1978 NFL Week 9

[Music] what better way to kick off the second half of this season of upsets than for the nfl's two remaining winless teams to taste victory for the first time new coach homer rice described his 0-8 cincinnati bengals as a team ready to explode and last week the houston oilers became the victims of rice's unairing prophecy dan pastorini's league leading protective pocket was pierced by the bengals roaring defense which held houston scoreless until the final quarter [Music] the big change in the bengals was their offense which had ranked last in the conference in both point production and yardage gained the prime reason for the turnaround was their quarterback kenny anderson obviously healthy again where he threw bombs of 43 and 57 yards to set up two short scoring runs the bengals sad ground game received a shot of lightning from rookie david turner number 22 who broke off a 65-yard run which led to a third bengal touchdown houston's still harboring hopes of catching first place pittsburgh in the afc central division scored twice on pastorini passes in the fourth quarter but ken anderson provided the clincher with another bomb this one 45 yards to his old passing partner isaac curtis whose score put the game out of reach of the oilers the 28-13 victory halted cincinnati's fast fall at eight games and gave homer rice his first win as a pro [Music] in philadelphia jim hart was an 11th hour surprise as cardinal quarterback as the league's other big losers st louis upset the eagles 16-10 [Music] the scrappy eagles stayed close despite injuries that decimated their supply of running backs number 66 all-pro middle linebacker bill bergey sparked a defense that picked off three cardinal passes the interceptions kept the eagles competitive in the face of hearts swapping 223 yards passing in the first half alone [Music] with no healthy backs philadelphia went airborne and got their only touchdown of the sunny afternoon when ron jaworski the nfc's leading passers statistically arched a perfect pass to towering harold carmichael the six points gave the eagles a brief 10-6 lead four and a half minutes later the cardinals came right back getting a quick score when hard hit rookie receiver dave stief for a 55-yard touchdown down the right sideline it was the rookie's first pro reception and it meant the ball game for 62 year old bud wilkinson who had put his legendary reputation on the line with his return to coaching it was a first victory in 15 years and the first smile in nine weeks the former oklahoma coach had borne the burden of the cardinals losing streak with calm dignity and now with nine weeks of searing frustration finally over wilkinson walked the sideline a winner for the first time in his professional career for one week at least the national football league was a pleasant place to be for bud wilkins they're the world champions of professional football but against the minnesota vikings the dallas cowboys look more like a team floundering in futility [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] even dallas's normally sound doomsday defense opened at the vikings command [Music] number 34 ricky young scored the second of three viking touchdowns the final one came on this 12-yard pass from fran tarkenton to wide receiver sammy white [Music] several weeks ago nfc title talk it all but eliminated the vikings now after back-to-back wins against green bay and dallas those purple people have seriously clouded the nfc title picture once more not nearly so much confusion in the afc where the pittsburgh steelers are treating all their opponents to a dose of defense here the kansas city chiefs try to reverse their one mistake expecting quarterback mike livingston to block all pro jack hamm thus the reverse became a flea flicker city's improvising was good for 21 points but late in period three some faulty ball handling led to the chiefs on doing number 31 donnie shell carried it in it was the one big play pittsburgh needed to ice away the persistent chiefs of course it was also a pretty important moment for donnie shell touchdown was the clincher in pittsburgh's 27-24 win out in chicago a similar situation occurred there number 16 gary danielson passed the detroit lions into an afternoon long lead over the troubled chicago bears lions for chicago to gamble on a fourth period fourth down in inches play this was the game's crucial moment a first down would have sustained chicago's potential game-winning drive and if bear head coach neil armstrong had to make the same decision all over again he probably would now if only that football had been a silly millimeter long the measurement sent detroit into delirium and it sent bear fans home to ponder their team's sixth straight defeat but four losses in five weeks were quite enough for the cleveland browns who set out to dazzle the buffalo bills veteran calvin hill's fly paper grab was one of six cleveland touchdowns three of which came on brian's site passes this 44 yarder to red g rucker was the longest and it helped the browns keep alive their hopes of catching the steelers in the afc central in the nfc central the big matchup found the tampa bay buccaneers in lambeau field green bay not so long ago a game with tampa bay was the nfl's easiest weekend but rookie quarterback doug williams has changed all that with an arm defenses have to respect the packers respected it they deployed three defenders here to cover buck receiver morris owens but owens out grappled them all [Music] [Applause] the packers however usually kill off enemy air games at the source [Applause] number 78 ezra johnson is the leader of green bay's league leading pass rushing unit while johnson and friends controlled the buck attack green bay nickelled and dimed their way to this two-yard touchdown by terrible turdell middleton however packer place kicker chester marcol missed the conversion and when tampa bay later scored and made their point after the pack trailed by one thus with just 41 ticks left on the clock marcol got his chance at redemption it's been this kind of season for the packers and these spirited youngsters in green and gold have now won seven times good for a two-game lead in the nfc central some folks keep predicting bardstar's young team will soon fold just as they keep saying dallas will soon catch fire but in the spirit of this crazy 1978 season perhaps neither event will happen new england fans have