Super Bowl VII - Washington Redskins vs Miami Dolphins: First Half
This series covers the history of the NFL through the prism of its yearly championship games.
Note: The gray boxes contain asides that provide interesting material but could be skipped
without losing the continuity of the article.
Part 1 - Pregame | Part 3 - 2nd Half
Note: The gray boxes contain asides that provide interesting material but could be skipped
without losing the continuity of the article.
Part 1 - Pregame | Part 3 - 2nd Half
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The clash between two defense-minded, ball-control teams remained the lowest-scoring Super Bowl until 2019.
Quarter 1 Miami won the toss and elected to receive in 86° sunshine. Mercury Morris ran the kickoff back from the eight to the 24. QB Bob Griese, who had played only one half of football in the last three months, handed off on the first two plays. HB Jim Kiick gained two at left tackle, then FB Larry Csonka got the same at left guard.Don Shula had announced the offense's opening plays at the team's pregame breakfast that morning. Kiick was doubly surprised that he would get the opening carry. First, that meant he would start ahead of Morris and, secondly, Csonka wouldn't carry the ball first. Jim still followed his usual ritual of taking a nap in the locker room before the game.
On 3rd down, Griese threw a flare pass to Csonka in the right flat, but LB Jack Pardee dropped him for a two-yard loss. Then a crazy play occurred with Miami in punt formation. C Howard Kindig didn't execute the snap, and Hal McLinton recovered the ball at the line of scrimmage for Washington. But replay showed that McLinton, head up on the center, hit the ball as Kindig tried to snap it. Referee Tommy Bell stepped off 5y against the Redskins for illegal procedure - still not enough for the first down. So Larry Seiple punted 50y to Alvin Haymond, who returned it 7y to the 25.
What McLinton did turned out to be another of George Allen's shady maneuvers. He had noticed in the playoff game against Green Bay that the Packers' long snapper raised the ball off the ground slightly before snapping it. So George contacted Art McNally, the NFL supervisor of officials, to ask if his nose tackle could slap the ball as soon as the punt snapper raised the ball off the ground. McNally told him it was illegal. Still, Allen couldn't resist trying the ploy in the Super Bowl. Maybe it would happen so quickly no official would notice what his defender did. TV announcer Curt Gowdy was so confused by what happened that he said, Kindig was so nervous the ball slipped between his hands.
Like the Dolphins, the Redskins opened with a conservative, probing offense but with more success. After Larry Brown gained three and two, Billy Kilmer dropped back, faked a pass to the left, then tossed to Brown in the right flat. G John Wilbur blocked MLB Nick Buonoconti to allow Larry to scamper to the 37 for a 1st down. But the run-run-pass approach didn't succeed on the next series. Brown gained five on 1st down, but his running mate, Charley Harraway, was dropped for a 2y loss from behind by DT Manny Fernandez.
After the game, Allen said, A lot of centers in the league wind up when they snap the ball. Well, their center lifts up the front of the ball. Harold slapped the ball ... The officials ruled it was our ball until one of them informed the referee about the penalty for encroachment. Shula lobbied unsuccessfully for a 15y penalty against McLinton for unsportsmanlike conduct. Even though his coaches at Utah didn't recommend Fernandez for pro ball, the Dolphins let him come to training camp as a free agent, and now the five-year veteran was one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. Miami D-coordinator Bill Arnsparger kept replaying film from a Washington game where Giants NT John Mendenhall dominated, slipping by the center and guards all game. Bill knew Manny would formulate his own plan to dominate in the Super Bowl. He would end the afternoon with 11 solo tackles and six assists.
Kilmer then threw wide to Brown at the left sideline to bring on the punter, Mike Bragg. Jake Scott made a diving catch at the 32.
 Charley Harraway thrown for a loss.  Griese pitches out to Mercury Morris. The Redskins continued to find the going tough against the Miami defense. After Harraway gained two, holding was called on Brown's 2y run to move the ball back to the 29.  Holding flag comes in on Brown's run. Buoniconti said of Fernandez: It was the game of his life. They were intent on blocking me with two men assuming they could handle Manny one-on-one. Manny was very quick, and he'd get into their backfield before they could react and tackle Brown. He beat Hauss like a drum.
So on 3rd-and-20, Miami employed its "53 Defense," so named because #53, Bob Matheson, went in as an extra linebacker who could double as a pass rusher. Kilmer tried a screen to Brown that gained nothing. Disaster nearly struck the Dolphins on Bragg's punt. Bob Brunet hit Scott just as the ball arrived, but Dick Anderson recovered for Miami at the 37.
Allen: That was the biggest play of the first half. If we'd gotten that ball – and I feel we would have scored – we could have gone ahead, and it would have been a different ball game.
Shula: Bob Matheson's great ability gave us a whole new concept of defense. He was big enough to effectively rush the passer and agile enough to drop off into coverage.  Bill Stanfill stuffs ball carrier. Haymond took the kickoff at the 15 and returned it to the 31. END Q1: Dolphins 7 Redskins 0   Howard Twilley catches pass in front of Pat Fischer and falls just inside pylon. The touchdown came about as a result of a conversation between Twilley and Griese the week before. The Dolphins had a tendency to run down-and-in routes in opponents' territory. But Twilley knew that Fischer would discover that from film study. So Howard suggested breaking the pattern and instead running a down-in-and-out instead. He and Bob stayed after practice to perfect the maneuver.
When the official, Tom Kelleher, a Miami native, signaled touchdown, Twilley became so excited he jumped up and patted him on the back. Howard, don't do that again, Kelleher told him later.
