1976 NFL Week 12

in rfk stadium george allen's pregame sermon reminded the redskins that a playoff spot remains well within reach the master mentors point was well received [Music] three of billy kilmer's 10 completions produced touchdowns two of which went to second year running back mike thomas number 22. the redskins spent a lot of money to add such big name stars as john riggins and calvin hill to their backfield depth chart but little mike thomas remains the driving force behind the redskins quest for a playoff spot washington combined an opportunistic offense and an unyielding defense in disposing of the struggling eagles and the redskins sunday afternoon triumph seemed sweeter yet in view of the previous thursday's events in irving texas where a turkey day crowd of 62 000 plus watched the cowboys feast on another brand of bird dallas devoured the cardinal attack dominating all phases of play especially the punting game the cowboys splintered the cardinals protective wall blocked this punt and notched two points special team superstar thomas henderson number 56 breathed fire into dallas's specialty units a super bowl contender like the cowboys depends upon inspired special team play to keep their winning edge last sunday the cowboys turned in two crucial plays in punting situations [Music] danny white's fourth down pass to benny barnes came with but a minute to play in the first half four plays later roger starbuck made it hurt [Music] dallas's two fourth down successes proved to be the pivotal plays in the contest they accounted for 9 of the 12 points that dallas led by late in period 4 before the cardiac cardinals turned on their pacemakers but for the second week in succession st louis's last minute heroics did not a victory bring the game ended with st louis on the cowboy eight yard line eight yards that may cost the cardinals a playoff birth [Music] there were no playoff berths at stake in detroit it was merely another episode in the lion's history of memorable thanksgiving day games but even old veteran lions could not remember anything like this but the league's leading passer regained his footing and greg landry proceeded to dismantle the buffalo secondary with two touchdown passes both of which went to rookie tight end david hill [Music] david hill detroit's king of swing creator of a newfangled end zone thing [Music] [Applause] [Music] detroit scored 27 points then turned matters over to their league leading defenders who planned to dine on an assortment of beef fowl and superstar running backs but the lions found the beverage a little tough to digest [Music] by the time he had finished o.j simpson had accomplished the following things he had rushed for more than 200 yards in a single game for the fifth time in his career a new nfl record he eclipsed the thousand-yard rushing mark for the fifth consecutive season while taking over the afc rushing lead and he broke his own nfl record for most yards rushing in a single game simpson finished with 273 yards lost in the glitter of simpson's record-breaking performance was detroit's sixth victory but the hours certainly belonged to simpson possibly the best ever to run with a football for 12 weeks the impotent giant offense instead of improving and inching forward has steadily marched backward in forced retreat [Music] naturally irate fans directed their bile toward the most obvious target quarterback craig morton who spit a season's worth of venom right back at them although strong armed morton is the perfect scapegoat because unlike the new breed of quarterback he is relatively immobile and hopelessly slow-footed [Music] against the seattle seahawks morton stood rooted in the pocket like a tree waiting to be felled while the razzle dazzle scrambles of seahawk quarterback jim zorn number 10 reminded mendy of vintage roger staubach zorn possesses charisma daring and talent and unless the perils of surviving an expansion team grind him down like they did archie manning he has a chance to become a star of magnitude just when so many questions surrounded the giant sagging ground attack they might have found an answer from a previously untapped source number 25 rookie gordon bell scored twice against the seahawks and tony dorsett notwithstanding might prove to be the wide threat the giants so desperately need at one point new york trailed 9-0 but behind bell and two morton touchdown passes the giants won their second game of the season 28-16 while the giants and seahawks battled for nothing more compelling than pecking order in the draft the cleveland browns were still in the thick of a fight for a wild card berth the browns combated the biting cold the absence of greg pruitt and the always well prepared dalton defense with the passing of brian sipe the bellwether of their championship drive [Applause] although siped through three interceptions he twice managed to dent the steely dalton defense with touchdown passes [Applause] [Music] one went to number 33 reggie rucker the browns leading receiver and the other to paul warfield that magnificent relic whose greatness spans the glory years of both the browns and the dolphins [Applause] the heroics of syphon warfield led cleveland to an important 1713 victory but in no way did it diminish the effort of a miami team crippled by injury [Applause] [Music] each week miami straggles in like so many weary survivors from a hollywood disaster movie losing a man here injuring a knee there but always putting out the maximum effort led by number 32 benny malone the most reckless of this crew of headless horsemen the dolphins almost cashed in cleveland's dwindling playoff hopes [Music] injuries and defections have depleted every skill position except quarterback where bob griese still throws footballs through a needle's eye the dalton scored three touchdowns but unfortunately only two counted when freddie solomon's 76-yard punt return was denied by a penalty for the dolphins it was another defeat with honor for cleveland it was a narrow escape from being left out in the playoff cold brown 17 dolphins 13. [Music] this season new england steve grogan has been a headline maker but somewhat overlooked has been the patriots much improved defense led by the likes of number 78 tony mcgee a six-year veteran defensive end last week in a playoff spot showdown there was no way bronco quarterback