to Twilley for eight yards to the 20 and the Vikings were hunting cover, with only a 14-9 lead.
That one went just like it was designed,“ Twilley said, “Just a quick out pattern to the sideline.”
Then 1:32 to go and zap! Griese to Twilley for 17 to the three.
“Warfield was the primary receiver, but I was in the clear for what seemed like forever,” Twilley said. “I was worried Griese wouldn’t see me. I just kept yelling. Then he put it right on the button. I didn’t even know how close it was. But when I got up, I looked down and saw that big ‘G’, and I knew we were right in there.
Griese’s simple three-yard touchdown pass to Jim Mandich did it, 16-14. Suddenly the Dolphins were the only unbeaten team in pro football.
“We never got impatient or panicky, that’s the best thing,” said Twilley, who turns 29 on Christmas but got some early presents Sunday. “We never were out of it that far. Even on the last drive, we didn’t want to take too big a chunk at a time. That’s confident football. That’s what we played.”
Griese bobbed an unshaven chin up and down in agreement.
“Minnesota is a team you can’t let yourself get shook against,” he said. “Remember, Washington kept its head in the opener against the Vikings and went on to win late. You can’t go wild and give Minnesota easy touchdowns like Detroit did last week.”
Coach Don Shula’s decision to go for it on fourth and one in the fourth quarter met with Griese’s enthusiastic approval. The play went for a three-yard gain and first down by Mercury Morris. Eventually it led to Garo Yepremian’s Dolphins record 51-yard field goal to close the gap to 14-9.
“If we’d given up then and punted . . . behind 14-6 . . . we would have had too little time to score both a field goal and a touchdown,” Griese said.
Someone asked the quarterback if he thought he had played a poor first half when he hit on only five of 14 passes for 24 yards
“No, I don’t,” he said quickly. “If I thought so, I’d tell you. I had a lot of people covered. Some passes were knocked down. Some more were dropped. And remember, those Vikings put a hell of a rush on you.”
Griese finished with 16 for x33 for 127 yards.
“’Their secondary men have great vision on the quarterback,” he said. “They are alert. Their linebackers drop back beautifully.
“Kansas City’s defense is rough, too, but I think the Vikings may be more disciplined. They just don’t have many weaknesses.
“I sure wouldn’t want to go through this every week.”
‘Twas a salubrious return to Metropolitan Stadium for Yepremian, who fired six field goals for Detroit against Vikings here in a 1966 game. His Sunday shots of 51, 42 and 38 yards kept Miami in this one until Griese, Twilley and Mandich worked their collective final magic.
“Those kicks of mine wouldn’t have been worth a penny apiece if we hadn’t gotten that touchdown,” the tiny Armenian Cypriot glowed.
Shula must have had that in mind when he called for Yepremian’s 51-yarder with 4:15 remaining.
“Coach Shula just said, ‘field goal team, get ready!
And then he turned to me and said, ‘Make it, Garo! We need this one!’
“He never asked me if I thought I could make it. Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t. But it cleared the bar by eight or 10 yards, that was the best part of it.
“I felt pretty good, too, about kicking off to them in the end zone so regularly. In three games I’ve put 80 percent of my kickoffs over the goal.”
Larry Csonka took such a lick in the back from linebacker Roy Winston in mid-first quarter that many wondered if he could continue. He did, and muscled 66 yards in 10 carries to run his three-game yardage total to 263.
“They ought to know you can’t kill a Hunky by hitting him in the back,” Csonka grinned. “You’ve got to hit him where his brains are, and I won’t tell you where that is.
“My left leg is turning yellow. My back is turning blue. Sometimes I wish I’d studied harder in college so I could be a veterinarian or something and go around patting dogs on the head, instead of this.”
Csonka winked and turned serious again. “[Jim] Kiick and Morris did a great job in there. And the offensive line, Bob Kuechenberg, Jim Langer, those guys were terrific.
“How about Doug Crusan coming in at offensive tackle after Wayne Moore was hurt and Crusan had been out with an injury himself? Crusan and Manny Fernandez, over on defense, they don’t say much, but they’re unbelievable team men. That’s why it’s so beautiful to be on a club like this.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2022 at 8:15 AM.
