1980 Steelers 23 vs Dolphins 10

[mcmillenandwife]

1980 Steelers 23 vs Dolphins 10

Lambert sets the tone early with a wicked forced fumble which Blount scoops up and returns to the Miami 18. Unfortunately, the Steelers must settle for a FG after a crazy "Tarkenton-esque" scramble by Bradshaw results in an absolutely perfect TD pass to Bleier... which Rocky drops. Shortly thereafter, Dirt Winston recovers a fumbled punt and Bradshaw immediately threads the needle with a perfect 30 yard TD strike to Swann (in double coverage). With Swann facing constant double coverage, Theo Bell has a career day (4 rec, 173 yds) and Franco dances for 116 rushing yards as the Steelers open up a 16-3 lead. A Franco fumble inside the 10 keeps the Steelers from icing the game and the Dolphins fight back and actually threaten to take a 4th quarter lead. But a vicious shot by Ron Johnson pops the ball out at the 1-yard line, the Steelers recover and Bradshaw engineers a 15-play, 99-yard TD drive seal the game and keep Pittsburgh's playoff hopes alive. A huge thanks to "SteelBuck 6" for generously providing us with this classic game! 

[Guest]

Steelers should have blown out the Dolphins. A dropped TD to Rocky, another dropped TD by Swann, a fumble by Franco on the 5 yard line, and a couple of holding penalties that stopped good drives made this a lot closer than it really had to be.

[mcmillenandwife]

Steelers should have blown out the Dolphins. A dropped TD to Rocky, another dropped TD by Swann, a fumble by Franco on the 5 yard line, and a couple of holding penalties that stopped good drives made this a lot closer than it really had to be.

Yeah, they kinda seemed rattled (for lack of a better term) by this point in the season. Injuries played a major role in their struggles, no doubt. But there also seemed to be a loss of focus. A "repeat" hangover, perhaps? They had similar struggles in '76, but the team was younger (not to mention the defense was a helluva lot better at that point) and they were able to bounce back. I recall numerous players commenting on how much SB XIV took out of them (Bradshaw in particular). Winning is awesome, but staying on top brings a ton of pressure. I think guys were exhausted, mentally and physically. I really do. I believe the mid-season 3-game slump was primarily due to injuries... but I suspect the "win one, lose one" roller coaster at the end of the year was a least partly a collapse due to exhaustion. You look at that San Diego game and it's clear; the Steelers were glassy-eyed, frustrated and just wanted to get the season over with so they could rest. 

What a frustrating season that was as a fan. The death of a dynasty. To this day, 1980 still gives me a hollow feeling in my gut. I was in 8th grade living in the heart of Browns country and I can remember walking to school after those late season losses, dreading the gloating of Browns fans and jeers of Steeler haters at school. Even teachers gave me $#!t. 

[Guest]

Tim,

I am unable to see every game but this one. Says, "Not yet available"

Sal

[Guest]

Edit above post......I meant to write, I am ABLE to see every game but this one.

[mcmillenandwife]

Edit above post......I meant to write, I am ABLE to see every game but this one.

It's definitely there, Sal. You might need to clear your browsing data. Or if you're using Google Chrome, you can go to "incognito" mode and it will ignore and cached pages. That's generally how I check to make sure things actually got updated because Chrome is particularly stubborn about letting go of cached items. Try it and let me know if it works.

[Guest]

Got it to work, thanks Tim. I use Chrome at work.

[mcmillenandwife]

Got it to work, thanks Tim. I use Chrome at work.

[Guest]

The 1980 Dolphins were such an erratic team.

You never knew which Miami team was gonna show up from week to week.

They finally lost to Buffalo after 20 straight wins in the 70s

They would have lost to the infamous Aints team of 1980 if not for an offensive pass interference late

They lost TWICE to a 4-12 Jets team and also lost at home to an average Baltimore team

But they were good enough to beat Buffalo in an Orange Bowl rematch, thump the Rams by 21 points in Anaheim, and derail New England in a MNF game that cost the Patriots a playoff spot (the latter happening a week after Pittsburgh smashed them)

[mcmillenandwife]

The 1980 Dolphins were such an erratic team. You never knew which Miami team was gonna show up from week to week. They lost TWICE to a 4-12 Jets team and also lost at home to an average Baltimore team.

Kinda sounds like the 1980 Steelers.   Like the Miami's losses to the Jets, Pittsburgh's two bungling losses to a lousy Cinci team were inexplicable and devastating.

[Crash]

Wasn't the loss to the Bengals in Pittsburgh when Chuck Noll was screaming his head off at Franco Harris after another fumble?