1976 NFL Week 2

when the los angeles rams met the minnesota vikings last week it was as coaches like to put it the time for a good old-fashioned gut check two weeks ago on opening day both teams had known the thrill of quick and easy victory but there was none of that here it was like tumbling around inside a giant clothes dryer said viking linebacker wally hildenberg number 58 just as hildenberg and his aging teammates were beginning to weaken the vikings offense suddenly came to life and rookie sammy white pulled in a pass from fran tarkenton to give the vikings a lead in the fourth [Music] quarter but the rams sent the game into overtime when they scored after this catch by harold jackson on the one-half yard line the overtime period however was dominated by defense neither team could score and the game ended in a 10-10 tie [Music] defense also dominated the game in buffalo where the bills and the houston oilers wrestled with each other in a carnival of fumbles bumbles and penalties this 19-yard charge by houston's don hardiman was the only touchdown of the game but it was all the oilers needed to win my offense wasn't that good said houston's bum phillips but my defense was stronger than cow's breath [Music] although houston is best known for its ability to stop the running game they applied enough pressure on buffalo's quarterback gary maranji to curtail the bill's passing attack last season buffalo led the afc in both passing and running today they could do little of either houston's linebackers played an aggressive blitzing defense on running situations and they held oj simpson to a paltry 38 yards rushing simpson's lowest output in two and a half years [Music] houston edged the bills 13-3 and their defense has not given up a touchdown thus far this season [Music] in tampa bay the buccaneers also have a good defense but their offense has mysteriously died and they haven't scored a point in regular season play an official investigation has failed to turn up any clues but last sunday the buccaneers certainly had a case against the san diego chargers san diego stole three of tampa's passes and tom hayes returned one of them 37 yards for a touchdown [Music] there's no mystery about san diego's offense ricky young led a winning assault with this 46-yard touchdown as the chargers won their second straight 23 to nothing for philadelphia eagle fans the moment of truth had arrived the new new york giants were in town for the eagles home opener and morton zonka and company were favored to deal the eagles their eighth consecutive loss as it turned out one of the few successful giant plays carried to the eagle 35 but amazingly the drive ended with a third and 55 from the new york 20. meanwhile dick vermeel's no-name backfield was beginning to make a name for itself number 35 rookie fullback mike hogan from tennessee at chattanooga was the eagles ninth draft pick their tenth choice was half back herb lust number 32 from long beach state each accounted for more than 100 yards running and receiving as the inspired eagles delivered victory number one for rookie head coach dick vermeel number 71 steve niehaus of notre dame was a somewhat higher draft pick in fact he is the man around whom the seahawks hope to build a defense unfortunately they'll have to wait a while last week some of the seahawks needed a helping hand just to stay on their feet washington coach george allen made sure the over the hill gang stayed pointed in the right direction number 72 dyron talbert showed how to collapse guard fullback and half back single-handedly while the fledgling seahawks at times made matters even easier for the redskins wiley old defense billy the kid kilmer became billy the band-aid but no matter jurgensen didn't throw with his belly and kilmer doesn't throw with his nose mike thomas had another big game with two touchdowns and 143 yards rushing but kilmer's pinpoint passes were just as important [Music] frank grant's tough catch accounted for another touchdown while kilmer's third scoring pass went to the man who just might be the most valuable of all the recent allen acquisitions tight end gene feugen number 84 in all the over the hill redskins scored 31 points while holding the not yet over the hump seahawks to seven san francisco's jim plunkett is another high-priced transplant who last week made big plays with his new teammates in a new city but the 49ers could score only one touchdown and for the second straight week the chicago bears had six sacks three by number 68 jim osborne and two by right end roger stilwell number 71. the san francisco defense had its moments too such as when walter payton was tackled for a safety by number 53 tommy hart the veteran defensive end from morris brown college who has fought a too small label since his rookie year nine seasons ago the 49ers celebration did not last long however as misdirection plays and the quick silver moves of walter payton accounted for the best rushing performance of the young season [Applause] walter payton ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns as the youthful bears won their second straight 19-12 [Music] the cleveland pittsburgh game had a decidedly david and goliath twist fresh-faced brian seif played david peering up at the goliaths of the steel curtain defense all of them loose relaxed and supremely confident of thoroughly whopping their turnpike rivals but for thirty minutes sipe and the browns closely followed the fable storyline as the young quarterback who was subbing for injured mike phipps threw two touchdown passes and cleveland dominated the super bowl champions through the first half pittsburgh played their part to the hilt giving the underdogs