1983: Dolphins Defense Shuts Down Jets to Win AFC Title

It was a rainy day at the Orange Bowl in Miami on January 23, 1983 as the Dolphins hosted the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game. Due to the strike-shortened nine-game 1982 regular season, the divisions had been dispensed with and the playoffs restructured into eight-team tournaments in each conference. Miami, with a 7-2 record, was the second-seeded team in the AFC, while the 6-3 Jets were at number six.

Head Coach Don Shula’s Dolphins were a young club with players averaging four years of pro experience. The defense had been the key to Miami’s success, featuring the “Killer Bees” of Pro Bowl NT Bob Baumhower, ends Doug Betters and Kim Bokamper, and LB Bob Brudzinski, along with brothers Glenn and Lyle Blackwood as the safeties. There was also A.J. Duhe, a former defensive end who had moved to linebacker. The conservative offense featured FB Andra Franklin (701 yards) and wide receivers Jimmy Cefalo and Duriel Harris. QB David Woodley was mobile but nothing special and was occasionally spelled by veteran backup Don Strock. The Dolphins beat the Jets in two meetings during the regular season, including a closely-fought game in December, and handily defeated the Patriots and Chargers at home in the playoffs (the latter game a payback for the wild overtime loss of the year before).

New York, coached by Walt Michaels, was coming off of playoff wins at Cincinnati and against the Raiders in Los Angeles that had highlighted their strengths. RB Freeman McNeil led the league with 786 yards rushing and added 303 more in the two postseason contests. Pro Bowl WR Wesley Walker caught 15 passes for 314 yards and two TDs against the Bengals and Raiders. While the defensive line that had earned the nickname “New York Sack Exchange” the year before was not as dominating due to the loss to injury of DE Joe Klecko, the other three members (DE Mark Gastineau and tackles Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam) did well. QB Richard Todd ranked third in the AFC in passing and rallied the Jets from behind in both playoff games.

There were 67,396 fans in attendance at the rain-soaked Orange Bowl, and they sat through a scoreless first half. While NFL rules required that a tarpaulin be placed over the field during inclement weather prior to a game, the field had been left exposed as heavy rain pelted it in the 24-hour period prior to kickoff, leaving a muddy swamp throughout with the deluge continuing during the contest.

The Jets went from their 34 yard line to midfield on their first possession, but Todd threw to a double-covered WR Johnny “Lam” Jones and Glenn Blackwood intercepted the pass. However, Miami turned the ball back over on its first play when Woodley threw a long pass intended for Cefalo that SS Ken Schroy picked off for the Jets.


Early in the second quarter, Woodley (pictured at left) evaded Gastineau’s grasp and ran 17 yards to his own 39 yard line. But RB Tony Nathan fumbled the wet ball on the next play and CB Bobby Jackson recovered at the Miami 41. New York’s offense couldn’t take advantage and had to punt.

Such was the case until near the end of the half, when Miami’s Tom Orosz booted a punt 45 yards from deep in his own territory to give the Jets possession near midfield. Bokamper sacked Todd twice, on second and third downs, and CB Don McNeal blocked Chuck Ramsey’s punt. With the ball at the New York 20, it appeared that the Dolphins might break the impasse before halftime, but Schroy again intercepted Woodley and the Jets ran out the clock.

In the third quarter, a Todd pass intended for Jones was intercepted by Lyle Blackwood, but a defensive holding penalty nullified the play. However, Todd went to the air again to RB Mike Augustyniak, and the ball hit his hands and was picked off by Duhe. On a second-and-two play at the New York 40, Franklin lost the ball and Gastineau leaped on it, but the officials ruled that the running back was already down and Miami maintained possession. Another key play came on a third-and-three situation at the Jets’ 27 as Woodley completed a pass to Harris for 13 yards. FS Derrol Ray’s vehement protest earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that moved the ball to the seven yard line. From there, RB Woody Bennett ran through the middle of the line for a touchdown.

Midway through the period, Duhe intercepted another pass that gave the Dolphins possession at the New York 41, but this time they were unable to capitalize. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Todd, intending a screen pass for RB Bruce Harper, was picked off for a third time by Duhe, and this time the linebacker returned it 35 yards for a touchdown (pictured at top). The two-touchdown lead proved to be more than enough as the Jets never threatened in the remaining time, and the final score was 14-0.