steve ramsey could overlook the patriot defenders because they spent a good part of the afternoon in his lap or on his back [Music] when the front line wasn't harassing ramsay the deep backs were talented rookie cornerback mike kane's number 40 made this willie mays-like interception which helped limit the broncos to 14 points for the afternoon not content with a mere defensive role hanes then turned to offense taking this bronco punt all the way from east boston to foxborough the 62-yard scoring play left the buck and broncos broken and saddle sore then with grogan at the reins and 177 yard rusher don calhoun and number 38 rookie ike forte applying the spurs the new england offense galloped to victory number nine 38-14 barring some unusual misfortune it looks like the new england patriots will be bringing a new team into the nfl playoff picture for 1976. meanwhile in green bay where the playoff picture has been out of focus for a long time the packers were moving the ball through the air over the bears secondary with number 19 carlos brown taking over for the injured lin dickey the pack outpassed chicago by over 100 yards in fact wide receiver ollie smith number 89 accounted for more passing yardage than all of the bears receivers put together but all of this air action netted green bay only one score on this brown to campaign strike and happy hula [Music] but in the end the bears matched that score with a 49-yarder from number seven bob abellini to rookie wide receiver james scott added three bob thomas field goals and even their record at six and six by the margin of a sixteen to ten win [Music] meanwhile out in oakland winless coach john mckay had the demeanor of a man wearing metal underwear and a thunderstorm he didn't expect to win but some of his players didn't either however the bucks did manage to ring up 16 points against the proud poised and playoff bound raiders but for most of the afternoon tampa bay signal caller steve spurrier was rolling around the oakland coliseum floor like a playful kitten all rolled up in a ball of silver and black yarn those parts of the day that weren't spent playfully were spent instead somewhat painfully for the bucks throughout the afternoon spurrier seemed somewhat tentative like a man walking the plank over shark infested waters and number 39 willie hall's theft pointed out some weaknesses in buccaneer fundamentals such as tackling and so last sunday the buccaneers did little swashbuckling while those patch-eyed pirates from oakland carved a mighty swath on the sword arm of ken stabler and his receivers like number 25 fred belletnikov with a game locked in the treasure chest mike ray came in at quarterback and sent a 37-yard torpedo to mike cianni who made a center fielder's catch that made the final score 49-16 and once again last week the raiders proved that no matter who's throwing them or who's catching them there's fun profit excitement and playoffs for any team who lives by the past as well as they do [Music] this season the rams have had starting quarterbacks named ron jim and pat last week pat started number 11 pat hayden that is and he led an uncharacteristically ornate ram offense against the new orleans saints the rams rolled up more than 300 yards on the ground but when the saints tried to mimic their successful techniques things just didn't work the same the previous week new orleans had scored a club record 51 points but last sunday they could manage just one big play a 51-yard dash by chuck munsey number 42. chuck muncie had 106 yards in the first quarter but only three more the rest of the day as pat hayden and his best runner lawrence mccutchen number 30 monopolized the remainder of the game hayden threw for two touchdowns ran for one more completed 14 of 21 passes and in his third consecutive start seemed to have everything under control throughout as he led los angeles to an easy 33-14 victory over new orleans in houston the atlanta falcons also tested a new passer half back bubba bean [Music] john gilliam's easy score put the falcons ahead in the second quarter and then scott hunter's pass to alfred jenkins had atlanta ahead again in the third quarter [Music] but a third straight falcon victory was not to be as the oilers snapped a six-game losing streak with this effort by billy johnson said billy i just got lost in the shuffle there is always was and always will be a white shoes final score houston 20 atlanta 14. in new york the jets knew they had to put up some points to upset the nfl's highest scoring team the baltimore colts so they repeatedly got the ball to their leading rusher and receiver the remarkable free agent rookie from wake forest clark gaines number 21. [Music] as he has done repeatedly gaines accounted for more than 100 yards for the jets but he couldn't match his more experienced baltimore counterpart lydell mitchell number 26. mitchell added another 150 plus yards to his total of more than 1600 combined yards for the season and mitchell is one of those rare performers who prefers to let someone else take care of the celebrations [Music] roger carr added his 10th touchdown of the season from the league's top ranked passer bert jones the man joe namath says is in a class all by himself the colts won 33-16 and clinched a spot in the playoffs in cincinnati the worst possible conditions almost conspired to keep the pittsburgh steelers from any further chance for the playoffs the bengals had managed a field goal before the snow had started and in the second half the afc's two best defensive teams were not about to allow any further scoring on the riverfront stadium astro rink any kind the big offensive play had to be part skill part miracle miraculous isaac curtis put cincinnati in good position but the nfl stingiest defense was equal to the challenge for the sixth time in seven games the steeler defense did not allow a single touchdown the steeler offense scored only one the 13th and by far the most important for franco harris looking ahead to monday night's game between cincinnati and oakland one steeler mused now we need the good lord and the oakland raiders and what a combination that is

Channel: Comrade Dobler

Views: 17,793

Rating: 4.954802 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 4wmBJOfECIY

Length: 20min 34sec (1234 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 02 2021