Nov 20, 1978-Week 12-MNF-Oilers vs. Dolphins-(Halftime & Second Half) 

Unmatched flavor and pageantry. What a broadcast. Cosell at the height of his hyperbolic powers. Bum Phillips on the sidelines in a shirt that defies description. Bob Griese in glasses tossing for 300 yds. Earl Campbell running with extreme brutality and agility. The astrodome crowd at a fever pitch. This is the greatest MNF game in history.

What a legend in the annals of MNF. The play calling was legendary and even Howard was awesome this time. The 1970s are an era that will never be repeated again.

Good 'ol "down, set, hut" football, even WR's occasionally in a three-point stance, CLASSIC!!

Robert Brazile NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 1975 season. Named to the Pro Bowl 7 straight seasons (1976-82) All-Pro five straight seasons (1976-80) Selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970s. Never missed a game And yet had to wait 28 years to be elected to the hall of fame

When you could watch a game without a commercial after every first down made.

I gotta say, in my young years of watching football, this is by far one of the most entertaining games I have ever seen. If this isn't proof Earl Campbell was one of the greatest players of all time, I dunno what is. He ran right through that Miami defense and made them pay. What a great performance from both teams. The NFL at it's finest.

I remember watching this game live in 1978. I agree this was one of the most electrifying games I've ever seen. Even though I was rooting for Miami, Campbell put on quite a show. What a battle.

Gotta love Griese with his big glasses.

40th Anniversary, still gives me chills!! WOW!! Love Earl!!

I’m here for old commercials. And the football of my childhood

I remember this game live at the Astrodome when I was a teenager- had great seats. The most memorable was that long run by Campbell. Great memories of the 1970s. real football!

I just got chills watching that last big TD run by Earl Campbell. I wasn't allowed to stay up that late on a school night as a 9 year old kid when this game was played, but I had heard about it at the time. And now all these years later seeing it on a live broadcast replay is a true blessing.

The Oilers were such a good team in the late 70s. In the playoffs that year they went to the Orange Bowl and beat these same Dolphins in the wild card game and one week later went to Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro to easily defeat a talented rested New England Patriots team. The dream ended soon after in that monsoon at Three River's Stadium to the great Pittsburgh Steelers.

6:50 I was in the High School marching band you see walking back to our sideline seats. It seems surreal so many years later!

That game was 2wks before my 13th Birthday the Monday before Thanksgiving wow I remember not wanting to get up and go to School the next day ( My Grandmother made sure I got there LOL!!!)

Halftime Highlights had The Miracle at the Meadowlands!!!!

At 3:13 Cosell covers the Miracle in Meadowlands-what a riveting description from Cosell, it concludes with him stating that the Giants’ Offensive Coordinator was fired for the play call.

I remember watching this as a 12 year old. The Vikings were, and still are, my favorite team. But wow the Oilers were my number 2 team as soon as they got this great player. Earl Campbell was amazing. And this night put a stamp on his rookie of the year performance.

"What you've seen tonight ladies and gentlemen, is a truly great football player!" Cosell was the best

I'm sold! Tomorrow I'm going out an buying a 1979 Buick.

This is so awesome. I'm a Jets fan but as a kid I had relatives from Houston and I clearly remember watching Earl Campbell not only in college but as a professional as well. Incredible to see this footage. Long live MNF!

A real heartfelt THANKS for the post--I was a boy staying up late on a school night to watch my favorite RB Earl Campbell run like a huge deer. Where in the hell has time gone...?

I was at this game. In my Griese jersey. My father got 40 yd line tickets on Dolphin side couple rows up. IT Killed me. Shula , Griese ,all players both teams signed every kids autograph books, pictures, etc. I wrote Griese a letter but forgot to give it to him and gave it to Shula in the door of the bus who passed it to him and he read it, i watched him He sent a stock Sears sports jacket postcard that was an ad of course. I sent him another letter telling him that was not good enough. He sent me an autographed game picture , " Mike thanks for the letter, Bob Griese" . I have the autograph book still, penner, program. One of the best moments of my life. My dad got the tickets as I missed the Dolphins Vikings SB in Rice stadium few years before. I have almost all these players autographs and most of the Steel curtain's great teams players also. And of course all the Oilers. Great memories. My dad took me to every Dolphin game. He passed away this past year. Having been to many concerts, sporting events, this was still the loudest I ever heard I think. My dad had to drag me out upset , think i was ready to fight the whole dome, lol. Still hard to watch that play, but I'd not trade anything for being there. Thanks Bran

I remember I had a football card of Norris Thomas #41 c.b. for dolphins from 1978 ..he looked like Roger from the show "what's happening" ...lol.

Nothing like the sounds of the 1970s sports world. Cosell and company.

