Epic In Miami Chargers vs Dolphins 1981 Playoffs Highlights

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] they are the most productive offensive team in NFL history and for the third year in the row this flooring strength has put the San Diego Chargers into the divisional playoffs head coach Don Coryell is the past minded wizard which led this team and today he squares off against coaching legend Don Shula and the Miami Dolphins nobody thought Shula could do it but somehow he guided a very young dolphin team to the AFC eastern crown Miami got to postseason on the strength of its defense and their offense while not in San Diego's class has been more than good enough thanks in part to the efforts of players like wide receiver Jerry L Harris Harris is one of the veterans of a very young receiving corps comprised mostly of players known well only in Miami better known but still maturing his second year quarterback David Woodley Woodley has enjoyed some great moments during the season but when he faltered Shula wasn't reluctant to go to the bench and bring in veteran signal caller Don Scott on more than one occasion in 1981 Strock has stepped in a critical moment turn matters around and has gotten a hot hand to get the offense in gear the Dolphins know their opponents offense is always in high gear the Chargers can do just about anything when they have the ball they can hurt you on the ground with EAS the second leading rusher the man who also tied an NFL record with 19 rushing touchdown Chuck Muncie in the air San Diego looks to a brilliant set of receivers led by tight end Kellen Winslow for the second consecutive season Winslow led the league and pass reception so the stage is set from the Orange Bowl in Miami Florida it's the Western Division champion San Diego Chargers against the Eastern Division winners of Miami Dolphins divisional playoffs on the NFL's game of the week [Music] in the stretch drive to the playoffs Miami's defense was its strong suit and would have to be at its best against the Chargers talented attack San Diego tried to establish the run on its first series by going to Chuck Muncie number 46 but the Dolphins defense was determined to prove it was as tough in the playoffs as it was in the regular season [Music] when the Chargers saw that running the ball was not in their best interest they charted the flight in the friendly skies of Air Koryo [Music] number 89 West Chandler hauled in a 47-yard er to set the stage for the game's first point a field goal from kicker Ralph ownership anooshka would play a critical role in the game later on but for now the men of the moment where the members of the san diego defense often maligned is one of the most generous units in the lead they set out to disprove that reputation in the first quarter and David Woodley would be they're unwilling barrage ons number 68 sacked Woodley to stop Miami and then the Dolphins fell prey to the first of three key mistakes that would eventually give San Diego a commanding lead [Music] [Applause] Wes Chandler turned in his second big play within four minutes with a 56-yard punt return it was the first time a charger had returned a punt for a touchdown since 1977 and the first time the Dolphins had allowed such a score in six years the irony of Chandler's run with this the leading punt returner in the conference in 1981 is James Brooks with San Diego's deep back on the place but the pun was short enough that Chandler the up man made the catch even made the most of his opportunity the place Sun the overflow orange bull crowd as the Chargers extended their lead to ten to nothing the things were just starting to get bad for Miami on the very next play the Dolphins special teams made a second costly error or some unexplained reason Miami acted as if the kickoff was a punt and did not pursue the ball san Diego's Hank Bauer did however and the Chargers took over within minutes Chuck Muncie swept right end of the nightmare grew darker for the Dolphins it was now 17 to nothing San Diego but they weren't finished yet a third key mistake was made by Woodley and the Dolphins barely a minute later [Music] number 27 veteran safety Glenn Edwards had the six playoff interception of his career paving the way for another scoring situation charger quarterback Dan Fouts did not squander the opportunity [Music] rookie running back James Brooks went the final ten yards for his first playoff touchdown giving San Diego an astonishing 24 to nothing lead and a minute and a half still remained in the first quarter [Music] when Woodley was unable to move the team on its next series Miami coach Don Shula decided to make a change riding into the rescue was backup quarterback Don struck football's answered a goose Gossage but unlike his baseball counterpart who comes in to put out fires it is Rock's intention to ignite the Dolphins and that's just what he did on the moment struck enter the game Miami was a completely different team [Music] 3-shot completion setup Miami's first floor of the game a 34 yard field goal from groovey Vaughn shaman it was filled 24 to 3 but at least Miami had something and they would get more after the defense forced an important turnovers [Music] linebacker Jimbo campers trip out to the ball a nose tackle Bob bomb our recovered the fumble then stock continued his magic connecting on five straight passes to move the Dolphins close to a score the capper was a 1-yard flip to tight end Joe lows number 80 and suddenly was San Diego 24 dolphin's 10 [Music] that's heroic galvanized the whole team the defense topped the Chargers the rest of the half and when the offense took over with seconds to go they stunned the Chargers the fans and the millions watching on TV with one of the most incredible plays of the year [Music] time ran out in the first half is Tony Nathan galloped into the end zone taking a page out of the schoolyard playbook the Dolphins had turned a short completion into a 40-yard touchdown and suddenly it was 24 to 70 [Music] Durio Harris was lateral to Nathan was the single most important play of the half the momentum and now switched completely over to the Dolphins once trailing by 24 they went to the locker room behind by only seven the Chargers predictably were stunned only a short time before it looked like this would be an easy win but now they knew they were in a dogfight what they didn't know what no one knew was that an even more incredible second half would make this one of the greatest games in playoff history [Music] as the Dolphins return to do battle there was simply no way they could anticipate what was to transpire no way