The Houston Oilers were a surprising 6-2 as they hosted the Miami Dolphins on November 16, 1975. Under first-year Head Coach Bum Phillips, the team that had been 1-13 in both 1972 and ’73 was playing like a contender. The Oilers ran the ball effectively with HB Ronnie Coleman and FB Don Hardeman carrying most of the load, and while the passing game was unexceptional, there was an emerging star in WR Ken Burrough. The solid 3-4 defense was the key to Houston’s success, with NT Curley Culp anchoring the line and rookie LB Robert Brazile proving to be a valuable addition. Topping it off was WR Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, who was an exciting kick returner and had already scored twice on punt returns.
One lineup change for the Miami game involved a fading
star who had been brought in to provide defensive depth. 30-year-old DE Bubba
Smith (pictured above) had been let go by the Raiders and was now backing up his younger
brother, Tody, on the defensive line, who was out with a knee injury.
The Dolphins came into Houston at 7-1, having not lost
since the opening week. Since Head Coach Don Shula’s arrival in 1970, Miami had
been as successful as the Oilers were mediocre. But while there were still some
stalwarts, such as QB Bob Griese and HB Eugene “Mercury” Morris, remaining, the
Dolphins were in the process of retooling.
There were 48,892 fans in attendance at the Astrodome. The
Oilers had first possession and drove 48 yards in 13 plays. Ronnie Coleman and
Don Hardeman ran effectively, picking up three first downs, but after reaching
the Miami 17 QB Dan Pastorini was sacked by LB Bob Matheson on third down and
Skip Butler kicked a 43-yard field goal.
The teams exchanged punts following short possessions, and
Miami was driving as the first quarter ended. Bob Griese completed a screen
pass to FB Norm Bulaich for 13 yards on a third-and-nine play and then hit on
three straight throws to WR Freddie Solomon for eight yards, TE Jim Mandich for
10, and WR Howard Twilley for 31 yards to the Houston 18. But on the second
play of the second quarter, another Griese pass was intercepted by LB Ted
Washington, who returned it 23 yards.
On a series that advanced 63 yards in seven plays,
Pastorini threw to FB Fred Willis for 16 yards and Hardeman broke away for a
37-yard carry to the Miami 12. Butler kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it a
6-0 game.
Miami responded with an eight-play, 64-yard possession.
Griese completed three of his passes, the last to Mandich for a 26-yard
touchdown. However, the score remained tied when Bubba Smith blocked Garo
Yepremian’s try for the extra point.
The Oilers moved into Miami territory on the next series
thanks to a Pastorini throw to Ken Burrough that covered 24 yards, but after
reaching the 35, two sacks backed them up and they were forced to punt. With
time running out in the first half, the Dolphins drove to the Houston 32 before
Griese was sacked by Robert Brazile and DE Elvin Bethea. The teams went into
halftime still tied at 6-6.
A short Miami series to start the third quarter lost yardage
and ended with a punt that Billy “White Shoes” Johnson returned 83 yards for a
touchdown. Butler converted and the home team was ahead by 13-6.
Griese started off the next series for the Dolphins by
throwing to Twilley for 24 yards and they drove methodically to the Houston nine.
However, a completion to HB Larry Seiple at the goal line that was originally called
a touchdown by one official was instead ruled down inches short of the goal
line by the referee. FB Don Nottingham
was stopped by Smith on a fourth down play and Miami came up empty.
The Oilers went three-and-out and punted and this time
Miami didn’t fail to put points on the board. Again facing fourth down, HB
Benny Malone ran for the last two yards and a TD and, with Yepremian
successfully adding the point after, the score was tied at 13-13 as the game
headed into the fourth quarter.
Houston had to punt from deep in its own territory
following the next series and the Dolphins took possession at the Oilers’ 48.
Three plays later, Solomon took the handoff on a double reverse and sped 35
yards to the Houston three, and from there Nottingham ran for a TD. But once
again Bubba Smith blocked Yepremian’s extra point try and the visitors held
onto a six-point lead at 19-13.
Following another exchange of punts, the Oilers took
possession at their 11. They proceeded to drive 89 yards in 15 plays. Johnson
ran for 19 yards on an end-around, Pastorini completed a pass to TE Mack Alston
for 24 yards, and on a third-and-seven play from the Miami 26 at the two-minute
warning, Pastorini connected with Coleman for 10 yards. Still, the Oilers were
facing fourth-and-six when it appeared that another pass intended for Alston
was picked off by SS Charlie Babb. But Miami was penalized for defensive
holding, allowing Houston to keep the ball with a first down at the seven.
Coleman swept around end for a touchdown from there, breaking three tackles in
the process, and Butler’s all-important extra point was good to put the Oilers
on top by one. A few plays later, an interception by LB Gregg Bingham sealed
the 20-19 win for Houston.
The Dolphins led in total yards (350 to 239) and first
downs (23 to 15). They also recorded four sacks, to three by Houston, and the
Oilers were penalized 10 times at a cost of 90 yards while Miami was flagged
five times. However, the Dolphins turned the ball over twice, to none by
Houston, and gave up the punt return touchdown as well as the two blocked extra
points that ultimately determined the outcome.
Dan Pastorini completed 11 of 22 passes for 111 yards and
no touchdowns, although also with none intercepted. Don Hardeman gained 60
yards on seven attempts and Ronnie Coleman rushed for 58 yards on 13 carries
that included a TD and caught three passes for another 20 yards. Fred Willis,
in addition to running the ball 9 times for 32 yards, led the Oilers with four
pass receptions for 33 yards. In addition to his third punt return touchdown of
the season, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson (pictured at left) had two catches for 10 yards plus the
one 19-yard run.
For the Dolphins, Bob Griese was successful on 21 of 29
throws for 257 yards and a TD, but was intercepted twice. Jim Mandich caught 6
passes for 69 yards and a touchdown and WR Nat Moore contributed five
receptions for 59 yards. The ground game was not strong and Benny Malone was
the club’s top rusher with 38 yards on 12 carries that included a score.
“Take a step, watch for the kick, and jump up. Just as
easy as that,” said Bubba Smith of how he blocked the two extra point attempts,
also noting that in film study they had noticed that Yepremian tended to kick
low and center Jim Langer took a step back to block.
“I hit the ball low on the second (blocked) one,”
explained a dejected Garo Yepremian in talking about his two blocked extra
point tries, his fourth and fifth of the season. “I had a bad day…I got to go
back to work. I cost us the game. There’s nobody to blame but myself.”
Houston lost its next two games to the only teams it lost
to all year, the Steelers and Bengals, and ended up in third place behind those
AFC Central rivals with a 10-4 record, missing out on the postseason. The
Dolphins lost again the next week, and it was especially costly because Bob
Griese went down with a knee injury. They also finished at 10-4, placing second
in the AFC East and missing the postseason for the first time since Shula’s
arrival.
Bubba Smith appeared in 12 games for the Oilers and
started two of them in what was his next-to-last season in the NFL. Billy
“White Shoes” Johnson led the league with a 15.3-yard average on 40 punt
returns, including the three touchdowns. He also averaged 24.2 yards on 33
kickoff returns and returned one for a TD. Adding in his 393 pass receiving
yards and 17 by rushing, he totaled a career-high 1820 all-purpose yards and
was named to the Pro Bowl.
Garo Yepremian, in his sixth year with the Dolphins,
ended up failing on six of his 46 extra point attempts, but led the NFL with a
field goal percentage of 81.3 (13 for 16). He spent another three seasons with
Miami.
