On January 14, 1973, an unprecedented and currently unmatched feat in NFL history had been reached. It was on this day that the undefeated Miami Dolphins faced off against the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis called the game that was played on NBC television. More than 90,000 fans showed up to watch one team on the brink of NFL history. The game drew a 42.7 Neilsen rating with over 53 million watching in their homes.
The Dolphins came into the game having lost in the previous Super Bowl to the Dallas Cowboys and were led by head coach Don Shula. Miami had defeated the Cleveland Browns then the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship to make it to the Super Bowl.
The Redskins had a regular season record of 11-3, and were led by head coach George Allen as they made their first ever Super Bowl appearance. Washington allowed only a combined six points to Green Bay and Dallas to clinch a Super Bowl spot. Despite Miami's undefeated record, the Redskins were three point favorites in this game. Former UCLA All-American Billy Kilmer was the starting quarterback for the Redskins in this game.
There was much speculation heading into the game about who would be starting at quarterback for the Dolphins. Bob Griese broke his leg in the fifth game of the season, and 38-year old Earl Morrall led Miami to nine consecutive wins in relief. Griese was healthy by the time the Super Bowl came around, and Shula elected to start him instead of Morrall.
On Miami's third possession of the game, Griese connected with Howard Twilley on a 28-yard touchdown pass faking out Washington defender Pat Fischer as the Dolphins took a 7-0 lead.
Miami blew a chance to add another touchdown when Griese completed a 47-yard touchdown pass to Paul Warfield, but the play was wiped off because of an illegal procedure penalty.
On the Redskins next possession, Kilmer was intercepted by Nick Buoniconti at the Washington 48-yard line as he returned the ball all the way down to the Redskins' 27-yard line. Jim Kiick scored on a 1-yard touchdown run five plays later as Miami took a 14-0 lead heading into halftime.
Washington came out in the second half with a strong drive which took them down to the Miami 17-yard line. Unfortunately, Redskins kicker Curt Knight missed a 32-yard field goal. Kilmer later led the Redskins down the field on a 79-yard drive only to be intercepted by Jake Scott in the end zone, who returned the ball into Washington territory.
Later in the period, Miami threatened to score when they got the ball down to the Washington 5-yard line. But Redskins defensive back Brig Owens intercepted Griese's pass in the end zone for a touchback.
One of the most exciting plays in Super Bowl history happened when Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian had his kick blocked by Bill Brundige in the fourth quarter. After the blocked kick with Brundige coming after him, Yepremian tried to complete a pass to Larry Csonka. But the ball slipped out of his hand, and was picked off by Redskins cornerback Mike Bass. Bass returned it 49 yards for the Redskins only touchdown of the game with just over two minutes left in the game.
Washington elected to the kick the ball deep on the kickoff, but were able to force Miami to punt with 1:14 left in the game. The Redskins had the ball at their own 36-yard line.
Washington had two incomplete passes to start the final drive, and then had a 4-yard loss on a swing pass on third down. Bill Stanfill recorded a 9-yard sack of Kilmer on 4th down to finish off the Redskins.
The Dolphins defense held Washington to just 228 total yards while knocking Kilmer around in the game. Also, Washington only crossed the 50-yard line one time in the first half of the game, and four times total for the game. Miami's plan to stop Redskins running back Larry Brown worked after holding him to 72 rushing yards on 22 attempts and 26 receiving yards.
Griese finished the game 8-for-11 with 88 passing yards and one touchdown. Csonka had 112 rushing yards in 15 attempts. Miami had 253 total yards, and had 12 first downs in the game compared the Redskins who had 16.
Kilmer only had 104 passing yards while receiver Roy Jefferson led the game with five catches and 50 receiving yards.
The victory was Miami's 17th straight win on the season, and they are the still the only team in history to finish undefeated.
Safety Jake Scott won Super Bowl MVP honors with two of the Miami's three interceptions for a total of 63 yards. He became the second defensive player to win MVP honors in a Super Bowl. Many Miami players feel that Manny Fernandez, who registered 17 tackles in the game, should have actually won MVP. Scott was selected by Dick Schaap, who was editor for SPORT magazine at the time.
This game still stands as the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever with only 21 points scored. The Redskins also set a record for going nearly 58 minutes in the game without scoring a point.
Miami would win another Super Bowl the following year after beating the Minnesota Vikings in Houston. They were the second team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. Miami has made a Super Bowl appearance two other times in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX.
Don Shula would retire after the 1995 season as the all-time leader with 347 wins for head coaches breaking the previous mark of 324 held by George Halas of the Chicago Bears.
Allen would coach the Redskins until the 1977 season after coaching for 12 total seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and Redskins amassing 118 wins.
Washington would go on to appear in four Super Bowls under head coach Joe Gibbs during the 1980s and early 1990s winning three of them.
Photo is courtesy of Sports Illustrated and shows Shula celebrating his team's victory.
Thanks for viewing and I hope you enjoyed today's history flashback!
1/14/2009 01:37:00 PM
David Funk
4 comments:
Thanks for reminding me of this day as the 1972 NFL season was special to me, but I say this not to boost.
A close friend then, and still today, claims I made the greatest prediction he has ever heard, and on this day it came true.
The prediction? Well, before the season started, I said the Miami Dolphins would not only win the Super Bowl, they would do it going 17-0.
This was during my early college years, thus with each passing week, the guys in the dorm simply shook their head in amazement of what was unfolding.
Memory tells me their division was weak that year and the toughest part of their schedule was early. By the time they were 6-0, and I confident that 11 more were very possible.
By the way, the Skins were very good and continued to be, Garo's passing ability prevented the shutout.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane ... now I have to call my good friend to remind him.
Frank- LOL! I wasn't even alive when this game happened! That's amazing you picked the Dolphins to win it all and go undefeated, too.
Yeah, I looked up their season, and they did play in a weak division. I don't think they played a team that made the playoffs either.
Thanks for adding to this with a very thoughtful reply.
GREAT RECAP
Though the Skins paid the Fins back in '82, it doesn't take away from the sting of losing a pretty close game in '72
3rd- Yep, Washington did revenge with Gibbs as coach against Miami. Thanks for coming by.
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