'85 Dolphins v. Bears

[conace21]

QB's complaining about noise in the Kingdome -and the officials warning a penalty or charging the Seahawks with a timeout- was a common occurrence.

Every year it really made Elway look bad (not his play) because he'd whine all game and literally look like he was about to cry, about crowd noise.

I remember one game I was at there was a sequence when he stepped back from under center and complained, official agreed the crowd was allegedly 'too loud', he got back under center then stepped back again complaining, official then gave warning of a penalty if the crowd didn't quiet down. Naturally then the boos that followed that announcement were 'too loud' and Elway/Broncos wouldn't play under those conditions so there was another warning, more boos, people stood around, until crowd noise got down to about half-effort and the game went on. Really killed the crowd atmosphere, which I guess was the point.

Esiason is another one I want to say I remember being in the Kingdome and him complaining about crowd noise.

The way certain QB's whined from '89 on was really unbecoming.

Elway did the same thing in Rich Stadium in 1990. The Broncos had been on the verge of clinching the game with a field goal to give them a 15 point lead with 10 minutes to play. Buffalo scored twice in just over a minute (on a blocked field goal and an interception) to take the lead, and to quote Vic Carruci, "the crowd responded with a roar that rattled eardrums."
The Bills buried Denver at the 10 on the ensuing kickoff, and a penalty pushed them back to the 5. The crowd got even more into it, and Elway pleaded with the referee for assistance. Bob McElwee announced that he has asked Bills players to help quiet the crowd... the next step would have been a loss of a timeout
The roar quieted...slightly. But Elway was so shaken he literally dropped the snap on the next play. Buffalo recovered on the 2 and ran it in on the next play for an 8 point lead; they held on to win by 1. Elway hadn't been at fault for most of the game; his interception was tipped at the line, and he lost a fumble in the third quarter after being blindsided by Bruce Smith. But the Bills crowd literally shook Elway into dropping the snap.

[Reaser]

Elway did the same thing in Rich Stadium in 1990. The Broncos had been on the verge of clinching the game with a field goa to give them a 15 point lead with 10 minutes to play. Buffalo scored twice in just over a minute (on a blocked field goal and an interception) to take the lead, and to quote Vic Carruci, "the crowd responded with a roar that rattled eardrums."
The Bills buried Denver at the 10 on the ensuing kickoff, and a penalty pushed them back to the 5. The crowd got even more into it, and Elway pleaded with the referee for assistance. Bob McElwee announced that he has asked Bills players to help quiet the crowd... the next step would have been a loss of a timeout
The roar quieted...slightly. But Elway was so shaken he literally dropped the snap on the next play. Buffalo recovered on the 2 and ran it in on the next play for an 8 point lead, and held on to win by 1. Elway hadn't been at fault for most of the game; his interception was tipped at the line, and he lost a fumble in the third quarter after being blindsided by Bruce Smith. But the Bills crowd literally shook Elway into dropping the snap.

This came up in prior discussions here about this and I mentioned that he did it at Arrowhead, also. Which I have a specific memory of seeing on TV as a kid.

In the previous post I used the word "unbecoming". I'd add it's sad in a way since it happened when I was kid and with those memories naturally more ingrained, my primary memories of watching Elway are him near-tears, whining -- or along the lines of your example, visibly shaken.

We got a lot of Broncos games here in WA back then (Denver was practically our secondary team/market so whenever they and Seattle weren't in the same window we got Broncos games more often than not) so I saw a lot of Elway late 80's through the end of his career and those images stick as much or even more so than the heroics or the many times he beat the Seahawks.

[Bryan]

Back to the game, Marino definitely connected on some passes using the roll out, but I don't think it was the deciding factor - his quick release was able to beat the pressure, but granted some of those quick release pressure beaters were a bit off target. It was just one of those games, a perfect storm - the Dolphins low ranked D played inspired, the Bears came out with a backup QB and a gameplan that used Payton, who was coming off 7 straight 100-yard games, as a decoy for the first quarter and and a half, Dolphins were home with a lot to play for only one season removed from a Super Bowl run with record breaking offense, etc., etc. Aside from the crowd noise issue, I was surprised the Bears defense just didn't look special, taking this one game out of context, it didn't look to me like a team with one of the best defensive seasons all-time by any team. I may need to watch one more time just to focus on what the Bears defense was doing.

I remember Buddy Ryan blamed the loss on the deflected pass that wound up in Mark Clayton's hands for a 42-yard TD, but Ryan conveniently forgot that the Dolphins had scored 31 points prior to that play.

Offenses had countered the 46 by keeping RBs and TEs in to pass protect, which was probably the worst thing they could do. The Dolphins were the first team to go 3 WR against the 46...perhaps because they were confident in Marino's ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and also perhaps because Dwight Stephenson could ensure that interior pressure wouldn't immediately overwhelm Marino. Nat Moore got some favorable 1-on-1 matchups against Fencik and Singletary (4-75-2 TDs). All of Marino's 14 completions were to either Moore, Duper or Clayton, and he averaged nearly 20 yards per completion.