I was at that game. I'll never forget it. That game was so good that there was a score when time had run out. There will probably never be another Monday night game as good.

"And so, Dick Vermeil had a victory beyond anyone's credulity!" This is worth watching if for nothing more than Howard Cosell's halftime highlights call of the infamous Joe Pisarcik fumble against the Eagles.

In his book "I Never Played the Game," Howard Cosell wrote about this game as one of their best telecasts, in no small part because Dandy Don wasn't there that night.

I was in 10th grade at the time and watched every moment of this game at home. It was wonderful and exciting to finally see my Oilers stepping up and Earl stepping all over the Dolphins. Those were the days. I adored the team and despised Bud Adams! Watching those old commercials is like looking thru a port of a time machine.

The Best moment, and game in MNF History

Interesting footnote to this game. This was the day after the Jonestown Massacre in which over 900 Americans were murdered or committed suicide at the direction of Jim Jones and the Peoples temple.

Fantastic Game! Earl Campbell 199 yards and 4 tds Wow~

I was a Steelers fan rooting for Miami but man did Campbell put on a show that night. He made the HOF in one game..this one. For a man his size to turn the corner like that then run away from everybody is unbelievable. I loved to watch Earl. Great back, classy guy.

I grew up in Houston, Bran. I remember this game as if it was only yesterday. Starmaking performance for Earl, but also the city. The Oilers had beaten a previously undefeated Steeler team in Pittsburgh a month before on MNF, then laid an egg in Cincy the next week. This game gave them another level of confidence.

Nice to hear Howards halftime highlights with The Miracle of The Meadowlands comments.

Loved the weekly mnf halftime highlights.

1:25:36 ..... the greatest play in Monday Night history, putting Earl Campbell into the #1 running back position which he held onto for 3 straight seasons. my all-time hero and made me a Luv ya Blue fan ever since.

Some of these commercials alone are greatness looking back lol

One of the ten greatest MNF games? Absolutely. "The" greatest? That will remain a subject of endless debate. In my view the 1983 shootout between the Packers and Redskins belongs at the top of that list, with the 1982 shootout between the Bengals and Chargers being a close second.

The Astrodome--Was the loudest arena ever when the fans were cranked up. Oilers or Astros. You could not hear the person next to you speaking through the delirium.

I did like this Oilers team...of the 70's and early 80's.

Remember watching this game with my grandfather when i was 11.

Really miss those days as a kid growing up.

Absolutely LOVE the Halftime Highlights with Howard Cosell ⭐️I’m 57 now and saw this classic era 👀🌈 wonderful time in life ! That play with NY Giants vs Philly was an all time classic 🔔 and of course this Game 🏈 was one of the BEST EVER MNF ✨Earl Campbell 💪⚡️⭐️

The only crowd that I remembered being that loud and sustained the whole game was the Bears vs the Dolphins in 1985 when Miami beat them to stop their undefeated season

Was able to see in person that year '78, Houston beating Oakland in Oakland. Unfortunately, both in '78 and '79, these great Earl Campbell led Houston teams, came up short in the AFC Championship game, to the eventual Super Bowl Champions both years. (Steelers). Incredible games and seasons.

Will NEVER EVER get tired of watching Campbell's run 1:26:01 ...how he ran around all those Dolphin defenders along the sideline I will never understand. Great game. Great memories.

I saw this game live on TV from So-Cal. Very exciting! This was when MNF was a quality product.

1:26:03 TO 1:26:59 EARL CAMPBELL SAYS GOOD NIGHT TO THE MIAMI DOLPHINS

I was just absolutely riveted to this game. At no point did I feel my time was being wasted nor were there any moments where I was bored and allowed my attention to drift. This was REAL football. The NFL hasn't been anything like this in years; much more propped up by its propaganda machine today than Cosell's accusation of it back then. But leaving that aside, WHAT A GAME!

At 59:17 strange play, A.J. Duhe sacks Pastorini for a safety, yet Duhe appears to go down in a heap with a shoulder injury. Seemed like a normal sack, but on replay shows Duhe stretched out as far as he could with left arm to get the safety but then landed on that side with that left arm fully extended. Instant massive pain. Astrodome painted concrete probably played a role in that injury.

This is the game that made Earl Campbell into a star…. To this day, I consider him one of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL. He was brutal and fast… unstoppable … unless he was playing against the Steelers….

Best NFL college game ever.

The 16 game schedule and Wild Card games began in 1978

Great game. Today, an NFL broadcast is hundreds of commercials with a bit of football every few minutes before getting back to the main event... more commercials.

1:26:00 - Epic run

This was one of the best games ever on MNF Earl Campbell ROY 1978

At 5:44 The Oil Corridor, “If you don’t have an offshore well-get one! Can we drill it for you?”. Wow how thew times have changed! Today it would be an offshore wind platform.