Neither team accumulated much yardage, with the Dolphins outgaining the Jets by 198 yards to 139 and holding the edge in first downs at 13 to 10. Both teams sacked the other’s quarterback four times apiece, and while the Jets had the most net passing yards (77 to 60) they gained only 62 on the ground, to 138 yards for Miami. There were nine turnovers in all, five suffered by New York (all interceptions) and four by the Dolphins (one fumble and three interceptions).

Freeman McNeil was shut down, gaining just 46 yards on 17 carries. Wesley Walker caught one inconsequential pass, for no gain. Richard Todd completed only 15 of 37 passes for 103 yards and was intercepted five times. Bruce Harper caught four passes out of the backfield for 14 yards, while Johnny “Lam” Jones gained a team-leading 35 yards on three receptions.

In winning, David Woodley was successful on 9 of 21 passes for 87 yards with no TDs and three interceptions, and also led the Dolphins in rushing with 46 yards on 8 carries. Andra Franklin was right behind with 44 yards on his 13 runs before suffering a head injury and Woody Bennett carried 13 times for 24 yards and the only offensive touchdown of the game. RB Tommy Vigorito was the leading receiver with three catches for 29 yards.

“This was the most exciting game of my career,” A.J. Duhe said. “I know I missed a
couple of assignments, and I'll hear about it tomorrow. But I know I made a couple of big plays, too.”


Indeed, Duhe was the player of the game for Miami, with the three interceptions while lining up in six different positions during the course of the contest. Kim Bokamper (pictured at right) recorded three sacks, Glenn Blackwood and Gerald Small each picked off a pass, and Don McNeal had the blocked punt.

Don Shula laid much of the credit on the preparation by defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger and his coaches. “Bill Arnsparger and the rest of the defensive coaching staff did just a tremendous job in getting us ready, not only for this game, but for the playoffs in general,” Shula said. “We gave up 13 points to New England and 13 points to San Diego and we held the Jets to nothing today. That's tremendous defense and Bill Arnsparger is the reason.”

“We were slipping, sliding, twisting and turning out there today and we didn't get the breaks,” said a disappointed Walt Michaels. “I think we were prepared. We just didn't execute…I could make a lot of excuses about the loss, but when it's done it's done. Sometimes you just shouldn't get up in the morning.”

Miami went on to lose the Super Bowl to the Washington Redskins. As for the Jets, Coach Michaels quit the team in the offseason and was replaced by assistant coach Joe Walton, and the team suffered through two losing years before returning to the playoffs following the 1985 season; they would not advance as far as the AFC Championship game again until 1998.

1982: Joe Montana Passes Mistake-Prone 49ers Past Cardinals

It had been over two months since NFL teams had last taken the field as the St. Louis Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers at Busch Stadium on November 21, 1982. The players had gone on strike – the first to occur during the season – following the second week of action. The work-stoppage was over, 57 days later, and now Week 3 was occurring late in November.

Head Coach Bill Walsh’s 49ers were coming off a championship season in 1981, but had lost their first two games in ’82 prior to the strike. The Cardinals were 1-1 under Head Coach Jim Hanifan and coming off of a 7-9 year in ’81. The teams had just four days of practice prior to the contest.

There were 38,064 fans in attendance – and, as was the case in many NFL venues on this day, many no-shows (13,328). The 49ers took the early lead as Ray Wersching booted a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter and RB Jeff Moore scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.

With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, the Cardinals got on the board as WR Roy Green made a diving catch of a 17-yard pass from QB Neil Lomax for a touchdown. The 49ers got the ball back but fumbled, and LB Charlie Baker recovered for St. Louis. But an opportunity to tie the score at the half was lost when Neil O’Donoghue missed a 44-yard field goal attempt on the last play (he also missed from 47 yards in the first quarter). San Francisco remained in the lead at 10-7.

The Cardinals took advantage of two turnovers in the third quarter to go in front. First, DE Curtis Greer recovered a fumble that set up O’Donoghue’s tying field goal from 30 yards out. Then CB Jeff Griffin intercepted a Joe Montana pass and O’Donoghue kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 13-10 in favor of St. Louis. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the failure to get a touchdown on one or both possessions allowed the 49ers ample room to recover.

