What offense did 71 Dolphins run with Kiick and Csonka?
- Thread starter twindman
- Start date
Zonk would look for somebody to run into.
They had a guy named Warfield that eliminated a lot of problems…..and a QB named Griese who was better than most.
Plus Mercury Morris who was a multi-talented football player…..and a strong defense, too. Shula could coach’em up, too.
I watched West Texas State playb football in Las Cruces a couple of time in the late 60’s…..WTSt. had their premier RB named Mercury Morris…..his “blocking back” teammate was a guy name Duane Thomas…..THAT was a pretty salty running duo for a school no one ever heard of…..Thomas was an absolute stud RB for the Cowboys, professionally…..
Plus Mercury Morris who was a multi-talented football player…..and a strong defense, too. Shula could coach’em up, too.
I watched West Texas State playb football in Las Cruces a couple of time in the late 60’s…..WTSt. had their premier RB named Mercury Morris…..his “blocking back” teammate was a guy name Duane Thomas…..THAT was a pretty salty running duo for a school no one ever heard of…..Thomas was an absolute stud RB for the Cowboys, professionally…..
Csonka, Kiick and Warfield were as good as it gets. I've been a Dolphins fan since 1971. Larry Little was a heck of a lineman, would be perfect for Iowa in today's game.
They ran a what we call today as a pro style offense. Griese, the qb, was always under center iirc, and they could be in I formation with a fullback leading a halfback, or split backs in more of a T formation, and sometimes Morris might be a wingback so a 3 back formation.
They had really good receivers and one poster called Griese better than most which he was but he was very accurate, a great passer, he probably was allowed to audible a lot. They had a really good TEnd but they never emptied the backfield (no 5 receiver sets).
Warfield was ironically one helluva receiver. “Ironic” in the fact that as a collegiate at tOSU, Woody used him as a defensive back, punt/kick-off returned and played him maybe 5-10 offensive plays a game in obvious passing situations. tOSU with Woody hardly ever threw the football……I believe it was WOODY who said “Three things can happen when you throw the football and two of them are bad.” “3 yards and a cloud of dust” was typical tOSU Football for most of Woody’s tenure.
Griese was IIRC 6/7 passing in one of their b2b SB title.
Honestly, those Dolphins were more KF than the Steelers back then.
They ran and ran with those three backs then Csonka and Kiick went to the WFL and it was over.
Honestly, those Dolphins were more KF than the Steelers back then.
They ran and ran with those three backs then Csonka and Kiick went to the WFL and it was over.
Yep. It was said that Kiick ran around guys and Csonka ran into/over them ( and looked for them). Haven't seen any other backs like that I can remember.
Back then QBs called most of the plays, especially veterans. There were no radios in the helmets and hand signals weren’t a thing, so the only way for coaches to get a play in from the sideline was to run it in with a player substitution.
Earl Campbell used to run over a few, ok a lot of them back in the day.
True, but not many left the debris behind that Czonka did on the field.
Last edited:
Along with Evans, Kuchenberg, Crusan and Demarco made a pretty salty O-line only to get better the next year with the addition of Jim Langer replacing Demarco at center.
Including Paul Warfield, a guy you don't hear discussed a lot but who is an NFL HOFer. He had the second most receiving yards among wrs in '71, just under 1000. Safe to say they knew how to throw the ball downfield and get it to a playmaker.
One of my personal favorites of 1970s NFL receivers.
I wrote a letter to coach Shula in 1975.
Got an autographed team pic and Dolphin stickers in return.
Got an autographed team pic and Dolphin stickers in return.
Standard pro style 2-back split set (FB and HB) with QB under center. Zonk was NOT a halfback for God's sake. The man was a BIG powerful guy. His body should have been the mold for position of FB. From the time he was at Syracuse to NFL he was a human battering ram. Kick and Morris were HBs and Morris was very quick...hence why called Mercury.
"In Super Bowl 7, the Miami Dolphins had one mission. Find Larry Brown.....and punish him"
God I miss NFL films.
God I miss NFL films.
I don't think I said Zonk was a FB - at least didn't mean to. But he sure acted like a FB! But I didn't think back then teams ran with 2 HBs. They were a great combo.
I did an undergraduate internship with the Dolphins. I got my ass chewed out and ripped to pieces by Shula 2x that year. Didn’t deserve either one.
Similar threads