Receiver gets hit in the head and cossell says a ligitimate shot now that's football

Great game! I remember watching way back then. That crowd made the game that much more thrilling. They were something else. Earl Campbell was just a beast of a running back.You don't see that in todays NFL, which I dislike now and do not watch any longer. Also back then I would turn the sound down and listen to the radio broadcast of Buck and Stram. They were terrific too. I could tolerate Cosell now.But then not so much. He was a good hype machine. Where was Dandy Don this game?

Listening to these guys makes me even more depressed when I listen to the clowns on ESPN MNF 2018

Kudos also, to "Krazy" George Henderson, the Mad drummer. Wherever he may be in this world! Earl is still the best!!

This was a totally transcendent by Campbell. He reminded me of Maximus..,

antelope sprinting man, only Cosell could use adjectives like that in describing a football player.

Halftime. God bless you

Earl could of used Jim Brown s way of not showing he s tired or begin to break down. Campbell always showed these traits after big runs and games. It was the one clue that gave other teams to get him hard and early in all of Campbell s playoff games, he just could nt last long enough in play off runs due to his brute raw power runs that caught up in playoffs. I remember as a kid he could nt get over Pittsburg for they took him out early. But still love watching his games..

At 1:26:00 The clinching play for the Oilers. Also, a definitive run for Campbell, and a moment for Cosell to set the table in grandiose hyperbole. Cosell is extraordinary, but he isn’t play-by-play and he is not color analyst. The booth really needs the third perspective like Dandy Don, otherwise Cosell’s hyperbole snowballs down the mountain. By the way, a great block by an Oiler toward the sideline that made that play, too. Cosell refers to it as “see that block and that block”, but he eventually acknowledges Wilson’s block. Best is Steve towles and Curtis Johnson making desperate dives on the Dome’s concrete.

cool to watch the recaps at the beginning of the video - the infamous giants fumble at the end of the game...

Jim Brown ( RIP 🙏) said, " Jim Brown #1, Earl Campbell #2, & you can put the rest however you want." #Oiler4Life

Two players from Miami's defense mentioned consecutively, Rusty Chambers and Larry Gordon both tragically died in the early 1980s.

Bran im really sorry about that tower window thing....

Howard Cosell a showman, but loved his style.

Real football

1979 Buick Regal. V6 power, baby!!

mnf. 95. and. 96. great moment

NINERS sent Del Williams to Dolphins to make room for OJ TO Be THERE No 1 RB that worked out well didn't it

So where is the first half of the game? Did you not post it?

I come from a family of Dallas Cowboys fans. My mother however, being a rebel was all about Love Ya Blue! I was a new born in '78 so I didn't get to see the fan frenzy live but I have watched every available piece of game film on this era and remember well the amazing Warren Moon led run and shoot offense and Ray Childress LED 46 defense of the late 80s and early 90s. I said all that to say this; if teams like those from the glorious past never won a Lombardi Trophy, I have a legitimate fear that my Tennessee Titans won't for sure! I think a voodoo priest cursed the franchise when Houston sent a worn out Earl Campbell to New Orleans! Has to be it, right? 😂

The good old days when there weren't commercials every time there was a change of possession.

Cosell was really something: "Hard to believe this antelope-striding man (Rich Caster) could be obtained ......".

The Oilers had all the home games when they played on Monday Night. How did that happen?

At 55:11 Harris takes a vicious shot to the head from behind. I was a fan back then, but on the replay it looks more like a cheap spear to the head, although slow motion may make it seem worse.

Too many deleted games. Download these before Baddell takes them away.

1:26:06 HE’S GONE!

On the Bench EARL gave the hooked Horns.

I never realized Bob Gibson lost his job over the Piscarcek debacle. I'm sure he threw darts for a solid year at Pissy's picture!

R.I.P LARRY GORDON RUSTY CHAMBERS HOFer JIM LANGER

HE'S GONE!

1:26:00 - GOOSEBUMPS

they say that shula could see what all 22 players did on every play

Where is Don Meredith ??

4:33; And because of that play, Bob Gibson never worked in any level of football ever again.

i in i USED TO LIVE IN TAMPA FL . i in i WATCHED THIS GAME , i in i WAS ONLY ALLOWED TO WATCH TIL HALFTIME AN i HAD TO GO TO BED FOR SCHOOL THE NEXT MORNING

You see every time they have to tackle Campbell they get punished

@9:45 GOTDAMMED!!

EARL CAMPBALL 🤘

12:56 He's got Earl Campbell thighs.

35-30 ? That's a halftime score in today's game with very little attention given to running backs and defense.

wheres the first part

2:01 Ha-Ha! 55:44 This is the most vicious and illegal hit EVER.