The turning point in the game came when San Francisco got the ball back, still in the third quarter. Facing a third-and-18 situation in his own territory, Montana connected with WR Renaldo Nehemiah on a 55-yard pass play. Two plays later, Montana threw a six-yard TD pass to TE Russ Francis that put the Niners back in the lead at 17-13.

The Cardinals had a chance to make a big play of their own, but Lomax overthrew Green on what could have been a 45-yard TD pass. Now in the fourth quarter, the 49ers regained possession and went 91 yards in 10 plays with Montana hitting WR Dwight Clark for a 33-yard touchdown.

San Francisco had another big play that set up a third passing touchdown. Montana passed to rookie RB Vince Williams, who proceeded to gain 55 yards to set up a 17-yard TD pass to RB Earl Cooper. In a stretch of 13 minutes, the Niners had scored three touchdowns to take control, at 31-13, of what had been a close game.

38-year-old veteran QB Jim Hart replaced the second-year Lomax with nine minutes remaining and led the Cardinals to a score on a three-yard carry by RB Ottis Anderson. But it was too-little, too-late as the 49ers won by a final score of 31-20.

San Francisco outgained the Cardinals by 448 yards to 254 and had 22 first downs to 15 for St. Louis. The 49ers were damaged by their three turnovers, as opposed to none by the Cardinals, but the failure of the home team to better capitalize on their opportunities set the stage for the Niners to take control.

Joe Montana completed 26 of 39 passes for a then-team record 408 yards with three touchdowns against one interception. The fourth-year veteran out of Notre Dame spread the ball around well as eight different receivers caught at least two passes apiece. In the second half alone, he completed 15 of 20 for 238 yards and all of the TDs.


Dwight Clark (pictured at left) led the club with 6 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown while Renaldo Nehemiah gained 93 yards on three receptions and Jeff Moore contributed four catches for 87 yards to go along with his 9 rushing attempts for 19 yards. Indeed, the 49ers gained just 77 yards on 26 running plays, and Earl Cooper led the way with 30 yards on 7 carries.

For the Cardinals, Neil Lomax was successful on just 9 of 23 passes for 82 yards and a TD. Jim Hart was more proficient, completing 8 of 11 throws for 72 yards. Ottis Anderson led the club with 65 yards on 15 rushes, including a TD, and also caught 6 passes for 51 yards. WR Pat Tilley slightly led in pass receiving yards with 53 on four receptions.

“It's a good way to come back,” Montana said afterward. “My timing wasn't there early and I made a lot of mistakes. But I thought we played well. I wasn't surprised; we looked like we were in good shape in practice.”

There was concern that the players might go back on strike if they voted to reject the preliminary settlement that had allowed play to resume. The Cardinals’ player representative, guard Terry Stieve, said, “Here in St. Louis, we'll ratify it and I have a gut feeling it will be ratified by the players throughout the league. The fans are the forgotten group in this thing, so it's time both sides realize the importance of the fans. I don't blame them for feeling cheated in this deal.”

The games did continue through what became a nine-game regular season. Division play was done away with and the top eight teams in each conference qualified for a playoff tournament. The 49ers didn’t make it that far - plagued by injuries and (according to Coach Walsh) diminished intensity, they ended up with a 3-6 record and a woeful eleventh place in the 14-team NFC. St. Louis made out better, going 5-4 and making it to the postseason as the sixth seeded team in the conference. They were handily beaten by Green Bay in the first round.

Joe Montana topped NFL quarterbacks with 346 attempts and 17 touchdown passes (tied with Pittsburgh’s Terry Bradshaw and Dan Fouts of the Chargers) and ranked second in completions (213) and yards (2613). While he was at it, he set a record by stringing together five straight 300-yard passing performances (since exceeded).

Dwight Clark led the league with 60 pass receptions and was second with 913 receiving yards. He was a consensus first-team All-Pro and was named to the Pro Bowl.

The losing record by the 49ers would be their last until 1999 – a string of 16 consecutive seasons in which they would never finish with fewer than 10 wins. The club won four NFL championships during that run.