14-0-0
A record, that in 2012, would easily make sure you’ve locked
up a playoff berth, a first round bye, and winning your division. But back in
1972, 14-0 meant you went undefeated and won the Super Bowl. I can make this
argument in one statement alone, only 4 teams have finished with an undefeated
regular season record, ’34 and ’42 Bears, the 2007 Patriots, and the 1972
Dolphins, only one of the four went undefeated through the playoffs and won a
Super Bowl.
And as I type, somewhere Mercury Morris is smiling, popping
champagne, holding onto one record that has a good chance of not being broken
for a long time. Many will argue the fact that even in the ‘70’s, the Dolphins
played one of the weakest regular season schedules of that time, in three of
their 14 regular season games, they won by a margin of 4 points or less, but
also had three games where they shut up opponents, one of which was a 52-0
shellacking of the New England Patriots.
In the end, the Dolphins would go 17-0, defeating the
Browns, Steelers, and eventually the Redskins to win the Super Bowl (Suck it
Ned). The fact is, you can cross any sports lines, from baseball, to cricket,
to lacrosse, to soccer, and you won’t find this kind of perfect season. A time
where the NFL was hard hitting, where the game wasn’t a pebble’s throw away
from flag football. Though some would look at the 17 game schedule in the 70’s
and the 18 game schedule in today’s game, and with first glance it would be
easy to win 18 games compared to the 82 games in an NBA season, or the 82 games
of the NHL grind.
But this is the era of smash mouth, good old football
Americano.
So let’s look at the 1972 Dolphins statistics from their
undefeated season.
Mercury Morris, and Larry Csonka became the first team mates
to rush for 1,000 yards each, in one season. This helped them become number 1
in offense that season.
The pair of runners Morris and Csonka averaged 200 yards on
the ground a game.
The defense only allowed 171 points, making them the number
1 defense in the league that year.
But this was an era unlike football today, where
Quarterbacks are overprotected, Wide Receivers are guarded, and sometimes the
slightest wave of a hand is called for interference. In 1972, the idea that the
NFL would turn into Flag Football would have never been imagined, or realized.
This 1972 Dolphins team became one of the few undefeated teams through the
regular season, and the only undefeated team when it boiled down to win or go
home time. You can look at the other great champions, but they were beaten, at least
a few times.
I can rattle on and on about how great they were, but I’d
much rather prefer Mercury Morris take it off my hands. Here is an ESPN Clip.
Skip forward to, :55 for Mercury finishing this conversation.
Alright folks, this is Doctor Rob, signing off. Hope you all
have a wonderful Football Sunday. I’ll leave you with this little ‘snid-bit’.
“Don't call me when you're
in my town, call me when you're on my block”- Mercury Morris on the 2007
Patriots bid for perfection.
