1972 Browns at Dolphins Divisional Playoff

against a background of blue skies Miami's Orange Bowl was the setting for the undefeated dolphins to play Knicks courage is surprising Cleveland Browns Miami coach Don Shula might have been haunted by the specter of past games against these rounds the only time I am he met Cleveland was Sheila's first year and the Browns shut him out 28 nothing with Baltimore in 1968 the only loss was to the Browns and in 1964 the Colts were shut out 27 to nothing in the championship game the Cleveland Browns are happy to be here at all they lost all six of their preseason games and floundered disastrously the first half of the season but they fall together and in a great team effort won eight of their final nine games 10 and off for the wild-card berth in the AFC this man Mike Phipps has been the reason one of the ironies of this playoff game is that it was the draft rights to Phipps that Cleveland obtained in return for Paul Warfield one of the most gifted receivers ever to play football it was one of the biggest most daring trades ever in the NFL and it is now paying off for both teams Cleveland's very first play from scrimmage served to show young Phipps what he had to overcome all day as his first pass was tipped by two players and then intercepted or was it whether or not linebacker Doug Swift intercepted or trapped the ball had no bearing on the outcome as Cleveland held Miami scoreless until this play midway through the first quarter in super slow motion we can see number 49 rookie Charlie Babb pore through untouched the block Don Cockroft splut Babb recovered the ball himself at the five men was escorted by an honor guard of dolphins into the end zone for the first score of the game [Music] this touchdown was important because both clubs agreed that if Miami scored first a Cleveland comeback would be nearly impossible considering the Dolphins record-breaking ground game which was capable of controlling a game but so far the tenacious Cleveland defense had stopped Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris and it wasn't until Miami sprung Paul Warfield on an end-around that the Dolphins had any success on the ground [Music] after war fields run Morel went deep to war field at the Cleveland goal line but number 84 Bob Briggs one of Cleveland's stopgap defensive ends blindsided morale and caused his fast to fall short of war field into the hands of two defenders who unsuccessfully fought each other for the ball it was a play that could have gone either way touchdown or interception instead the Dolphins settled for a girl you permian field goal from the 40 and their lead increased to 10 points here at the end of the first quarter the Cleveland defense got going for the first time Bose got exploded on runs that took the ball into dolphin territory [Music] then at the start of the second quarter came the kind of a play that often goes unnoticed until well after the game is over Mike Phipps drilled a perfect pass to Frank Pitts who had beaten his own for the browns it was another painful almost on the very next play from the Miami 25 Phipps passed right into the arms of Curtis Johnson to end a fine Cleveland Drive this was only one of five interceptions Miami's famed no-name defense would get today [Music] prior to the game experts had said that Cleveland needed to play a perfect errorless game to have any chance of beating the Dolphins yet last Sunday they made a myriad of mistakes and still were in the ball game the reason was the surprisingly strong Cleveland defense which in the first half continually stopped the best running game in pro football history when the Dolphins tried to pass Morrow found himself intensely pressured by a front for led by its tackles Gerry shirk and Walter Johnson number 71 for the entire first half Miami's passing attack totaled 12 yards it wasn't until the second half after Miami again was forced to relinquish the ball without scoring that Cleveland began its second concerted Drive it was detonated by a fine 38-yard punt return by Tom Darden Cleveland's number one draft choice then with a pump to his backs that pulled in the right linebacker Mike Phipps found tight and Milt mourned for 21 yards to the Miami 23 [Music] after a past affair hooker brought the ball to the nine hips rolled out fake to pass at the line and then rushed past two dolphins and squeezed his way into the endzone for a Cleveland touchdown you at the start of the final period Miami added a field goal in Cleveland now trailing by six thirteen to seven began another long drive spearheaded by the passing of Mike Phipps and the running of bruising beau Scott after a pass over the middle to fair hooker had brought Cleveland into dolphin land dip started one of the day's strangest plays with a for fast that was intercepted by dick Anderson but wound up in the hands of bear hooker at the Miami xxx you another surprise in this game was the fine showing of the Browns offensive line that gave pips excellent protection for most of the game but one play after the fumbled interception tip stood his ground despite a hard rush by number 84 bill stanphill and it paid off with a touchdown to fair hooker all alone at the goal line the Cleveland contingent wet wild as the Browns came from behind the powerful dolphins to take the lead 1413 but there was still 8 minutes to go and Miami led by Paul Warfield had it when they needed it most after the former Brown took a pass between two defenders and survived a hi-low tackle Warfield got a Stefan defender Ben Davis and made a great catch of an overthrown pass by Earl Morrill after an interference call on a pass intended for Warfield at the Cleveland goal line Jim kicked it down for an earlier fumble by crashing through the Cleveland defense for the score that put Miami ahead for good fittingly the man who made the difference was Paul Warfield for whom this game at a special meaning he alone had accounted for 60 of the 80 yards that dropped the winning touchdown also fittingly it was Jim kick who had scored it for he perhaps more than any other player symbolizes the unselfish teamwork that makes the Miami Dolphins a great team and appropriately the first man waiting to congratulate kick on the sidelines was mercury Morris the man who took his job [Music] now is Cleveland coach Koretz watched with impending doomed Cleveland put together a final effort and drove deep into dolphin territory with less than a minute remaining but Miami sealed the win with their fifth interception of a Mike Phipps past linebacker Doug Swift's second of the afternoon [Music] the Browns and Mike Phipps had nearly pulled off the upset of the year but in the end Don Shula's dolphins had their 15th consecutive victory and perhaps the renewed impetus to propel them to the Super Bowl [Music]

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Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 28 2016