1972 | Miami Dolphins vs Washington Redskins | NFL Super Bowl VII Highlights

Sunday January 14th 1973 the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum [Music] [Music] the dynamic rhythms of Super Bowl 7 offered an interesting contrast the enthusiastic Washington Redskins and the somber Miami Dolphins the Dolphins were up from Hard Times born in expansion they had struggled through four lean years of defeat while searching for strong willed leadership then Along Came Don Chula Chula had proven himself a winner in Baltimore but a Super Bowl lost sour his Colt career now he would shape a new team to match his own Square jard toughness I'm about as subtle as a punch in a face he said of his coaching method and quickly the rag tag Dolphins fell into line in just two years Schuler took his team from Cella to Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys Miami took the field cooly confident and left it 2 hours later thoroughly beaten Don Chula had suffered his second Super put down but he silently vowed that he wouldn't lose again in 1972 led by an anonymous defense called No Name Miami won 16 straight games yet did so without celebration they knew 16 in a row meant nothing without victory in the 17 blocking Miami's path were the Washington Redskins another team with a checkered pass for 20 years the Redskins had been scrimmage father for League champions a perennial loser also in search of leadership in this case George Allen Allan was schula's antithesis encouraging cheerleading cajoling pleading blending revitalized old Redskins with spirited new additions like chuler Allan created a team in his own image the Over the Hill Gang [Music] under Allan Washington won the first division championship in history then ascended to the top of the NFC in Just 2 years Allan had performed a schoer size miracle and now he took time to celebrate in the joy of the moment the Redskins nearly forgot that one step still remain Super Bowl 7 would match more than bodies and game plans it would test the strength of two clearly defined team personalities and the methods of two men who had shaped them the computerized no names and the romanticized Over the Hill Gang on this PO blue Sunday the Aqua white dolphins would attempt to settle the score which had haunted them for one year the burgundy gold Redskins would try to ride home on the emotional backwash of their sudden rise to power two teams out of a shadowy past to share this moment in the Super Bowl Sun [Music] [Music] the probing eye of a Nation focused in on a 9in strip of Coliseum turf control of which would determine the game's [Music] outcome in the first quarter the confrontation was no contest as up and down the line the Dolphins took Route and controlled scrimmage [Music] the heart and soul of Washington ground power Larry Brown was confronted with a wall of red his own blockers forming the [Music] barrier while Miami stopped the attack in the middle number 32 Jack Pari in the Washington defense sought to controlled the outside game to do this they keyed Miami superb pulling guard Larry little number 66 F's first move on a sweep was to pick off little and let the runner go free stripped of his escort even big back Larry zanka could be handled by tiny cornerback Pat Fischer and his quick [Music] feet the no names were brilliant but paries Over the Hill Gang match them throughout a bruising first quarter faced with a defensive stalemate the Dolphins turned to a different tact a bob greasy to Paul Warfield pass is no surprise except when delivered on first down the outof character maneuver netted 18 yards and provided greasy with field position to test the Nemesis of his running game Pat [Music] Fisher greasy sent Howard twilly to the corner and delivered a perfect pass just over a leaping linebacker and outside a beaten Fisher Miami accepted the game's first score with typical Reserve but the two quick strikes had split open a defensive standoff and Washington surrendered the first small measure of psychological [Music] advantage no name returned determined to hold the newly forged lead their method would be the 53 defense with Manny Fernandez settling head up over Center and using his quickness to nearly beat backs to the handoff the purpose of 53 was to predetermine Bill Kilmer's play calling to set up the ball Hawks of Miami's deep Zone to force Kilmer into third and long situations to test his arm early and [Music] often Kilmer's third down pass had been intended for number 42 Charlie Taylor but he found the middle crowded with dolphins and Jake Scott pulled off a singlehanded steal the dolphin defense had called the shots taken the ball from a frustrated quarterback and given it to a confident one a fake pitch on second and two fooled the runc conscious Redskins again and once more it was Pat Fischer who got burned this time by Paul Warfield but after 20 minutes of perfect football Miami had at last proved fallible an illegal procedure penalty wiped out warfield's touchdown the setback might have caused a let down but middle linebacker Nick banti recalled the pain of a previous Super Bowl too vividly the Dallas Cowboys had destroyed Miami in Super Bowl 6 with cut back running the Dolphins knew Larry Brown would test them with the same tactic this year they were ready the Dolphins had drilled on maintaining precise Pursuit angles sealing off every Avenue of Escape front and [Music] back this was team defense each man's course coordinated with a teammates 11 men on 11 Paths of pursuit all with one Mission seek out Larry Brown and punish him [Music] once again Miami had forced Washington's hand with 2 minutes left in the half Bor aanti sent Doug Swift in on a blitz then dropped to the middle and waited boran's interception told the the whole first half story Miami's cold Persona had extinguished the fires of Spirit Larry Brown had been dealt A Game's worth of pain in just one half George Allen's enthusiasm had turned to nervousness calmly Manny Fernandez and Don chuler looked on as Miami offense secured the Vantage ground [Music] Jim Mage came up with greasy's sixth completion in six attempts and then number 39 Larry zanka LED number 21 Jim kick to a sliver of Endzone daylight and the half of