"Undefeated underdogs." That's what the Miami Dolphins were as they prepared for Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins, who were installed as 2 or 3 point favorites depending on the source.

• Don Shula had the flu all week and went to bed at 9 each night. But he didn't sleep well. Try as he might to keep his team relaxed, his veteran players had never seen him so tense. Lose one game and ruin a 16-0 season and continue your reputation as a coach who couldn't win the big one.
• The fear motivated the Dolphins. As Jim Mandich told a reporter, My God, can you imagine what life with Shula would be like if he lost another Super Bowl?
• Across town, the Redskins, another veteran team, bristled under the tightening grasp of their perpetually uptight coach, George Allen. Practices were long, meetings were longer. The players later said they peaked on Wednesday, then got "stale" by kickoff.

The 90,182 gathered on a smoggy, 84 afternoon in the Los Angeles Coliseum watched one of the most boring Super Bowls ever.

• The Skins did a fine job of controlling the Miami offense but never came close to scoring on offense themselves.
• Dolphins QB Bob Griese, who threw only 11 passes all day, completing 8, took a nine-step drop and hit Howard Twilley on a post-corner route for a 28y TD and a 7-0 lead. The Dolphins had used a down-and-in to Twilley all year, but they knew that veteran CB Pat Fischer would see that on film. So Griese and Twilley stayed after practice working on a down-and-in-then out pattern that caught Fischer biting on the first move.
• Meanwhile, Bill Arnsparger's No-Name D, mixed both 4-3 and 3-4 schemes, brought pressure up the middle, overwhelming C Len Hauss, so that DT Manny Fernandez could make an amazing 11 solo tackles and add six assists.

 
Fernandez and mates corral Larry Brown.

• Midway through Q2, Griese struck again, this time a 47y TD strike to Paul Warfield. However, an illegal procedure flag cancelled the score.
• Washington didn't cross midfield until less than two minutes remained in the half and then by only 2y. On the very next play, DE Doug Swift broke through and hit QB Billy Kilmer as he threw, causing a wounded duck to end up in the hands of MLB Nick Buoniconti, who returned it 32y to the Redskins 27 with 1:17 on the clock. The Dolphins drove from there to their second TD, Jim Kiick doing the honors from the 1 two plays after TE Jim Mandich made a diving catch at the 2. Just 18 ticks remained before the break.

 
Kilmer rares back to throw.

• They opened the half with a 10-play, 45y drive that ended with Fernandez sacking Kilmer. Curt Knight missed a 42y FG.
• Miami mounted its only drive of the half, sparked by FB Larry Csonka's 49y run to the 16. But five plays later, with the ball on the 5, Griese underthrew TE Marv Fleming in the corner of the EZ, allowing S Brig Owens to make a leaping INT.

Larry Csonka breaks loose.

• Washington drove 79y in 14 plays in Q4, consuming 7 1/2 minutes in the process. A key play occurred with the ball on the 10 when WR Jerry Smith broke open in the back of the EZ. But Kilmer's pass bounced off the crossbar of the goal posts, which were positioned on the goal line in those days. Frustrated, Kilmer, under pressure, again threw over the middle right into the hands of S Jake Scott who returned out of the EZ all the way to the Redskin 48.

• The Dolphins drove methodically to the Washington 35 where they faced fourth down. Shula decided to send out Garo Yepremian for a 42y FG attempt. Don said afterwards that it seemed fitting that Miami would win 17-0 to go 17-0 for the season. But his decision led to the most remembered play of the game and one of the most famous in all of Super Bowl history.
• Yepremian left-footed the ball low, and DT Bill Brundige blocked it - the 15th kick or punt block by the Redskins special teams coached by Marv Levy. The ball bounced back to Garo's right, and he fielded it on the second hop.
• The day before at practice on the Coliseum floor, Garo threw 30y passes to relax as he did before every game. So now the 5-8 Cypriate kicker tried to toss the ball to an open white shirt down the field. But the ball slipped out of his hand and traveled just a few feet above his head. He batted it forward, where DB Mike Bass grabbed it and sped down the sideline for a TD.
• Levy joked many years later, If we can just find a way to get the ball in Yepremian's hands again ...
• The Dolphins were not amused. Bunoniconti: That one play took a team that was being totally dominated and put them back into contention. We should have shut them out, and he put them into position to ruin possibly the greatest season in the history of the NFL. I pictured this whole awful scenario where Washington was going to have the opportunity to tie the game. If I had a rope, I would have hanged Garo right then and there.
• As Yaro walked to the end of the bench, Fernandez told him, We lose this game, I'm gonna kill you, you little c***s*****. Hang you up by one of your ties. [Garo was a tie-maker before playing in the NFL.] G Norm Evans, a born-again Christian, came over and told the kicker, Garo, don't worry about it. God loves you and our defense will stop them.

 

Manny Fernandez makes one of his 11 solo tackles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandich makes diving catch.

 

Dolphins sandwich Kilmer.

Yepremian throws; Bass intercepts.

• With three timeouts left and 2:07 on the clock, George trusted his D.
• Mercury Morris returned the kickoff only to the 16. Morris then ran 3y around RE but mysteriously went out of bounds to stop the clock.
• Griese then threw a safe 11y pass to Warfield for a first down. Three runs produced only 8y but forced the Redskins to empty their quiver of timeouts.
• So after Larry Seiple's punt, Washington started on their 30 with 1:14 left.
• Kilmer missed on two passes, then hit a swing pass to Larry Brown for a loss of 4. The game ended with DE Bill Stanfill sacking Kilmer for a loss of 9.

As the seconds ticked off, the Dolphins lifted up Shula and carried him on their shoulders.

• Fans invaded the field. A kid who reached up to shake Don's hand pulled off his watch, but Shula jumped down, chased after the boy, and retrieved it.
• In the locker room, Griese gathered his teammates for the awarding of the game ball. Bob playfully said, We had a lot of guys who had good games. Manny. Jake. Zonk had a big game. It's a tough game ball to award. He paused for effect and looked around. Finally, he tapped Shula on the shoulder with the ball. Don broke into a smile years in the making. He had said all year that there was only one game ball he wanted and now he had it.

Sports Illustrated's Tex Maule wrote: No other team has ever gone undefeated for a season, and no other club is likely to do it again soon, either. 40 years more than surpasses "soon." So Tex's prophecy long ago came true.

References: The Ultimate Super Bowl Book, Bob McGinn (2009)
Still Perfect! The Untold Story of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Dave Hyde (2002)
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