Re-watching the game, two things (other than Marino) stand out. The Dolphins were able to actually get some production from their running game, and Miami's defense stopped the Bears. As you mentioned, Payton really didn't do anything until the outcome had pretty much been decided. The Bears had the #1 run offense in the NFL, the Dolphins would go on to allow 250+ rushing yards in each of their postseason games...its very surprising that the Bears didn't just chew up the Dolphins on the ground.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Bryan, good analysis about the 3 WR sets. I only ever recall the rollout being mentioned when pundits discuss the game, but without going back and watching I would bet having having more receiving options to choose from made a bigger difference when combined with Marino's quick release. I noticed the same about Miami's O-line and running game, but didn't mention in my first post - I thought the former like the defense played unusually well. The announcers mentioned a few times how the line had been plagued with injuries and Kuechenberg's retirement, but it didn't seem to matter that night. Tony Nathan had one of his typically quietly productive games, made some yards on the ground when they needed it.

I think this Fuller noise case was a little different than the Elway case described since that was at a critical time in the game. The way this came off watching it was he was frustrated and complaining about noise gave him something to take out his frustration - the Dolphins were actually getting some pressure which may have been more of an annoyance than the noise. A name I had completely forgotten was Hugh Green. As a kid I thought he may be the savior for the defense when they acquired him from Tampa, but it didn't exactly turn out that way.

[sheajets]

The Orange Bowl was the last time the Miami Dolphins had any semblance of a home field advantage.

[JuggernautJ]

Here's an interesting article from after the 1984 NFC Championship game in which the 49ers beat the 46 defense to go on to the super bowl: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985 ... -fahnhorst

I remember the plan from that time was to get the ball out of Montana's hands quickly, before the pass rush could get to him. Randy Cross (from the article) seems to agree. Keith Fahnhorst not so much.

Randy Cross:
"'On the offensive line, we secured everything inside the tackles and made them go outside with that pressure. By the time they got there, Joe had gotten rid of the football.`

Keith Fahnhorst:
"`We knew we couldn't give the Bears` defense time to work on us, so we didn't let them.

``There weren't any tricks for dealing with the `46` or the `flop defense` or whatever you call it.

``We didn't do anything different. We were simply well prepared, and the game was won by the system we developed for beating other teams.`"

If one believed in destiny or providence they might conclude that 1985 was the Bears' year and that nothing was going to stop them from winning the Super Bowl that year.
but
that fate also somehow decreed though they were near-perfect the Bears would not have a perfect season.
And that the football gods had enough of a sense of irony and history to deem that it would be the dolphins who upset the Bears in their quest for perfection.

[Bryan]

Tony Nathan had one of his typically quietly productive games, made some yards on the ground when they needed it.

Watching some of these old 1980's Dolphins games has made me appreciate Tony Nathan. He is always impressive in 'film study'. To me, he is like the 1980's version of Tom Matte...not fast but fast enough to run outside, not big but big enough to run inside, can block, catch, run. Usually wound up with about 100 yards from scrimmage in any given game.

[SixtiesFan]

Tony Nathan had one of his typically quietly productive games, made some yards on the ground when they needed it.

Watching some of these old 1980's Dolphins games has made me appreciate Tony Nathan. He is always impressive in 'film study'. To me, he is like the 1980's version of Tom Matte...not fast but fast enough to run outside, not big but big enough to run inside, can block, catch, run. Usually wound up with about 100 yards from scrimmage in any given game.

Like Tom Matte, Tony Nathan kept the chains moving.

[Gary Najman]

Tony Nathan had one of his typically quietly productive games, made some yards on the ground when they needed it.

Watching some of these old 1980's Dolphins games has made me appreciate Tony Nathan. He is always impressive in 'film study'. To me, he is like the 1980's version of Tom Matte...not fast but fast enough to run outside, not big but big enough to run inside, can block, catch, run. Usually wound up with about 100 yards from scrimmage in any given game.

I agree, I am also a fan of Nathan and his hook and lateral TD in the 1981-82 playoffs against San Diego is one of my favorite all-time plays. He was also an AP All-Pro kick returner in his rookie season in 1979 (From 1979 through 1985, not counting the 1982 strike-shortened season, Nathan gained over 1100 all-purpose yards in each of those six seasons). It's interesting that Nathan currently is a bailiff with former Dolphins guard Ed Newman, who is a judge (NFL Films did a piece of them). I think that is unique of former teammates in the history of pro football.

[lastcat3]

If there is one Super Bowl match up I wish would of happened it was the Bears and Dolphins in 'SB XX. Though the Dolphins weren't a great team at all they at the same time matched up well against the Bears. They matched up with them far better than the Pats did as the Pats really played into the strength of the '85 Bears defense.

I know that there would have only been a very very small chance the Dolphins could have beaten the Bears a second time that season but they also probably would have given them a far better game than the Pats did. I think a Bears and Dolphins Super Bowl XX matchup would have been around 40-24 or so. One thing I think it would have done even if the Bears still ended up winning is that I don't think there would be nearly as many arguments now for the '85 Bears being the best Super Bowl team of all time. I think if the Dolphins had played that Bears team the best Super Bowl team of all time arguments would be entirely with those '70 Steelers teams and '80's '9ers teams.