every possible chance to win the game but the cleveland defense despite pressuring terry bradshaw all day simply would not or could not stick to the script [Music] finally as it must to all teams who failed to take advantage of the steelers rare generosity the turning point of the contest came quickly and decisively don cockross 593rd career punt was blocked by jack hamm and the course of the game was permanently altered the blocked punt and two fumbles by number one draft choice mike pruitt led to 17 third quarter pittsburgh points and in the fourth period franco harris ran wild as the steelers pulled away from their one-time arch [Music] rivals and what became of young david when last seen brian sipe was still searching for his misplaced slingshot somewhere on the tartan turf of the three rivers stadium where the cleveland browns have yet to win a game no one can accuse the new orleans saints of merely rolling over and playing dead without putting up a struggle [Music] and struggle is exactly what they did against dallas devastating doomsday defense led by number 54 randy hoyt the cowboys attack led by roger staubach and powered by emerging star scott laidlaw and tight end billy joe dupree number 89 was every bit as physical as the dallas defense the cowboys rolled up over 400 yards and averaged more than six and a half yards each time they touched the ball against the defenseless saints passing from a new variation of the shotgun jolly roger hit on 15 of 22 as everything went right for dallas in their 24-6 romp in the superdome in denver there was new head gear and plenty of reason for everyone to smile for the injury-riddled broncos came up with a surefire antidote for their many ills the miracle medicine is called the new york jets the bronco defense pounded hapless joe namath into foolhardy cross-court passes like this one that resulted in a touchdown interception by john rouser another look at the beleaguered nameth on the play shows just how far the mighty has fallen all joe willy could do was look for a place to hide but for the aging quarterback and the new york jets there was none for the second time in two weeks middle of the road quarterbacks looked like all pros against the jets the first week it was cleveland's mike phipps now it was denver steve ramsey the journeyman quarterback embarrassed new york to the tune of 543 total yards on the day as denver won in a breeze when the dust had cleared the broncos had handed the new york jets one of the most decisive defeats in their 17-year history final score denver 46 new york free in st louis the cardinals opened with five field goals and a 15 to nothing lead while the birds were footloose the packers were performing like foot [Music] stools [Music] even this apparent packer score by ken payne was called out of bounds and a victory boogaloo became a symbolic bump and bobble the packer pattern of ineptitude was consistent throughout the afternoon and each new disaster spelled opportunity for the cardinals who flashed to an easy 29 to nothing win meanwhile in pontiac michigan the atlanta falcons like green bay showed an unusually wide variety of faulty execution themselves although the falcons led ten to nothing in the fourth quarter the roof then caved in when a greg landry score was followed by a fake field goal play on which joe reed hit past eligible linebacker ed o'neill [Music] o'neil pranced into the end zone where he was greeted by a shower of confetti two animal impersonators one male one female a pastel of happy teammates and a minor sheik from one of the arab emirates the lions finished their 24 point fourth quarter burst on this score by defensive back james hunter again the end zone antics were impressive and sparked by the fact that the 11th hour 24 to 10 lion win had probably saved a few jobs notably that of head coach rick porzano while jobs were saved in detroit a big one was done in new england by number 14 steve grogan who picked apart the daltons and gave the no name defense a very bad name indeed whether passing or running the young quarterback from kansas state was unstoppable as he led new england on a 30 to 14 rampage that had miami coach don shula muttering this is about as bad a beating as we've had in a long time conversely it was the best patriot performance in years and has people in boston asking who's jim plunkett while the patriots were making fish chowder out of the dolphins there was a whole lot of action going on in crab cake corners where the bengals and colts got together in a barn burning head knocking struggle that turned out to be the most exciting game of the week [Music] [Applause] the baltimore colts fired the first volley of the day when burke jones unloaded a pass to roger carr number 81 and carr finished the 68-yard play with plenty of room to spare a victory salute to the fans and an impressive dipper dunk [Music] no less impressive was the play of cincinnati's tommy casanova number 37 as the bengals forged dramatically to a 17-7 lead [Music] again the colts nuclear strike force began pushing buttons and again it was a jones car seeking missile as baltimore closed to within 20 to 14 at the half although the second half was mostly a battle of the trenches it was again a jones to carve big bomb of 65 yards that paved the way to a final 28 to 27 coat victory and in crab cake corners where only a short time ago a coach and his owner were doing a clever imitation of a burton taylor breakup victory and a rifle arm have turned discord into a valuable and harmonious fiesta

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Id: eYc61wlVL9U

Length: 20min 5sec (1205 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 23 2020