dolphin domination end it 14 nothing Washington fans welcome their stricken team back from into Mission with a purpose emotion had brought them this far emotion could save them now come on every damn guy in here now everybody listen to this we got 30 minutes to live we've talked about cars and we're going to see how much character every damn guy has here now let's hit somebody and let's be proud of ourselves and be physical first series on offense first series on [Applause] defense Allen's oratory brought back the fire and kilma Came Out Swinging with an aggressive outside passing attack receivers ran short outs underneath the dolphin Zone and finally Washington mounted a drive with six carefully structured completions Kilmer took his team the length of the field right up to touch Down's door when it counted most redkin execution had fought it Charlie Taylor was open for an instant but stumbled just before the ball arrived still Washington had one down left to recapture the emotional momentum which had brought them there far once again Manny Fernandez assumed the role of spoiler with hope for a touchdown buried beneath massive number 75 the Redskins would have to settle for three points on a Curt night Chip Shot from the 25 but even this was not to be Washington's most important Drive had yielded nothing the frenzy burst had withered as quickly as it had flared and George Allen's 30 minutes to live was now down to [Music] 21 while despondent Bill Kilmer cooled his heels calculating Bob greasy Moved In For the Kill but the determined defense had already caught his act and the element of surprise had flown [Music] with the Air Attack becoming more hazardous Miami turned to its broad backr soldiers to put the game away zanka and little had failed with sweeps in the first half so now they turn to their brutally basic inside game pounding away from tackle to tackle for short Savage Gams [Music] each zanka blow softened Washington resistance then one play battered it into full [Music] Retreat zanka rambunctious 49 yd run seemed to settle the issue all that remained was another pinpoint greasy touchdown pass but number 23 Brig Owens had a different idea Owens interception with 8 minutes left gave Washington one more chance one more chance for Larry Brown's aching legs to summon up lost power one more chance for the offense to atone for three quarters of failure [Music] at last this was Bill Kilmer's kind of game tough brawling rough fuel but crudely [Music] effective helmet a skew belly protruding sock sagging around his ankles Kilmer was once again spiritual leader of the Redskins Jerry Smith was wide open but the ball never arrived for between Kilmer and his receiver loomed yet another trick of the guards the [Music] goalposts bill Kilmer's fate had been predestined and on the next play Miami sealed it for good [Music] Jake Scott's second interception put the game in proper perspective it had been a day of Defense Miami team defense a defense intentionally constructed by Don Schuler without stars for each no name is part and parcel of the whole but one man had stepped out of obscurity many for herandez fulfilled the lineman's dream by dominating the most important game of his life fittingly this Regal day of defense was crowned with Scot's interception and Miami had all but secured the first shutout in Super Bowl history one we number one we're number one one one 2 minutes and 7 seconds remaining in the football game a field goal here should ice it for the Dolphins eemian attempt will be from 34 here's the snap the kick is up it's blocked the football is loose ean's after it he picks it up what's he going to do he's trying to throw it the ball is battered up in the air picked off by the Redskins Mike Bass Down the sidelines he should go all the way damn what an incredible turn of events let me see if I can reconstruct what happened your pran's field goal was low into the line the kick was blocked the ball popped loose Geral finally found the handle and then he tried to throw a pass his arm went forward the ball didn't caral batted it up in the air like a volleyball and Mike Bass and the Redskins picked it off all the way down the sidelines for Redskins touchdown suddenly Washington is right back in the ball game it's 147 with plenty of time remaining we got a lot of time a lot of time lot of time left Morris on a sweep to the right brought down by Pat fer the official rules that he's out of bounds the clock is stopped 151 remaining second down and six Bob greasy drops back to pass a dangerous maneuver deep in their own territory it's complete to Paul Warfield it looks like he has the first down a big first down with 145 remaining and somehow the Redskins have to get that football now we got to think in terms of taking that ball away see taking that ball away make the tackle but the second guy go for the ball the Redskins have to use up a vital timeout it's third down and seven at the Miami 33 I where what yard line all right J in for kick Morris again on a sweep to the right it looks like he has some Running Room oh he slips and falls down he goes and now the Dolphins will have to fight play situations let's go the Redskins are in a 10man front here's the snap But Here Comes the Army CYO barely gets it away now listen yeah this is a World's Championship the 1972 season has come down to a final minute and N seconds now let's go let's go Billy kilber drops back to pass he throws it's into the Washington bench area nowhere near an intended receiver hey [Music] Kilmer Kilmer Washington is now out of timeouts this could be the last Kilmer is back to pass he's in trouble he's trying to shake loose he's wrapped up by Stanfield with dder down he goes and that's it the Miami Dolphins are world [Music] champion finally it had ended [Music] emotion spent the Redskins realized as had Miami the year before that reaching this game meant nothing without final [Music] Victory Washington's po blue Sunday was now back lit with failure while Miami's year of Doubt had ended in the [Music] Sun Don ch had wiped clean a clouded past his team had established an incredible precedent for the future Don Schuler and the Miami Dolphins undefeated champions of the world [Music] oh [Music]