Thoughts on SB XVII

[Bryan]

Kind of a weird game...not really a 'classic' but interesting nonetheless. I enjoyed the NFL Films highlight video of this Super Bowl...good mix of cinematography and music. Anyways:

*If Bokamper intercepts and scores on Thiesmann's pass late in the 3rd quarter to put the Dolphins up 24-13, do you think the Dolphins hold on to win? If so, who do you think gets the MVP...Bokamper?

*A couple big plays that get overlooked...two plays before Riggins 4th down TD run, he fumbled the ball and the Dolphins recovered, but Riggins was ruled down. It looked like a 50/50 call on replay. The other big play was near the end of the 3rd quarter. AJ Duhe had intercepted Thiesmann in Redskin territory, the Dolphins were up 17-13 and at the Skins 39 yard-line, and Woodley sails a terrible pass deep into the Redskin secondary that's picked off by Mark Murphy (which set the stage for Bokamper/Theismann strip play). Had Miami been able to punch it in or even get just a FG to go up 7, that might have changed the complexion/outcome.

*Speaking of Woodley, I remember Krusty Kuechenberg saying that Shula had a tendency to stick with his starting QB too long. Shula seemed to have no problem using Don Strock, and pulled Morrall for Griese in the 72 playoffs, but perhaps he was referring to this Super Bowl particularly. Woodley was terrible all game. Maybe Shula thought you don't pull your starting QB when you have the lead, but IMO Strock should have been in the game after the 1st series of the 2nd half. Shula had Woodley still in the game after Riggins' TD run put Washington up 20-17, which made no sense.

*Theismann wasn't much better than Woodley. Washington had a huge yardage advantage over Miami, but that was due to the running game. Theismann threw the Duhe pick, threw another interception to Lyle Blackwood while trailing in the 4th quarter, and threw short over the middle to negate a short FG attempt at the end of the 1st half.

*The last scoring play was Washington converted and 3rd and goal from the 6. Theismann kind of drifted indecisively to the right, eventually throwing to Charlie Brown on the endzone sideline. Brown barely gets one foot down and is pushed out of bounds, but the refs ruled that Brown would have gotten both feet in and called it a TD. Very questionable. If Washington kicks a FG, then its still only a one score game with Miami being able to take the lead on a TD.

[Rupert Patrick]

It wasn't a great game, but a good game, and was a more than pleasant end to a rather unpleasant 1982 season. The teams were pretty evenly matched, but Washington (and especially Riggins) was peaking at the right time. I do think that the key play of the game was Theismann batting away the tipped pass from Bokamper, because if Miami had led 24-13 it would have essentially taken Riggins out of the game and forced Theismann to go to a pass-based game, and Miami had the best pass defense in the NFL in 1982 (24th in rushing yards allowed). If Miami had gotten a pick six at that point I think the game would have been over, and Bokamper would likely have been the MVP.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Bryan, thanks for the post. As a fan of the team, this is a game I've found too hard to go back and look at. Wow, the way you describe it, it sounds much more competitive than my 30+ year old memory was telling me

Miami never got their running game going - I'm guessing Washington wanted to force Woodley to beat them. I agree about Strock, regardless of the score, the second half "felt" like Washington was the team in control - I would have hoped that would be enough to get Strock in the game.

[BD Sullivan]

I recall the game being competitive throughout, with Fulton Walker making history by becoming the first player to have a TD kickoff return in the Super Bowl. The Bokamper near-pick came when Miami was building momentum.

[TanksAndSpartans]

I don't think Miami was building momentum in the second half. As the OP said the Bokamper near pick followed a Woodley pick. I also checked some numbers and Woodley was 0-8 in the second half and the Dolphins managed only 34 yards of total offense, two first downs, and zero points.

[L.C. Greenwood]

Kind of a weird game...not really a 'classic' but interesting nonetheless. I enjoyed the NFL Films highlight video of this Super Bowl...good mix of cinematography and music. Anyways:

*If Bokamper intercepts and scores on Thiesmann's pass late in the 3rd quarter to put the Dolphins up 24-13, do you think the Dolphins hold on to win? If so, who do you think gets the MVP...Bokamper?

*A couple big plays that get overlooked...two plays before Riggins 4th down TD run, he fumbled the ball and the Dolphins recovered, but Riggins was ruled down. It looked like a 50/50 call on replay. The other big play was near the end of the 3rd quarter. AJ Duhe had intercepted Thiesmann in Redskin territory, the Dolphins were up 17-13 and at the Skins 39 yard-line, and Woodley sails a terrible pass deep into the Redskin secondary that's picked off by Mark Murphy (which set the stage for Bokamper/Theismann strip play). Had Miami been able to punch it in or even get just a FG to go up 7, that might have changed the complexion/outcome.