they could comprehend what a truly classic contest they would be a part of it would take four hours and four minutes nearly fourteen minutes of overtime over 1,000 yards in total offense and ten touchdowns and three field goals to decide a winner many would later call it one of the greatest games in the history of the NFL both na sunstruck began the third quarter by combining with darielle Herricks who sweeps the Dolphins downfield [Music] a pair of remarkable catches by heroes focus charger attention on Miami's wideout so strike changed face and called on his tight end Joe Road [Music] rose's second touchdown of evening dead like to score a 24 earlier San Diego it's on 24 first quarter bullets into Maya and dolphin fans were numbed and left virtually without holes now early in the second half they were given new life and a laugher had quickly become a thriller but just when it looked like Air Koryo was going down in flight bouts reloaded [Music] Kellen Winslow would finish with 13 catchers for an amazing 166 yard brought San Diego back on top 31 to 24 outs made it all possible with a convincing pump fake to the outside this pros a pair of dolphin defensive backs Winslow snuck in underneath and he was wide open the Chargers have been compared to the knockout puncher with a glass jaw they can score from anywhere but they too can be scored upon from anywhere - to form their touchdown lead quickly vanished late in the third quarter Superman struck utilized the splendid mix of rum and pass and orchestrated an 83 yard march downfield patience and hard work the mark of a Shula team were the ingredients Drock was patient and Tony Nathan number 22 was the hard worker [Music] suddenly with a first down from midfield Strock knew he had lulled the Chargers in to sleep with dump passes and short poor A's into the flat so he sent Bruce Hardy number 84 obstructs four touchdown passes three were two tight ends and the reason was simple both rose and Hardy can get deep and single coverage on any one is exploitable Hardy had only Woodrow low number 51 to be and the result was the longest pass reception by a tight end in Miami history and had tied the game once more at 31 [Music] this had become far more than a football game get a transcended mere blocking passing running and package it was a mini novel of climaxes peaks and valleys a human experience an emotional event 75 degree heat and humidity and the volatile nature of the game were beginning to take their toll it was the Thrilla in Manilla a 1975 world series center court of Wimbledon and Derby Day all rolled into one late in the third quarter it was time for a charger Valley and the Miami Pete while Blackwood intercepted and lateraled and Gerald small returned it to the charger 15 and on the first play of the fourth quarter Miami led for the first time in the game 38 to 31 who could have even imagined the trailing hopelessly 24 to nothing Miami could fight back to lead by a touchdown in the fourth quarter this game was a collage of big plays and before would end 75,000 large bowl fans that arguably say to each other this was the greatest game I've ever seen ahead the final chapter of a classic [Music] the light at the end of the tunnel at last Miami could see it but leading by seven with five minutes to play that light became a nun coming Trent [Music] number 37 Andra Franklin humbled and Fouts drove his Chargers on putting them down the stretch courageous catch by West Chandler place the Chargers at the dolphin tent and was just over a minute remaining outs through why he was able to break his own NFL passing record for the second time in his career why he led the league in touchdown passes his season he waved his magic wand one more time you [Music] number 21 James Brooks tided yet again at 38 it was a broken play unfortunately for San Diego Kellen Winslow did not touch the ball or obstruct Rosa's view out saw Brooks slipped behind the coverage Winslow didn't know his teammate was behind him [Music] 58 seconds remained and in this game 58 seconds was an eternity from 43 yards out to vivan shaman had a chance to win it for Miami with 4 seconds to play Kellen Winslow tipped the ball and this fantastic affair spilled into overtime sudden-death many thoughts that at this point Commissioner Pete Rozelle would take the field and distribute tickets to both teams for Super Bowl 16 after all that had transpired certainly both teams deserving EFS could have given them purple hearts in overtime pouts again added to his passing yardage that would eventually total 433 yard he catches by Winslow and Joyner and determined runs bimonthly and James Brooks carried San Diego downfield [Music] both Anushka perfect inside the 20 all year boys himself to win it from the Miami area [Music] unbelievably the ball sailed wide to the left and minutes later on shaman had a shot [Music] again Kellen Winslow blocked his attempt and the saga continued the fourth hour of play had come to an end and still a king could not be crowned one man had to rise up and take control of this game once and for all otherwise fans would drop coaches would shrivel up and players would require hospital emergency room one man did rise up and that man was Dan [Music] Wes Chandler one of three charger pass catchers to go over 100-yard auto pair on the drive and veteran Charlie joiner made a big catch good for twenty nine yards [Music] joiners captain sideline move got the Chargers down to the dolphin town and finally and mercifully a nurse goes kick was good there was no emotion left the game played on the evening of Saturday January 2nd 1982 was ready for the record book and the athletes were ready for psychiatric assistance and intensive care Miami Cinderella season had come to an end a San Diego had performed the impossible they a defeated the Dolphins in their own home Orange Bowl surely there is no way that the Super Bowl and Pontiac can come close to being even a shadow of this classic contest arguably this game may perhaps be the greatest game ever played certainly it is the greatest game played in a long long time it had more scoring than any playoff game ever and undeniably more excitement the expressions on the faces of the winner tells it all fair reward a date in freezing Cincinnati in the AFC Champions

Channel: J Sullivan

Views: 42,341

Keywords:

Id: 9UhxzkIcFXU

Length: 21min 58sec (1318 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Jonjoloe]

Coincidentally, that game was on NFL Network last night too.

[u/Thumper13]

All it took was a historically bad football team in Miami.

[u/[deleted]]

Eagerly awaiting all the TIL's