So ESPN showed this game last night in the UK. I'd not seen it before (too young) and a few things struck me. 1. Wow, the Orange Bowl was LOUD. Chicago kept delaying the game and refusing to snap the ball as the crowd was too loud! At several points the referees implored Don Shula to try and quieten the crowd. Seemed to have the opposite effect and the crowd were loving it. 2. I assume, therefore, this was before the introduction of the play count (which I didn't realise was such a recent rule addition). OJ Simpson(!), co-commentating, did actually state that one day the NFL would have to look to bring in a rule to stop this "ridiculous situation". 3. Dan Marino was awesome. I used to watch him as a young kid, but now I'm a little more clued up to football his performance seemed even more impressive than I remember. His release was super fast, giving defenders little chance of seeing where it was going. And he was scrambling! Dan Marino! I don't ever remember seeing that in his career, but there he was, rolling out of the pocket and avoiding pressure (slowly I might add!)! As well as his quick release, that guy had a CANNON! And an accurate one at that. Some of the throws he was making were unbelievably tight. 4. The NFL used to be a full on contact sport. Some of the hits that were delivered were BIG. Much bigger than I'm used to seeing now. No way most of them would have been allowed today. 5. The fashion sense in Miami in the mid 80's was atrocious! 6. Walter Payton was near unstoppable. Why the Bears didn't give him the ball more in this match I just don't know. It wasn't really until Q4 that they started bringing him into the game, and he still managed 100+ yards.
That was a great game,makes people appreciate Marino for what he brought to the QB position.The old Orange Bowl may have been a toilet but it was tough on the opposition to come in there without dealing with the noise.
One thing I hated about leaving the Orange Bowl for the spacious Joe Robbie stadium was we really did lose that great home crowd advantage we use to have, now it seems like when you go to the game you are in another zip code.
You better believe the Orange Bowl was loud! The team lost a significant bit of their home field advantage when they moved out of there. Dan Marino was a bit more mobile before he started having his knee's worked on every year in the offseason. And finally QB's really used to get hit and buried. It's the way I and many others were taught to play the game.
Greatest Dolphin's game ever IMHO. I started watching in about '82. And yes, that game was quintessential Dan Marino! No wonder we all loved the guy so much.
For anyone in the UK this is on ESPN again , and im watching it again (also taping this one on TIVO ) Fantastic game and sums up all that is good about the NFL IMO