*Speaking of Woodley, I remember Krusty Kuechenberg saying that Shula had a tendency to stick with his starting QB too long. Shula seemed to have no problem using Don Strock, and pulled Morrall for Griese in the 72 playoffs, but perhaps he was referring to this Super Bowl particularly. Woodley was terrible all game. Maybe Shula thought you don't pull your starting QB when you have the lead, but IMO Strock should have been in the game after the 1st series of the 2nd half. Shula had Woodley still in the game after Riggins' TD run put Washington up 20-17, which made no sense.

*Theismann wasn't much better than Woodley. Washington had a huge yardage advantage over Miami, but that was due to the running game. Theismann threw the Duhe pick, threw another interception to Lyle Blackwood while trailing in the 4th quarter, and threw short over the middle to negate a short FG attempt at the end of the 1st half.

*The last scoring play was Washington converted and 3rd and goal from the 6. Theismann kind of drifted indecisively to the right, eventually throwing to Charlie Brown on the endzone sideline. Brown barely gets one foot down and is pushed out of bounds, but the refs ruled that Brown would have gotten both feet in and called it a TD. Very questionable. If Washington kicks a FG, then its still only a one score game with Miami being able to take the lead on a TD.

I think Shula liked Woodley's dual threat ability, so even with the second half struggles, he felt Miami was still in striking distance. The shocking aspect of SB17 was how the Miami defense was worn down, and dominated later in the game. The Dolphins knew exactly what the Redskins were going to do, and still couldn't stop Riggins. It's the type of football we rarely see today, and that's disappointing.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Right, my main goal wasn't to second guess Shula even though maybe it came off that way - I was just a little surprised when reading the OP's summary how competitive the game sounded. Having watched it, my memory was that of a pretty dismal second half for the Dolphins.

[Gary Najman]

Something on this Super Bowl that gets overlooked is that referee Jerry Markbreit (working the first of four Super Bowls, a record for the crew chiefs) blew the coin toss. As the coin had a pair of helmets as heads and for tails two players with helmets, Markbreit got confused and nearly gave the ball to Washington when Miami had won the toss (fortunately, NBC saw what was happening and cut the coin toss, while head linesman Dale Hamer corrected Markbreit). Four years later, Markbreit again was the referee of the Super Bowl and they decided to give him the coin a couple of days earlier for practice. Even that he practiced nearly 500 times in his hotel room, he nearly blew the coin toss again when practicing it in the locker room.

[Bryan]

The shocking aspect of SB17 was how the Miami defense was worn down, and dominated later in the game. The Dolphins knew exactly what the Redskins were going to do, and still couldn't stop Riggins. It's the type of football we rarely see today, and that's disappointing.

Miami's defense might have been worn down, but they kept the team in the game throughout the 2nd half. Aside from his long TD run, Riggins wasn't really "better" in the 2nd half...the Redskins moved the ball on the ground all game. The pattern of the game was that Washington would drive down the field, then Theismann would screw up or Miami would stiffen and hold Washington to a field goal.

What changed in the 4th quarter was two things: first, Arnsparger chose to play a goal-line defense on a 4th and 1 while 43 yards away from the actual goal line. Arnsparger was a genius, especially in 1982, but this was a terrible call by him. Play a normal run defense...if you stop the Redskins, great. If Riggins converts the first down, they still have a ways to go to get to the end zone. You can still hold Washington to a FG and remain in the lead 17-16, and its possible Theismann turns the ball over again. Being in goal-line allowed Riggins to break into the open for a long run. Second, the questionable Charlie Brown TD was on a 3rd-and-goal from the 6...if Brown is ruled out of bounds, then Washington kicks a FG. Basically two drives that could have easily resulted in only 6 points actually resulted in 14 points.

[L.C. Greenwood]

The shocking aspect of SB17 was how the Miami defense was worn down, and dominated later in the game. The Dolphins knew exactly what the Redskins were going to do, and still couldn't stop Riggins. It's the type of football we rarely see today, and that's disappointing.

Miami's defense might have been worn down, but they kept the team in the game throughout the 2nd half. Aside from his long TD run, Riggins wasn't really "better" in the 2nd half...the Redskins moved the ball on the ground all game. The pattern of the game was that Washington would drive down the field, then Theismann would screw up or Miami would stiffen and hold Washington to a field goal.

What changed in the 4th quarter was two things: first, Arnsparger chose to play a goal-line defense on a 4th and 1 while 43 yards away from the actual goal line. Arnsparger was a genius, especially in 1982, but this was a terrible call by him. Play a normal run defense...if you stop the Redskins, great. If Riggins converts the first down, they still have a ways to go to get to the end zone. You can still hold Washington to a FG and remain in the lead 17-16, and its possible Theismann turns the ball over again. Being in goal-line allowed Riggins to break into the open for a long run. Second, the questionable Charlie Brown TD was on a 3rd-and-goal from the 6...if Brown is ruled out of bounds, then Washington kicks a FG. Basically two drives that could have easily resulted in only 6 points actually resulted in 14 points.

That Riggins TD run was something special, despite all those carries, the HOF back had more than enough to run over the tackler, and sprint the 43 yards. Nobody came close to running like that on Miami all season, it was a fun Super Bowl to watch.