Chiefs
Not 24 Points Better Than Us—Wilson
Lamar
Hunt, who does such things, came by the Dolphins’ locker room late Sunday
to extend his condolences to Coach George Wilson.
"I thought you played well except for the last few minutes,” said the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs who had just wiped out the Dolphins, 24-0.
"Yeah,"
said Wilson, “I honestly don't think we're that bad."
That
Bob Griese . . ." said Hunt. "He's faster than I ever realized.”
With
that Hunt shook hands with Wilson and excused himself. At least he had given
the coach one bright moment in a bitter afternoon.
''He's right,” Wilson said later.
“I really don't think the Chiefs are 24 points better than us. If we'd gotten
a little better passing and pass-protection and our tackling had been sharper,
it could have been a different game."
* *
*
IN
DEFEAT, Wilson is a study in dejection. His ordinary ebullience is replaced
by an almost totally blank expression, and words have a tough time getting
out. At such times he is in a world all his own, alone with his thoughts even
surrounded by hordes of questioners.
Sunday
he sat looking at the floor, barefooted but otherwise impeccably turned out
in slacks, shirt and tie.
“Their tight-end didn't hurt us,” he said slowly. "It’s their personnel. They could line up in any formation and win with runners like Mike Garrett and Curtis McClinton. And nobody realizes what good blockers they have.”
"Offensively,
we had planned to throw outside and run inside, but they have some awfully
strong people in there..."
Then
the voice trailed off and Wilson looked back at the floor.
* *
*
AT
a far end of the room, guard Billy Neighbors and center Tom Goode wearily
toweled themselves. “It was a frustrating afternoon…” Neighbors began, and
Goode nodded assent.
“What
makes it so rough playing Kansas City is that they use different type defenses
than anybody else. To put it another way, it's like playing a bunch of T-formation
teams all year and then having to readjust all your thinking to play a single-wing
team.”
“They
keep pouring those people at you all the time.”
Four
of those Chiefs had poured in on quarterback Griese, “ringing his bell” for
him, in the lexicon of ball players. Griese came out with a possible concussion
and spent Sunday night in observation at Mercy Hospital.
It
was a fitting end to a most imperfect day.