Undefeated season…17-0 and a win in Super Bowl VII 14-7 over the Washington Redskins and still regarded by many as the best team of all time. They have the argument in their favor…1 season everyone vanquished…no one else can make that claim.
Yet going into Super Bowl VII the Dolphins were a 3 pt underdog. Why? George Allen was completing a rebuilding with old veterans and hadn’t won any big games as a head coach. His Rams couldn’t leapfrog the Packers in the western conference in 1967. He was the Defensive Coordinator for George Halas’ last champion in 1963, but how does that rate better than Shula’s club who had just gone to the Super Bowl a year before?
Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris (both 1,000yd rushers), Kiick ran solidly and Manny Fernandez dominated the Super Bowl from his defensive tackle spot. Back in 1989 NFL Films came up with a fictitious playoff of the greatest teams ever and the last game was the ’72 Dolphins v. the ’78 Steelers. Could the 72 Dolphins handle the ’78 Steelers? Would Terry Bradshaw outsmart Jake Scott or Dick Anderson? After further review, The Chancellor doesn’t think so.
Under the same systems in 1973 when the Steelers played Miami, S Dick Anderson picked off the Steelers 4 times returning them for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was the signature game of a Defensive Player of the Year campaign for Anderson. The No Name Defense was rarely out of position and would make even a more mature Bradshaw make some mistakes. In Super Bowl VII, Jake Scott fooled veteran Billy Kilmer into 2 ints as he went on to become the MVP.
During the 1972 season, they were masterful with 3 shutouts and allowing 10 points or less in 6 games.
The 78 Steelers were giving up some candy to running games and I think the Dolphins would move the ball on them. They gave up 192 yards rushing to the Rams, 181 to Kansas City, 169 to Houston and 155 to the New York Jets. So to think 2 – 1,000 yard rushers would be able to run on the Steel Curtain isn’t far fetched. Csonka was a Hall of Famer.
I think the 72 Dolphins would beat them. Bob Griese wouldn’t turn the ball over either. By the way in 1973 Pittsburgh was a playoff team and to make it to Super Bowl VII a season prior, Miami beat Pittsburgh in Three Rivers to get to the Super Bowl. Don’t look now but Miami doesn’t get the respect their due. Are there stronger teams…its debatable…but I think they would handle Pittsburgh in a mythical match-up.
Further evidence to this would be the ’72 AFC Championship game where the Dolphins had to win in Pittsburgh to make it to Super Bowl VII. Or in court terms – Exhibit A:
By the way, I used the 78 Steelers instead of the 79 Steelers because in 1979 the Steelers led the NFL with 52 turnovers. That team doesn’t beat the mistake proof 72 Dolphins. No way.
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Jones had the talent to be one of the best fullbacks in league history. When you play for a team that is always behind it’s hard to get rushing totals to be considered among the elite. Players like Jones are overlooked when playing for incomplete teams that lose most of the time. That has to be frustrating. Its worth taking a look back and think what might have been as the Silverdome fades from memory.
This ended an odyssey of multiple championship and playoff losses between the years of 1966-1970. The Green Bay Packers escaped Dallas twice in the NFL Championship games in ’66 and ’67. Losses to the Cleveland Browns in 68 & 69 kept the Cowboys from further glory. The worst was still to come…
Well they made it to Super Bowl V in Miami where they faced the Baltimore Colts, another team that had moved over to the AFC. These two pre-merger NFL antagonists were embroiled in a defensive struggle where Dallas clearly outplayed the Colts and were poised to take a 20- 6 3rd qtr lead when Duane Thomas fumbled at the 1 yard line. Are you kidding me, the 1 yard line? Nothing demoralizes a team than to drive the length of the field& come away without points, especially, in a game where they’re hard to come by.
It was Johnny Podres that finally pitched the Brooklyn Dodgers past the Yankees for the ’55 World Series after 8 years of championship disappointment. In winning Super Bowl VI for Dallas, Staubach ended a 6 year odyssey for the Cowboys.
The Cowboy’s defense that day held the Dolphins (who would go on to win the next two Super Bowls including an undefeated season) to just 3 points and Duane Thomas didn’t fumble at the 1, he scored from the 3. Couple touchdown passes from Staubach to Mike Ditka and Lance Alworth and the Cowboys finally clutched the prize.
Twice they stopped Colt scores in the red zone. In the 4th quarter!! One was an end zone interception by Howley at the start of the period. The other when S Cornell Green forced Eddie Hinton to fumble at the same 1 yard line Duane Thomas had in the 3rd. They had finally broken the Colts offense until their anemic offense gave the game away with Morton’s interception. You could feel the angst when Bob Lilly threw his helmet after Jim O’Brien winning field goal. Had they brought a semblance of an offense they would have won this game. They would have to wait another year for a chance at the title.
There are varied reasons why this team is so overlooked when you think of this franchise. Did you know this is the only Super Bowl winner where the franchise was sold just one year later?? Before the 1972 season, Robert Irsay (Los Angeles Rams) and Carroll Rosenbloom swapped franchises.
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