1972 Miami Dolphins: Perfect Season

1972 Miami Dolphins: Perfect Season

[paypal_donation_button]1972 Miami Dolphins: Perfect Season

From 1963 to 1969, Don Shula served as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts and he would lead the Colts to appearances in the 1964 NFL Championship Game and Super Bowl III while posting a 71-23-4 record. With the Colts, Shula had coached a talented quarterback in Johnny Unitas, who was arguably one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game of football. Though they were heavily favored in both games, the Colts unfortunately lost both the 1964 NFL Championship Game to the Cleveland Browns 27-0 on December 27, 1964 and Super Bowl III to the New York Jets 16-7 on January 12, 1969.

On August 25, 1968 the Baltimore Colts acquired quarterback Earl Morrall in a trade with the New York Giants, and Shula would get a glimpse of the talent that Morrall possessed as he would need to fill in for an injured Johnny Unitas.

After the 1969 NFL season, Shula would sign a contract that was offered to him by Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie to become the 2nd head coach in the franchise’s history, and this would lead to tampering accusations as the Dolphins were negotiating with someone who was a member of the Colts. This was significant since football was going through a transition period with the merging of the National Football League and the American Football League. The signing of Shula led to the Dolphins sending their First Round draft pick to the Colts.

In 1970 the Dolphins traded their First Round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns for wide receiver Paul Warfield. Warfield would go on to make 5 straight Pro Bowl appearances for the Dolphins from 1970 to 1974 and made the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team. The Browns would use their draft pick on Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps, who would never pan out for Cleveland.

In Shula’s first two years coaching the Dolphins, he led the team to a combined record of 20-7-1, making the playoffs in both 1970 and 1971. The Dolphins would take an early exit in the First Round of the NFL Playoffs in 1970, but they would hang around for much longer in the 1971 NFL Playoffs, advancing all the way to Super Bowl VI to face the Dallas Cowboys.

Super Bowl VI would be a bittersweet end to the Dolphins’ run as they would fall to the Cowboys 24-3 on January 16, 1972. Going into this Super Bowl, Cowboys head coach Tom Landry, couldn’t remember the names of the starting defensive players for the Dolphins, and he would promptly give this collection of players a fitting nickname in the ‘No-Name Defense’.

The Dolphins had all the motivation they needed to take their game to the next level in the 1972 season. Quarterback Bob Griese was poised to lead the Dolphins with his solid play under center, but he would suffer a setback in the Week 5 game against the San Diego Chargers on October 15, 1972. Chargers Defensive Linemen Ron East and Deacon Jones caught Griese in a combined tackle, which resulted in Griese breaking an ankle.

The Dolphins heavily relied on a ball control offense centered around a powerful rushing attack. Running back Larry Csonka was a tough downhill runner who was said to be so hard to tackle because of the power he had in his legs. In the regular season, Csonka rushed for 1,117 yards and scored 6 touchdowns. Csonka was not alone in carrying the football as Eugene ‘Mercury’ Morris, who also played on special teams and contributed with 334 kickoff return yards, rushed for 1,000 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns. Morris also caught the ball 15 times for 168 yards.

The third part of Miami’s potent rushing attack was Jim Kiick, who rushed for 521 yards and scored 5 touchdowns in the regular season, as well as catching 21 passes for 147 yards.

The No-Name Defense included linebackers Nick Buoniconti and Doug Swift. Swift had 3 interceptions and a fumble recovery in 1972. Other contributors included safeties Jake Scott, who had 5 interceptions, and Dick Anderson, who had 3 interceptions and an NFL-leading 5 fumble recoveries. Defensive back Lloyd Mumphord also had 4 interceptions.

Bob Matheson was the versatile defensive linemen of the No-Name Defense as he would play as both the defensive end in the 4-3 formation and as the 4th linebacker in the 3-4 formation. Dolphins defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger would call this defense the “53” Defense in honor of Matheson, who wore the jersey number 53.

With Griese sidelined with an injury, Don Shula once again turned to the quarterback play of Earl Morrall, and to his credit, Morrall kept everything steady for the Dolphins on offense as they would go a perfect 14-0 in the regular season. The most lopsided win the Dolphins had in their unbelievable run was against the New England Patriots in Week 9 on November 12, 1972. The Dolphins destroyed the Patriots 52-0. The closest win the Dolphins had in their undefeated season was against the Buffalo Bills in Week 6 on October 22, 1972 by a narrow score of 24-23.

The Dolphins proceeded to cruise through postseason play as they defeated the Cleveland Browns in the Divisional Playoffs 20-14 on December 24, 2972. Bob Griese would finally see the field again for the Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Dolphins would defeat the Steelers 21-7 on December 31, 1972.

Returning to the Super Bowl, the Dolphins went up against the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII on January 14, 1973. Even though they were undefeated, the Dolphins would be posted as 2-point underdogs by Las Vegas odds makers partly because of the fact that they had played in a weak AFC East division which included an average 7-7 New York Jets team that had a bad defense, a 5-9 Baltimore Colts team that was feeling the effects of Don Shula’s departure, a 4-9-1 Buffalo Bills team that was learning how to win with running back O.J. Simpson, and a terrible 3-11 New England Patriots team that only had quarterback Jim Plunkett as legitimate football talent.

Bob Griese performed well for the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII, completing 8 of 11 passes for 88 yards and threw a touchdown pass. Larry Csonka had 15 carries for 112 yards. Jim Kiick had 12 rushes for 38 yards with 1 rushing touchdown and 6 yards off 2 catches. Mercury Morris had 10 rushes for 34 yards. The trio of Dolphins running backs were given plenty of help from a solid offensive line that included anchors such as Jim Langer and Larry Little.

Defensive tackle Manny Fernandez was all over the place wrecking havoc on the Redskins offense, sacking the quarterback and making key tackles. Many of his teammates believed that he should have been selected as the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, but that award would go to safety Jake Scott instead, who had 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 20 punt return yards and 47 kickoff return yards.

The Miami Dolphins completed their historic undefeated run by defeating the Washington Redskins 14-7 to win Super Bowl VII, going a perfect 17-0. However, Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian made an unforgettable blunder in the Super Bowl that was far from perfect. This hilarious blunder, known as Garo’s Gaffe, featured Yepremian attempting to kick a 42-yard field goal to secure a 17-0 victory to match the 17-0 record. The kick went very low and was blocked by Redskins defensive tackle Bill Brunidge. The football bounced Yepremian’s way and he decided to pick it up instead of falling on top of it. Yepremian tried to pass the ball to Larry Csonka, but due to his bad grip, the ball slipped out of his hands. He then tried to knock the ball out of bounds, but the ball ultimately went up in the air and fell into the hands of Redskins corner-back Mike Bass, who proceeded to return the ball 49 yards for a touchdown with 2:07 remaining in the 4th quarter.