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SuperBowlConcierge.com > Super Bowls > SB 7 Champion Miami Dolphins |
Super Bowl History |
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Kiick contributed 521 yards and five touchdowns, and also caught 21 passes for 147
yards and another touchdown. Morris, a breakaway runner, rushed for 1,000 yards,
caught 15 passes for 168 yards, added another 334 yards returning kickoffs,
and scored a league-leading 12 rushing touchdowns. Overall, Miami set a record
with 2,960 total rushing yards during the regular season, and became the first
team ever to have two players rush for 1,000 yards in one season. Miami led the
NFL in points scored (385) Receiver Paul Warfield once again provided the run-based Dolphins with an effective deep threat option, catching 29 passes for 606 yards, an average of 20.9 yards per catch. |
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SB 7 Champion Miami Dolphins |
The Dolphins went undefeated during the season, despite losing their starting quarterback.
In the fifth game of the regular season, starter Bob Griese suffered
a fractured right leg and dislocated ankle. In his place, 38-year-old Earl Morrall
led Miami to victory in their nine remaining regular season games, and was
the 1972 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Morrall had previously played for Dolphins
head coach Don Shula when they were both with the Baltimore Colts, where
Morrall backed up quarterback Johnny Unitas and started in Super Bowl III. But Miami also had the same core group of young players who helped the team advance to the previous year's Super Bowl VI. (The only Dolphins starter in Super Bowl VII over the age of 30 was 32-year-old Nick Buoniconti.) The Dolphins still had a powerful running attack, spearheaded by running backs Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Eugene "Mercury" Morris. (Morris, who in previous seasons had been used primarily as a kick returner, took over the starting halfback position from Kiick, who had been the starter the previous four years. The more-experienced Kiick, however, would start in Super Bowl VII.) Csonka led the team with 1,117 yards and six touchdowns. |
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Miami's offensive line, led by future hall of famers Jim Langer and Larry Little
was also a key factor for the Dolphins' offensive production. And Miami's "No-Name
Defense" (a nickname inspired by Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry when
he could not recall the names of any Dolphins defenders just before Super Bowl
VI), led by future hall of fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, allowed the fewest
points in the league during the regular season (171). |
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The Dolphins played virtually perfect football in the first half as their defense
permitted the Redskins to cross midfield only once and their offense turned good
field position into two touchdowns. On its third possession, Miami opened its first scoring drive from the Dolphins' 37 yard line. An 18-yard pass from Bob Griese to Paul Warfield preceded by three plays Griese's 28-yard touchdown pass to Howard Twilley. After Washington moved from its 17 to the Miami 48 with two minutes remaining in the first half, Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti intercepted Billy Kilmer's pass at the Miami 41 and returned it to the Washington 27. Jim Kiick ran for three yards, Larry Csonka for three, Griese passed to Jim Mandich for 19, and Kiick gained one to the 1-yard line. With 18 seconds left until intermission, Kiick scored from the one. Washington's only touchdown came with 2:07 left in the game and resulted from a misplayed field-goal attempt and fumble by Garo Yepremian, with the Redskins' Mike Bass picking the ball out of the air and running 49 yards for the score. Dolphins safety Jake Scott, who had two interceptions, including one in the end zone to kill a Redskins' drive, was voted the game's most valuable player. |
GAME RECAP |
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Dolphins 7 7
0 0 14 Redskins 0 0 0 7 7 |
BOX SCORE |
1 2 3
4 Total |
Date January 14, 1973 Stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum City Los Angeles, California MVP Jake Scott, Safety Favorite Redskins by 1 National anthem Andy Williams Little Angels of Holy Angels Church, Chicago Coin toss Tom Bell Referee Tom Bell Halftime show Woody Herman and the Michigan Marching Band Attendance 90,182 TV in the United States Network NBC Announcers Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis Nielsen Ratings 42.7 Market share 72 Cost of 30-second commercial US$88,000 |
Super Bowl 7 Information |
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Super Bowl Champs |
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Future Super Bowl Locations |
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Super Bowl XLII, Glendale, Ariz. Feb. 3, 2008 Super Bowl XLIII, Tampa, Fla. Feb. 1, 2009 Super Bowl XLIV, South Florida TBA, 2010 Super Bowl XLV, North Texas TBA, 2011 |
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Safety Jake Scott recorded five interceptions. Because of injuries to defensive linemen
(at the beginning of the season the Dolphins were down to four healthy defensive
linemen) defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger created what he called
the "53" defense, in which versatile Bob Matheson (number 53) would be used as
either a defensive end in the standard 4-3 defense or as a fourth linebacker in
a 3-4 defense, with Manny Fernandez at nose tackle. As a linebacker, Matheson
would either rush or drop back into coverage. Said Nick Buoniconti, "Teams would
be totally confused."[1] The Dolphins' undefeated, untied regular season was the third in NFL history, and the first of the post-Merger era. The previous two teams to do it, the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears, both lost those years' NFL Championship Games. The Cleveland Browns completed a perfect season in 1948, including a Championship victory, when they were part of the All-American Football Conference. |