grown fat headed for good reason their patriots are a dominant team tough on defense often fast and flashy on offense the only drawback has been the inconsistent generalship of steve grogan who often is forced to outrun his throwing mistakes but against the new york jets grogans stood tall in the pocket and passed for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone besides muscling passes past the jets he displayed touch and timing on screen passes that opened up the field for sam cunningham number 39. [Music] not since the heyday of mac herron of the patriots possessed the game-breaking running back but in number 23 horace ivory they may have found a candidate [Music] ivory scored twice and all in all the patriots were simply devastating as they routed the jets 55-21 [Music] in another afc eastern division game baltimore flew into miami on a wing and a prayer hoping to salvage some respectability and promptly crash-landed errors and lackadaisical play have broken the colts all season long and have overshadowed their finer efforts the only moment of baltimore brilliance was this superb glenn dowdy touchdown catch from third stringer mike kirkland the dolphins scoring chances were not as fleeting bob griese has returned to form and has shown no lingering effects from his knee injury this perfectly thrown pass to durielle harris number 82 was one of two touchdown tosses on the day for the veteran dolphin a healthy bob greasy as well as a dynamic delvin williams have bolstered the dolphin attack of light looking like his lightning predecessor mercury morris williams number 24 used his speed and agility to gain 98 yards against the colts adding to his league lead in rushing baltimore's answer to dalvin williams is joe washington number 20 but little joe never even had an opportunity to smell the dolphin end zone miami on the other hand penetrated the baltimore goal line when necessary and occasionally even resorted to trickery in doing so this down strike to vern den herder mischief gave the dolphins a 26-8 victory and kept them a game off the pace behind the surging patriots a subdued optimism settled upon san diego as the chargers sought to revenge a heartbreaking loss to the oakland raiders earlier in the season one individual who made revenge seem unattainable was rookie art whittington number 22 whose ability to get outside compliments mark van egan's power running up the gut another charger nemesis was wise oakland quarterback kenny stabler observing that san diego was worried about the oakland ground game stabler went to the air with emphatic results from shorehanded tight end dave casper who would not be denied seven down 20-7 at the half the chargers shut down the raider ground game and set their sights on the head of the problem relentlessly the defensive front stalks stabler with number 68 leroy jones leading the way proving why san diego is first in the afc insects inspired by the defensive sacking clinic dan fouts and the charger offense came to life with 52 seconds remaining this 29-yard touchdown pass from fouts to greg mccrary number 88 climax the masterful come from behind charger triumph in oakland while the chargers savored sweet revenge oakland defensive end ted hendricks wondered just how long it's been since the raiders lost two in a row while washington has been criticized for their policy of finding a place for old over-the-hill players within their organization last sunday the redskins showed there was some sense to this practice with his offense one step away from the morgue jack pardee called upon that crafty old conjurer dr kilmer and sure enough old billy had a prescription that soon had the redskins leaping from their deathbed and right on past the san francisco 49ers [Music] two touchdown passes by the 39 year old kilmer proved to be just what the doctor ordered as washington silenced the belief that rigor mortis had set in by scoring a 38-20 victory [Music] [Applause] the seattle seahawks have never lacked confidence however last week in the kingdom it was difficult to determine whether seattle gathered their assurance from their own abilities or denver's disorder with their offense reduced to kickers as primary targets denver seemed no match for the high-flying seahawks with an opportunity to upset the defending afc champions seattle pulled out all the stops and as usual was that zany zoomer jim zorn who did the pulling seattle sped away to an early lead yet the contest never got out of hand because denver has consistently shown that all you need is a break here and there in order to win the broncos used several missed tackles to keep the game tied at 17 then hung on through almost 13 minutes of overtime until they got the big break for which their defense is famous [Applause] steve foley's interception led to a field goal and a 20 to 17 win and prove that you don't always have to be lucky to win but it sure helps in the superdome the saints only knowledge of luck has been bad and with the new york giants in town from the opening punt it seemed assured that their fortunes weren't about to change the giants build a comfortable 17-7 bulge by halftime then seemed content to just run a host of backs like number 44 doug kodar off tackle until time ran out their strategy seemed sound because the giants defense had managed with a series of blitzes to keep the saints passing game bottled up this problem would most certainly have gone unsolved with saints teams of the past but today's club has made a habit of problem solving [Music] to offset the blitz archie manning turned to a series of play-action passes that repeatedly permitted him the luxury of time and choice [Music] this strategy proved effective throughout the afternoon and especially near the goal line for there a linebacker is forced to acknowledge any play fake and one step forward is all a tight end like henry childs needs to break free in the end zone [Music] new orleans used the play action pass as a key to unlock the giant's end zone then with new york on their heels and conscious of the pass off of a play fake the saints tony galbraith bolded past the startled new yorkers for the go ahead touchdown [Music] the final found the saints on top 28-17 for their fifth win and a victory that equals their best year ever

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Length: 20min 16sec (1216 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 12 2021