The Big Muddies: Two of the Muddiest Games in NFL Playoff History

The NFL saw two of its muddiest playoff games of all time during the decade of the 1970s. In 1970, the Miami Dolphins played on a certifiable quagmire at the Oakland Coliseum, and in 1977, the Minnesota Vikings competed against the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a field that could be aptly described as a drenched bog.

Both of those stadiums had a natural grass surface, and when water mixed with those fields, a sopping mud was the visible result.

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Similar Story Lines

Somewhat similar storylines had their say in both of these games. Both were in the divisional playoff round, the winner of each to go to the conference championship game the following week. And both of these games had the field conditions hamper the supposedly faster team.

In the third week of the 1970 season, the Dolphins defeated the Raiders 20-13 at the Orange Bowl on its Poly-Turf field. Despite a torrential downpour, the artificial surface in the Orange Bowl naturally did not result in any mud, and despite the numerous puddles of rainwater, the Dolphins managed to retain their overall quickness as a team over that of the Raiders. Such would not be Miami’s good fortune in the 1970 playoffs, however.

1970 NFL Playoffs (Miami vs. Oakland)

On December 27, 1970, the Raiders got revenge over the Dolphins by beating them in the playoffs, 21-14. They held Miami’s powerful rushing attack to just 118 yards in that game. Films of that contest shows ball carriers on both teams slipping on the mud practically every time that they attempted to change directions when they tried to gain yardage.

The scene was a mess. Mud was everywhere, and it had caked on every player’s uniform. It was a setting that displayed the early years of the sport, where the miserable weather conditions would naturally have a not-so-helpful effect on the playing surface, and on the players’ overall abilities.

That Miami-Oakland playoff game did not see any actual rainfall, however. The rain had ceased to fall just before the start of the game. The players just had to deal with the aftermath. That was not the case in the 1977 playoff game between the Vikings and the Rams.

1977 NFL Playoffs (Vikings vs. Rams)

Minnesota had defeated Los Angeles in all three previous postseason games in which they met each other, in 1969, 1974, and 1976. Those three games were all held at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Vikings’ victory string over the Rams was expected by most onlookers to come to a screeching halt in 1977, however. Los Angeles beat up on visiting Minnesota earlier in that season by a score of 35-3.

The 1977 playoff game would also be held in Los Angeles, where warm weather would presumably give the faster Rams a decided advantage over the older Vikings.

But a funny thing happened on the way to that playoff game on December 26, 1977. It started raining in Los Angeles…all throughout that day. Even though a tarp-covered the field, they naturally had to remove it before the opening warmups. By the time of the opening kickoff, over 1.5 inches of rain had fallen on the field.

The Rams’ supposed advantage in overall team speed was now rendered mute.

It was the Vikings’ experience that won this game for them. They were smart enough to realize that any profitable amount of throwing the ball had to be done early in the first quarter, while the field still had at least a modicum of traction for the wide receivers. The Rams’ offense did not realize that fact.

Minnesota’s backup quarterback Bob Lee was his team’s starting quarterback in this game, because Fran Tarkenton got injured earlier in the 1977 season, and because youngster Tommy Kramer was still felt by head coach Bud Grant to not possess enough experience to win a playoff game.

The first time that the Vikes got the ball, Lee led them on a 70-yard scoring drive, which included a couple of key pass completions to wide receiver Ahmad Rashad. Chuck Foreman finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. By that time, the field was already drenched, and the Rams offense knew it. Minnesota settled down into protecting their lead for the rest of the game.

They managed to increase their lead to 14-0 in the fourth quarter on a short Sammie Johnson touchdown run. Los Angeles was finally able to score a touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard scoring toss from Pat Haden to Harold Jackson.
But Haden also threw three interceptions and combined with the Vikings’ ball control abilities, paved the way for a 14-7 Minnesota victory.

The mud in this game was so bad that most of the players had to put on clean jerseys at halftime because no one in the press box could tell who was who out on the field. The Rams were expected to finally break the Vikings playoff jinx, but the muddy field had different plans. Both the 1970 AFC Divisional Playoffs at Oakland and the 1977 NFC Divisional Playoffs in Los Angeles thus have earned the honor of two of the muddiest postseason games during the decade of the 1970s in the NFL.

Podcast Trivia Time

Trivia Question:

Who were the leading rushers in each of the playoff games discussed in this episode of Pro Football in the 1970s?

Host of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski

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