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The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only National Football League team to have a "Perfect season", and win the Super Bowl, following the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Their undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable teammates Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka (among many others). This team went 14-0 in the regular season (prior to the extension of the regular season by the NFL), and won all three playoff games, including Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins, for a season record of 17-0. As of 2008, the 1972 Dolphins remain the only NFL team to complete an entire season undefeated from the opening regular season game to the Super Bowl.
During the 1972 season, Bob Griese's ankle was broken while being sacked by defensive tackle Ron East in Week 5 against the San Diego Chargers and was replaced by veteran Earl Morrall for the rest of the regular season, with Griese returning to the field as a substitute during the AFC Championship game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and would once again start for Miami in Super Bowl VII. On the ground, running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in a season. The offensive line included future Hall of Fame members Jim Langer and Larry Little and Pro Bowler Bob Kuechenberg. The 1972 Dolphins defensive unit, called the No-Name Defense because Miami’s impressive offense received much more publicity, was the league’s best that year. It was led by linebacker Nick Buoniconti, end Bill Stanfill, tackle Manny Fernandez, and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott.
[edit] Regular Season
[edit] Season Standings
[edit] Urban legend
There is an urban legend that every season, whenever the last remaining undefeated NFL team loses its first game, all the surviving members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins open bottles of champagne in celebration. Coach Don Shula tried to play down the myth by saying that two players, Dick Anderson and Nick Buoniconti, who live near each other sometimes have a toast together[1][2]. However, in a college football broadcast on ABC, following the loss of an undefeated team, Bob Griese commented that he called up former Dolphins, and they had Diet Cokes together, after being asked by his colleague. That celebration comes with the connotation that they no longer drink alcoholic beverages, but that a toast was customary.
[edit] The perfect season
The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first team to execute a perfect regular season in the modern, post-Merger NFL. They are the only team in NFL history to go undefeated in the regular season and playoffs (doing so in the current era would incur going 19-0, a mark yet unreached). Prior to them, only two NFL teams had earned perfect regular seasons: the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears, who went 13-0 and 11-0 respectively. Both times, the Bears lost in the NFL Championship Game, denying themselves a completely perfect season. The Cleveland Browns accomplished an undefeated season in 1948, but as members of the All-America Football Conference, going 14-0 in the regular season and beating the Buffalo Bills for the AAFC Championship. The 2007 New England Patriots completed the only perfect 16 game regular season to date, but finished 18-1 following a Super Bowl XLII loss to the New York Giants.
Aside from the Patriots, the 1998 Broncos[3], and the 2005 Colts[4] came the closest to matching the 1972 Dolphins. Both the Broncos and Colts won their first 13 games before losing their next two. Also, four teams have had regular seasons of 15-1, two of which have won the Super Bowl, finishing with 18-1 overall records: the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears; the other two, who went 16-2 overall, are the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, who lost the AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots, and the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, who fell to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game. Also of note are the 1976 Oakland Raiders, who, following a 13-1 regular season, won the Super Bowl for an overall 16-1 record.
[edit] Notes and references
