1974 Super Bowl VIII

About Houston, Texas: Rice Stadium in Houston was built specifically for Rice University College Football, but this year would be hosting a much bigger game, Super Bowl 8. Football fans of Houston, Texas were busy preparing to host the big game as thousands of people would be coming to their city to see the Miami Dolphins take on the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII.

Ticket Sales / Attendance: There were 71882 people in attendance at the game in and it is estimated that another 51.7 million more excited football fans tuned in from their homes or other football parties around the world while tuning into CBS. Ray Scott, Pat Summerall, and Bart Starr would call the game and the ratings for the game on this network were 41.6.

Team Pre-Season Stats: Don Shula was back as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins once again and they were hoping to win again after last years undefeated championship season. Bob Griese would be leading the Dolphins offence this season and they were odds on favourites to repeat last year's performance.

After missing the playoffs the previous season Minnesota head coach Bud Grant was hoping that his team could make a serious playoff run this season. QB Fran Tarkenton would need to regain his Pro Bowl form in order to lead the Vikings offence once again and to lead them to the playoffs during the 1973-74 NFL season.

Team Roster: Key players on the Dolphins roster included QB Bob Griese, DB Nick Anderson, OL Jim Langer, OL Larry Little, OL Wayne Moore, DB Jake Scott, RB Larry Csonka, and WR Paul Warfield.

The notable players for the Vikings included QB Fran Tarkenton, RB Chuck Foreman, WR John Gilliam, DL Carl Eller, DB Paul Krause, DL Alan Page, OL Ron Yary, and LB Jeff Siemon.

Game Highlights: The Miami Dolphins scored on their first two possessions of the game to take an early 14-0 lead over the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter. Larry Csonka scored to complete a 10 play 62 yard drive and Jim Kiick added the other touchdown capping a 56 yard Miami drive. Midway through the second quarter Miami added a field goal to take a commanding 17-0 lead into halftime. Minnesota came close to scoring before the half ended, but the Miami defence stepped up preventing a score.

The Dolphins opened the scoring again in the second half as Larry Csonka ran for another touchdown to increase the Miami lead to 24-0 after 3 quarters. This was more than enough for the Dolphins as the Vikings could only add 7 points in the 4th quarter. Miami won their second straight Super Bowl title and established themselves as an NFL dynasty.

Game MVP: The Most Valuable Player of the 8th Super Bowl was Miami running back Larry Csonka. He carried the ball 33 times for a record 145 yards and added two touchdowns. The Dolphins running game featuring Csonka controlled most of the game and Griese only needed to attempt a total of 7 passes on route to a Miami victory.

Half Time Show: The halftime show was presented by Jim Skinner and the theme was "A Musical America" featuring a performance by the University of Texas Band.

Commercials:The average cost for a 30 second commercial during the 8th Superbowl was $103000. The Superbowl became a key show for advertisements as it was one of the most watched events in TV history.

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