Griese: It was third and four on the 28. Normally, we'll throw to a back in that situation. The way George Allen studies, we knew he would be aware of our tendencies. Since it was our first 3rd-and-four situation, I felt they would likely be in man-to-man coverage. I had both wide receivers go down and in. They had double coverage on Paul Warfield, and that left Pat Fischer one-on-one on Twilley. That was the ideal time to go for the big one. Twilley: I had to sell Pat on the pattern. We have had a lot of success on quick down-and-in routes, and I figured Pat thought I would go that way. When I fake that and go out, I usually give the cornerback a little head fake, then break to the outside. This time, though, Howard ran a quick three-step turn in on Fischer, and Pat bought it. Then the receiver cut back outside. Quarter 2 Washington ran on 1st and 2nd down, DE Vern Den Herder standing up Brown after a 1y gain and Harraway gaining another yard. With the Dolphins in the 53 defense on 3rd-and-eight, Kilmer threw high down the middle for Taylor. S Scott leaped high, tipped the ball, and caught it as he fell to the ground. He got up and ran to the Washington 47.Scott: I was in a deep zone, and I think Billy probably overthrew his man a little.
The Dolphins failed to take advantage of the game's first turnover, primarily because of a penalty. Griese rolled right and hit TE Marv Fleming in stride down the sideline to the 27. But the play was called back, and Miami penalized 15y for an ineligible man downfield. Following gains by Morris (3y) and Csonka (6y), Griese hit Kiick in the flat to midfield, but he was stopped 13y shy of the first down marker. Seiple then punted into the end zone.
 Griese calls signals. Dallas had shredded the No Name Defense in Super Bowl VI with cut back runs. So Shula trained his 1972 defenders to stay in their lanes to stop Brown, who loved to cut against the grain. D-coordinator Bill Arnsparger also lined up Manny Fernandez head on the center almost every play so that Larry had nowhere to go. Manny recalled: They started off trying to single block me, but they ended up doing double and triple teams.
So Kilmer sent Larry out on a pass pattern and hit him to move the chains to the 33, where Scott jolted him down. After Brown ran for three, Kilmer did what commentators had expected him to do; that is, pick on LCB Lloyd Mumphord, who had replaced Tim Foley when he went out with a shoulder injury. But Billy's pass to Taylor at the right sideline failed. The 3rd down call was a draw to Brown, but Fernandez dropped the ball carrier at the 34. So on 4th-and-nine, Bragg booted to Scott, who returned 4y to the 32.
Miami's possession started with 7:35 on the clock with a ramble by Csonka behind LG Kuechenberg's block for 13y to the 45.
 Csonka on the loose.  Warfield scores apparent TD. Briscoe had been inserted into the lineup in place of Twilley with a specific purpose in mind. The Dolphins had learned through the grapevine that the #1 objective of Allen's defensive game plan was to stop Warfield because he was the one Miami skill player whose athleticism the Redskins couldn't match. So George put in several double coverages for him. He also wasn't above having his defenders use a maneuver called "The Axe" whereby a defensive back would run toward a receiver and roll into him to knock him down. Briscoe's role on the play was to occupy the attention of Fischer, which was ironic since that pitted Marlin against his boyhood hero from Omaha. But he was so anxious to do his job that he moved early off the line. Briscoe went to the bench with a sick feeling never to return that day. Come on! Shula yelled at him.
 Len Hauss (56) and John Wilbur (60) block. In their film study, Arnsparger and Buoniconti noticed that the Redskins liked to circle Brown out of the backfield to the middle for a pass. They knew Kilmer would also pay special attention to Matheson. So on this third down play, Arnsparger didn't rush Matheson but instead blitzed Swift up the middle. As soon as the ball was snapped, Buoniconti took a step to his left, away from Brown's expected route. With Swift charging with his arms upraised, Kilmer didn't have time to notice that Nick had reversed course and returned to the middle, where he intercepted the pass in front of Brown.
Instead of Washington denting the scoreboard in the last two minutes, the Dolphins had a chance to add to their lead. Kiick gained three on a quick-hitter.
Csonka bounced off two tacklers to gain a hard-earned yard. Like Miami, the Redskins changed linebackers on passing downs, the younger, faster Harold McLinton replacing Myron Pottios in the middle. The Dolphins again sent in Mandich at tight end. With Warfield and Twilley lined up wide left, Griese rolled right and threw to Mandich, who made a diving grab before sliding out of bounds at the two. After Kiick was stopped for 1y, the Dolphins called timeout. Then Griese handed to Jim again, and he followed Csonka, Little, and RT Norm Evans - 750 pounds of beef - over right guard into the end zone. Dolphins 14 Redskins 0 (0:18)Kilmer: It was either get sacked or get the ball right out to Larry, and I forced it. Buoniconti: We were in a 1-coverage, which meant I had the tight end, Jerry Smith. Because Smith was tied up, I was free to react to Kilmer and go with Brown. I should not have been there.  Jim Kiick gains a yard to the one.   Kiick follows Csonka into end zone. END OF Q2: Dolphins 14 Redskins 0 The Miami defense had limited Washington to 49y rushing, 23y passing, and a measly four first downs. One reason for the failure of the Washington rushing attack was their use of the same blocking scheme the Cowboys had deployed in Super Bowl VI. The object was to attack and neutralize MLB Buoniconti. But the 1972 Dolphins Front Four was vastly improved from 1971.
The halftime show featured crooner Andy Williams, jazz leader Woody Herman, and the Michigan Marching Band. The theme was "Happiness is ..." |
