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AFC Semifinal
Miami 20, Cleveland 14
December 24, 1972
At Miami-80,010
On the ropes in the fourth quarter after an unprecedented 14 victories, the Dolphins responded
to a poised Earl Morrall and drove 80 yards for a touchdown with 4:56 to play for a 20-14 victory over
the Cleveland Browns. Morrall, the NFL’s leading passer after replacing the injured Bob Griese 10
weeks earlier, had completed only four passes for 38 yards. But he threw 15 and 35 yards to Paul
Warfield, reaching the Browns 20, and a pass interference call against linebacker Billy Andrews put the ball at the eight. Halfback Jim Kiick then bulled eight yards up the middle on a trap for the winning
points. The triumph was sealed with a minute to play when Dolphin linebacker Doug Swift intercepted
Cleveland QB Mike Phipps at the Dolphin 20. Despite stealing five of Phipps’ passes, the Dolphins
were stung by a 27-yard TD pass to Fair Hooker and trailed 14-13 with 8:11 to play.
 |
Scoring |
 |
| |
Cleveland |
0 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
- |
14 |
|
| |
Miami |
10 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
- |
20 |
|
 |
|
 |
Miami-Babb, 5 return with blocked punt (Yepremian kick)
Miami-FG, Yepremian 40
Cleve-Phipps, 5 run (Cockroft kick)
Miami-FG, Yepremian 46
Cleve-Hooker, 27 pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)
Miami-Kiick, 8 run (Yepremian kick)
AFC Championship
Miami 21, Pittsburgh 17
December 31, 1972
At Pittsburgh-50,350
Quarterback Bob Griese, playing 11 weeks after he had broken his right leg, ignited a thirdquarter
touchdown drive with a 52-yard pass to Paul Warfield, and the Dolphins overtook the
Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-17, in unusually warm 63-degree weather. Griese was given the nod in the
second half after Earl Morrall had flipped a nine-yard touchdown pass to Larry Csonka for a 7-7
halftime deadlock. Punter Larry Seiple broke loose on a daring 37-yard run on fourth down to set up
that TD. Trailing 10-7, Griese directed TD drives of 80 and 49 yards with Jim Kiick blasting two and
three yards for the scores. Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who closed the gap with four straight
completions on a 71-yard TD drive, was intercepted by Nick Buoniconti at midfield with 21.2 minutes
to play. In addition to Seiple's dash, the Dolphins converted fourth-down situations on both Griese-led
drives.
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Scoring |
|
| |
Miami |
0 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
- |
21 |
|
| |
Pittsburgh |
7 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
- |
17 |
|
|
|
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Pitt-Mullins, fumble recovery in end zone (Gerela kick)
Miami-Csonka, 9 pass from Morrall (Yepremian kick)
Pitt-FG, Gerela 14
Miami-Kiick, 2 run (Yepremian kick)
Miami-Kiick, 3 run (Yepremian kick)
Pitt-Young, 12 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)
Super Bowl VII
Miami 14, Washington 7
January 14, 1973
At Los Angeles-90,182 (record)
"This is the
ultimate,”" Coach Don Shula said quietly after his unbeaten Dolphins dominated
the Washington Redskins, 14-7, to cap a perfect season. It was Shula's first Super
Bowl triumph in three tries. A record Super Bowl paid crowd of 90,182 saw the
Dolphins surge to a 14-0 halftime lead even as one touchdown was nullified by
an offside penalty. Miami intercepted three of Bill Kilmer’s passes, and Manny
Fernandez scuttled the Redskin running game with 17 tackles. An original Dolphin,
Howard Twilley, eluded cornerback Pat Fischer to snare a 28-yard touchdown pass
from Bob Griese in the first quarter. Griese’s 57-yard TD bomb to Paul Warfield
was erased by the penalty, but a 32- yard interception return by linebacker Nick
Buoniconti set up the Dolphins' second score. Safety Jake Scott thwarted Kilmer
with an end zone interception and 55-yard runback. The Redskins finally scored
on a bizarre 49-yard fumble recovery by Mike Bass after a blocked field goal and
attempted pass by kicker Garo Yepremian. Scott was named MVP.
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Scoring |
|
| |
Miami |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
- |
14 |
|
| |
Washington |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
- |
7 |
|
|
|
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Miami-Twilley, 28 pass from Griese (Yepremian kick)
Miami-Kiick, 1 run (Yepremian kick)
Wash-Bass, 49 return with fumble (Knight kick)
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Final Statistics |
|
| |
|
Dolphins |
Redskins |
|
| |
Total First Downs |
12 |
16 |
|
| |
First downs rushing |
7 |
9 |
|
| |
First downs passing |
5 |
7 |
|
| |
First down by penalty |
0 |
0 |
|
| |
Net Yards Rushing |
184 |
141 |
|
| |
Attempts |
37 |
36 |
|
| |
Avg. gain per rush |
5.0 |
3.9 |
|
| |
Net Yards Passing |
69 | 87 |
|
| |
Attempts/completed |
11-8 |
28-14 |
|
| |
Yds. lost att. pass |
2-19 |
2-17 |
|
| |
Intercepted/yds. returned |
3-95 |
1-0 |
|
| |
Total Offense Yards |
253 | 228 |
|
| |
Plays rushing & passing |
50 |
66 |
|
| |
Avg. gain per play |
5.1 | 3.5 |
|
| |
Punting average |
7-43.0 |
5-31.2 |
|
| |
Punt return |
2 |
4 |
|
| |
Net yds. punt returned |
4 |
9 |
|
| |
Kickoff return |
2 |
3 |
|
| |
Net yds. kickoff returned |
33 |
45 |
|
| |
Penalties |
3-35 |
3-25 |
|
| |
Fumbles/lost |
2/1 |
1/0 |
|
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Individual
Statistics:
RUSHING – Miami: Csonka 15-112; Kiick 12-38, 1 TD; Morris 10-34.
Washington: Brown 22-72; Harraway 10-37; Kilmer 2-18; C.Taylor 1-8; Smith 1-6.
PASSING – Miami: Griese 11-8-1, 88 yards, 1 TD.
Washington: Kilmer 28-14-3, 104 yards, 0 TDs.
RECEIVING – Miami: Warfield 3-36; Kiick 2-6; Twilley 1-28, 1
TD; Mandich 1-19; Csonka 1-(-1).
Washington: Jefferson 5-50; Brown 5-26; C.Taylor 2-20; Smith 1-11; Harraway 1-(-3).
INTERCEPTIONS – Miami: Scott 2-63; Buoniconti 1-32.
Washington: Owens 1-0.
SACKS – Miami: Fernandez 1; Stanfill 1. Washington: Talbert 1;
Biggs 1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – Miami: Yepremian 42(B).
Washington: Knight 32 (WR).
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