Super Bowl VIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1973 season…..as the Dolphins defeated the Vikings by the score of 24–7 to win their second consecutive Super Bowl….which was the first team to do so since the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowls I and II…..while being the first AFL/AFC team to do so.
The game was played on January 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas…..for this was the first time the Super Bowl venue was not home to any NFL franchise……as this was also the first Super Bowl not to be held in either the Los Angeles, Miami or New Orleans areas……which was also the last Super Bowl, and penultimate game overall to feature goal posts at the front of the end zone….while they were moved to the end-line in the back of the end-zone the next season.
This was the Dolphins’ third consecutive Super Bowl appearance….after posting a 12–2 record during the regular season….then they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals and the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs. The Vikings were making their second Super Bowl appearance….after also finishing the regular season with a 12–2 record….while posting postseason victories over the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys.
Super Bowl VIII was largely dominated by the Dolphins….who scored 24 unanswered points during the first three quarters…..which included two touchdowns on their first two drives…..while the Vikings best chance to threaten Miami occurred with less than a minute left in the first half….but RB Oscar Reed fumbled the ball away at the Dolphins’ 6-yard line…..as his team was unable to overcome Miami’s lead in the second half. The Dolphins’ Larry Csonka became the first running back to be named Super Bowl MVP….as both his 145 rushing yards and his 33 carries set Super Bowl records.
AS seen in this video herewith…..NFL Films John Facenda provides the narration for the incredible video highlights with “word merchant mastery” while describing every highlight from the game….which is MUST SEE TV for any and all NFL fans.
