Fantasy Bowl Playoffs: 94 San Francisco 49ers vs 72 Miami Dolphins

 
94 San Francisco 49ers vs 72 Miami Dolphins

Welcome to beautiful sunny Miami where the 1994 San Francisco 49ers will try to do something that has never been done before... defeat the 1972 Miami Dolphins.  Last week, the 94 49ers squeaked one out against a 1700 yard rusher Emmmit Smith and the 95 Cowboys in overtime.  This week, they'll matchup against a team that has two thousand yard rushers in Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris.  Earl Morrall is expected to start the game for the Dolphins, but we will probably see Bob Griese before the night is over. 

49ers key to victory - Stop the run.  The heart and soul of this Dolphins team is its running game.  If the Dolphins can't run the ball, they'll have a very tough time scoring points and controlling the clock.

Dolphins key to victory - Control the clock.  Pound Csonka up the middle, run Morris to the outside and keep Steve Young and Jerry Rice off the field. 

Weather:  75 degrees, clear skies, wind 5 mph

1st Half: 

San Francisco wins the toss and elects to receive.  Right from the start, the Niners get into the groove of their West Coast offense with a 5 yard pass to Rice.  Then a 4 yard draw to Watters.  A 13 yard slant to John Taylor.  The 49ers march down the field with their short game down to the MIA 21.  On 3rd and 6 Watters catches a screen pass, but has the ball knocked loose, there's a scramble for the football, but SF comes up with it.  Doug Brien comes out and splits the uprights to give the 49ers the early lead.  13 plays, 55 yards, 8:07 drive

49ers 3 - Dolphins 0

After that long time consuming drive, the Dolphins need to give their defense a breather.  They fumble the kick off and start off on their own 10.  The Dolphins get right to work on the ground game and do it in a big way.  Larry Csonka smashes through the middle for a 45 yard gain into SF territory.  The Dolphins fans are on their feet, but the crowd gets silenced quickly as the Dolphins fail to gain another yard and are forced to punt.  They do a beautiful job covering the punt and down it at the SF 7.

The Niners take over and get right back to work with the short passes.  A 12 yard slant to Taylor and another 13 yard slant to Rice.  A couple good runs by Watters and they're across the 50.  Even Steve Young scrambles for an 18 yard gain, putting them into field goal range.  Once again, the Dolphins defense tightens up and stops the drive deep in their own end.  Brien extends their lead with a 34 yarder.  10 plays, 76 yards, 5:45 drive

49ers 6 - Dolphins 0

The Dolphins go back to work with the running game, but the 49ers load up the box and force Morrall to go to the air.  The passing game is working until midfield then the Dolphins stop themselves after Paul Warfield drops a pass on a 3rd and 7.  The Niners are once again punted deep into their own end.

Sensing that the Dolphins defense is tired, the 49ers begin a ground assault.  Ricky Watters rushes for 60 yards on this drive all the way to the MIA 5.  The Dolphins though, once again, stand tall and keep them out of the end zone.  Brien tacks on another field goal.  8 plays, 72 yards, 5:23 drive

49ers 9 - Dolphins 0

The Dolphins absolutely need to get something going, but aside from that first run, the 49ers are doing a great job against the Dolphins rushing attack.  Morrall goes deep down field and finds Marlin Briscoe for a 35 yard gain, but its called back for holding.  The Dolphins drive up to the SF 42 but can't go any further as two minute warning hits. 

The 49ers have the ball and 3 timeouts with 2 minutes, but they're on the 15.  Young starts firing left and right, but is picked off by Tim Foley at the SF 37.  Finally, the Dolphins catch a break. 

A two yard loss and another holding penalty and the Dolphins are out of field goal range and punt again, pinning the 49ers on their own 2 with 50 seconds left.

Young and company pick up a couple first downs and run out the clock.

2nd Half: 

The Dolphins get the ball first and need to do something.  The defense is bending but not breaking, but the offense isn't moving the ball at all right now.  The Dolphins are able to move the ball, but almost all passing yards.  Bryant Young and Dana Stubblefield are really plugging up that middle and making it difficult to run.  The Dolphins pretty much pass all the way to the SF 14 before coming up short.  Garo Yepremian comes out and boots in a chip shot to get the Dolphins on the board.  13 plays, 60 yards, 6:49 drive

49ers 9 - Dolphins 3

The Niners come out and try to run again like they did at the end of the first half, but the Dolphins are rested and stop them.  The Niners go three and out.

After coming up short on the last drive, coach Shula decides to give Bob Griese a chance on this drive.  He completes a pass to Paul Warfield for 18 yards to get the Dolphins started.  Csonka runs for 7 yards up the middle and things are turning around for the Dolphins.  Griese throws for Howard Twilley but Merton Hanks jumps in and picks it off at the SF 38.  He then does his little celebration where he head looks like its going to snap off. 

The Niners once again stop the Dolphins cold and this time are determined to make them pay.  Young hooks up with Jerry Rice for a 15 yard gain on a slant.  Then for 22 yards on a post pattern.  Young then goes back to his favorite target from last week, Brent Jones for 17 yards down to the MIA 9.  They spread out the offense and Young does a shovel pass to Watters who dives into the end zone for the touchdown!  The Niners decide to go for the two point conversion.  They hand off to Watters and he gets into the end zone for the two points.  9 plays, 62 yards, 4:25 drive

49ers 17 - Dolphins 3

The Dolphins stick with Griese for the next drive, but go three and out that almost ends in a pick-six after a pass hits Eric Davis right in the hands and no one would have caught him.  The 49ers fail to pick up a first down and go three and out. 

The Dolphins go back to Earl Morrall for the next drive but he is just as ineffective and the Dolphins fail to move the ball.

The 49ers are pinned down in own their own 7 with just over 8 minutes left in the game.  A long drive would put this away and that's exactly what the Niners have in mind.  They blend short passes with a couple draw plays and work their way down the field to the MIA 13.  A six minute drive that ends with a 30 yard field goal.  14 plays, 80 yards, 6:38 drive

49ers 20 - Dolphins 3

Knowing that their first loss ever is only 2 minutes away, the Dolphins still can't muster up any offense, even with the Niners in prevent defense.  They turn it over on downs and the 49ers take a knee and run out the clock.

As the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end".  The Dolphins taste defeat for the first time and the 49ers move on to the final four of the Fantasy Bowl I playoffs.  The Niners did an incredible job of plugging in the gaps and shutting down the running game of the Dolphins.  To do that well against a team that has two 1000 yard rushers is amazing.  On the other side of the ball, the Niners offense just controlled the clock.  They pretty much just moved the ball at will;  Rick Watters with over a 100 yards rushing and TD.  Just an amazing all around effort by this team.