The real reason was that our QB threw 5 INTs and couldn't lead our O to a single point. The rest are just excuses b/c we got outplayed.
I was 14, living in S. FL and it sucked BAD having to go to school and listen to the stupidity. I still live here so now I hear the same stupidity spouted by their offspring. It's pretty much their legacy...
on a field that Shula knew would be soaked and would serve to neutralize our best players. To suggest that field conditions had no role in the outcome is a distortion of history.
What was he supposed to do once the field was wet? Hold a press conference and demand that the Fins dry out the already wet field? It rained all week. Should he have been down there on Thursday making sure the head of the rules committee - Shula - was following the rules? Why doesn't the commish today have 24-7 watch on all NFL players to make sure they don't roid? Because there is an expectation that you follow the rules. Shula didn't follow them.
They are just excuses, we played on the exact same field. AGAIN, Miami beat us twice on good fields. Maybe had we beaten them once during the reg season I'd buy that excuse but we lost b/c we didn't execute not b/c of the field.
He knew it was raining there the days leading up to the game, the league should have made sure they had the tarp down so obviously they weren't that concerned about it. In the early 00s the league knew NE didn't put their tarp down and they didn't force them to do it either. The teams are playing on the same field, it's not like we were a dome team. Our home field was a terrible surface especially early in the year w/ the infield dirt down. We spent more energy worried about the field than we did getting ready for the game- THAT is why we lost. We had a built in excuse.
Anyone who thinks the field conditions werent the biggest contributing factor to the loss doesn't appreciate what happened. Miami had no passing game with Woodley as QB and were a running only offense with a great D. They called this D the Killer B's. We had an offense that had great speed on the outside and was more finesse running then Miami who had a bruising Fullback in Andra franklin. Shula prevented the tarp from being used so that the field conditions would equalize the teams. And of course, he was a better coach and all things being equal would outcoach us. Someone said in an earlier post that after this game our D went to shit. Not true, Walton took over and screwed up the team, but a year or so later hired Bud Carson as D coordinator, and our D swarmed to the ball and was excellent despite Pick your Nose's poor abilities as a head coach
Junc, I've got to get some work done so if you want to reply I'll give you the last word. Too bad Roselle is dead or I would call him and ask; I'd still wager that he didn't know how bad the field was until Sunday and by then it was too late. The Fins beat us twice that year, I remember the agony of those two regular season losses. Based on those two games, they were the better team those days. But it's not an excuse, IMHO, to point out that this went far and beyond any other gamesmanship or angling for an advantage that any team had sought before. The rest is filler. Glad the Fins lost the following week.
Can you please explain this to junc? And also remind him that Franklin was a North-South runner, unlike McNeil?
There's no question that the Dolphins were concerned about our offensive prowess and they cheated as part of their gameplan to contain it. In fact, I heard McNeil on an interview almost 20 years later and he was still furious about it! But with that said ... GOOD GOD ... just LOOK at this playcall on 3rd and 7 from midfield down by 7 in the 4th Quarter... The infamous AJ Duhe 3rd INT (2:20 mark)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1yA5ldehsA&feature=related Are you effin kidding me Walton?? How do you call that? Even if we completed it, Harper had NO SHOT of gaining any ground. Were you even trying to score ANY points in this game?
Woodley threw for 200 yds and 2 TDs the week before against SD He threw for 250 and 2 TDs in rd 1 against NE They didn't have a great passing O but they could throw, their ground game was good but far from great. AGAIN, they beat us twice in good weather that regular season. We lost b/c we didn't execute on offense. Our D played well enough to win, our O did not. If he was alive he'd probably be pissed that you keep misspelling his name:smile: I wish we won, I wish we didn't worry about tarps but instead focused on the task at hand but it didn't happen. We should have been able to beat them in any conditions. That's what big time teams do. Franklin ran for 44 yds on 13 carries w/ a 3.4 YPC. Their 3 RBs combined for 46 carries, 92 yards and a TWO YPC.
Junc, Woodley and Miami had a horrible passing game. If you dont agree with that then you weren't watching football that year. He was more of a threat to run.
the Wet field along with Todd killed us that day. Freeman could not run nor could the rest of our team. Our def played ok--as someone else said we played without Klecko but man that day sucked. The field was not just wet, or did not have puddles it was 100 yards of pure slop! I remember it as if it were yesterday hard to believe it was almost 30 yrs ago---I was 19 man time does fly
My cousin had just married WW in the summer of 82...I was only 7, but I was watching the game. I was crushed when they lost that game. Wes never got to fly down the field and run under a big bomb...hate the Phins!!
Yes I remember this game. I remember hating every single minute of it too. God I wanted to punch Shula in his big fat chin implant. Oh well I think I was 13 at the time of this game.......... Wow it was so long ago.
i remember the look on lyle alzado's face when the jets beat da raiders for the right to the mud bowl. the only other time i saw that look was on jason taylor's face after the miracle in the meadowlands game
Todd did suck that day but poor footing in mud can contribute to that. Add to that that Salaam was not 100% and wasn't Harper out so they were hurt in the return game? The field did contribute to the outcome of the game. Of course it wasn't the only factor but some here stating that the Phins already beat the Jets twice and the field didn't play into it are missing many things.
Lived through the game. After the fact, I agree with most that Miami was the better team that year, although Jets' victories against Cinci and Raiders had most of us thinking Super Bowl. ( I remember watching the NFC championship the day before and being disappointed that Redskins won, since I wanted the Jets to play the Cowboys) The sloppy field definitely gave Dolphins an advantage. Todd's return to form in that game was something I was unfortunately dreading since game four of 1981. ( a jets' fan expecting the worst...some things never change!). Not the worst loss ever. '86 Play-off loss to Cleveland holds that title. Worse than the '04 loss to the Steelers though, since Jets had reasonable expectation of winning in '86
Yep I remember that game because during the entire game I was holding on to the post card I received from the NYJs that I had won tix in the SB lottery if we won that game. Sugar plums were spinning in my head thinking about attending a SB then the game was played & my mood changed to the SOJs thingy :sad:
