Pope: Larry Csonka said the ‘difference was simple: Griese’ in ’72 opener against Chiefs
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Perfect Memories
Fifty years ago, the Miami Dolphins became the first NFL franchise to have a perfect season, an accomplishment that has never been matched. A look back at a legendary team that put South Florida on the sports map.
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Legendary sports editor Edwin Pope covered the Dolphins for the Miami Herald until his retirement in 2016. Here is Pope’s coverage of the game from Sept. 17, 1972.
Has Don Shula created another Dolphin juggernaut? Or did Miami just catch the Kansas City Chiefs on an off-Sunday?
Likely a bit of both, it seemed in the steamy aftermath of the Dolphins’ 20-10 runaway.
And if the score doesn’t sound like a runaway, never mind. It was.
KC never got even as far as the Dolphin 24-yard line until late in the third quarter. It took a freak mixup on pass coverage for them to score their only touchdown with nine seconds left.
Obviously this was not the KC machine that had chewed up Miami six straight times before the Dolphins finally pulled out that 27-24 Longest Game in 82 minutes and 40 seconds last Christmas.
The Chiefs played partways Sunday as if they didn’t know the rules and the rest of the way as though they’d never been in hot weather before.
But they weren’t in there with the old catch-up Dolphins, either. Miami made only two mistakes when they really counted - Mercury Morris’ first-quarter fumble and Bob Griese’s interception in the second quarter. Neither cost a score.
AS USUAL, articulate fullback Larry Csonka put his finger on the primary factor in the game.
“Besides our great defense, the difference was simple: Griese,” Csonka said after being awarded the game ball for rushing 118 yards. “Griese called a fantastic game. He hit them with the right plays when they were in the wrong defenses.
“Griese knows the secret of running against a Kansas City or a Dallas or a Baltimore or a Minnesota is running in between them — not over them. That’s what Griese had us doing.
“This guy is developing a tremendous feel for the running game ... not that he hasn’t had a feel for it, but it gets better all the time. A lot of quarterbacks have all the dotted lines in their heads for the pass plays, but Griese has just as many for the running game. More, for that matter.”
FOR NIGH on to six years now, it’s been Lenny Dawson getting the gravy and Griese getting the blame when Kansas City and Miami play, excepting, of course, last Christmas.
Sunday it was Dawson getting the boos — three times, by count -- and Griese commanding respectful silence in brand-new Arrowhead Stadium, which by the way was half-empty of disenchanted spectators before the Chiefs scored their meaningless touchdown.
I thought Dawson called a weird game for a man with his wise old head. He never went for the long ball until the Chiefs were down by 20-0. By that time, the merciless 120-degree heat on the field and splendid condition of the Dolphins had worn down Dawson’s offensive line to such a bunch of nubbins that Miami rushers could tee off on him virtually at will.
In extenuation of Dawson’s troubles, the first quarter was a strangulating plague of misplays for the Chiefs including fumbles, penalties and footballs just bouncing the wrong way. But Dawson in the past has been able to shunt aside that sort of misfortune and pull the Chiefs through.
Perhaps he figured for too long Sunday that KC couldn’t be beaten like that.
They can. And I’m beginning to wonder about all these coaches who keep saying the Dolphins don’t belong on the same field with the Chiefs physically.
“I CAN’T TELL you exactly why,” said Csonka, entering his fifth season as strong man of the Dolphin ground game. “But the Chiefs didn’t play their own way. I don’t mean they weren’t hitting. Oh, man, they were knocking the devil out of me early in the game and knocking the devil out of me late in the game.
“I got so tired later on that I couldn’t do much blocking for (Jim) Kiick when he got in there for Mercury (Morris). I was just sort of laying around on a couple of plays when Kiick carried. I’m sorry about that.
“But as far as KC is concerned, either the heat got them or they just weren’t up for the game. Don’t ask me why.”
Csonka wanted to talk about Griese again. “He runs the show like nobody I’ve ever seen. You know, Bob likes us to get into the huddle fast so he can stand back and think of the right play.
“A couple of times we didn’t get in there fast enough, and we got penalized for delay of game. After that, he told us to form up in a hurry.
“We did. By me, the man’s word is law.”
By Kansas City, it is becoming “outlaw.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 8:30 AM.
