1974: Dolphins Score 3 TDs in Fourth Quarter to Defeat Chargers

The Miami Dolphins had won back-to-back NFL titles in 1972 and ’73 under Head Coach Don Shula and were certainly contenders to potentially win a third in 1974. While the pro football world had been stunned when the Toronto Northmen of the World Football League (later to become the Memphis Southmen) signed three key members of the Miami offense – FB Larry Csonka, HB Jim Kiick, and WR Paul Warfield – to contracts for the 1975 season, those players were still in Dolphins uniforms in ’74. In addition, the club had QB Bob Griese, HB Mercury Morris, and a stingy defense.

The Dolphins were stunned by New England in the opening game, but righted the ship in a win at Buffalo and now faced the San Diego Chargers on September 29 at San Diego Stadium. The Chargers, under new Head Coach Tommy Prothro, were coming off of consecutive last place finishes, including 2-11-1 in 1973. Aging veteran QB Johnny Unitas had not been the answer after being obtained from the Colts, and retired during training camp in ’74. Second-year QB Dan Fouts was now running the offense, but he was still a work in progress and the club was a hodgepodge collection of players who were either over-the-hill or mediocrities to begin with. While the Chargers had beaten Cincinnati the previous week, it did not seem likely that they would give the Dolphins, who were 15-point favorites, much of a contest.

Defense dominated a first half that ended with the score tied at 7-7. Miami scored first, in the second quarter, when Csonka bulled over for a one-yard touchdown. The Chargers tied the game late in the period. On the scoring drive, Fouts completed all four of his passes, for 50 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown throw to TE Wayne Stewart with 49 seconds remaining in the half.

San Diego dominated the third quarter, with RB Don Woods scoring two touchdowns. First, a 75-yard drive ended with Woods plowing over from the one yard line for a TD. Less than two minutes later, the rookie from New Mexico took off on a 56-yard touchdown run to put the upset-minded Chargers ahead by 21-7.

Converting from college quarterback to pro running back, Woods (pictured below) had failed to make the Packers, who had drafted him in the sixth round, and he was waived at the end of the preseason. Claimed by the Chargers, he carried the ball a grand total of two times in his first regular season action the week before against the Bengals. Now, he was putting on a sensational display against the defending champions.


Midway through the fourth quarter, the Chargers were still ahead by two touchdowns. But after Dennis Partee missed a 33-yard field goal attempt that would have padded San Diego’s lead, the Dolphins went 80 yards and scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from QB Bob Griese to WR Nat Moore.

After San Diego was forced to punt, Miami drove downfield on a 58-yard possession highlighted by a 38-yard pass from Griese to TE Jim Mandich and 14-yard run by Csonka; Csonka finished it off with a three-yard run to tie the score with 3:38 remaining.

Again the Chargers had to kick, and with under two minutes left, Moore returned the low punt 30 yards. A few plays later, Jim Kiick ran five yards up the middle for the game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds remaining on the clock. The final score was 28-21 in favor of the Dolphins.

Afterward, Coach Shula said “The Dolphins played one of the finest fourth quarters since I have been associated with the team.”

Dan Fouts summed it up for the Chargers: “We felt pretty damn good the first three quarters, but it’s a four-quarter game.”


Total yardage was almost evenly matched, with San Diego gaining 392 yards to Miami’s 391. Bob Griese completed 14 of 27 passes for 248 yards with a TD and two interceptions; he clearly saved his best for last. The Dolphins, with their typically proficient ground game, compiled 173 yards rushing. Larry Csonka (pictured at left) led the way with 106 yards on 21 carries and two TDs. Both Jim Mandich and WR Howard Twilley caught four passes, with Mandich compiling 101 yards (Twilley had 45). Rookie Nat Moore (pictured at top) gained 183 total yards with 49 on three receptions (including a touchdown), 88 on three kickoff returns (29.3 average), and 46 on two punt returns, including the one that set up the tying TD.

Don Woods was the big story for the Chargers as he gained 157 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns; he also caught a pass for 10 yards. Dan Fouts completed 14 of 22 passes for 189 yards with a TD and none intercepted. WR Jerry LeVias caught the most passes (5 for 58 yards) while Wayne Stewart gained 71 yards on his three receptions, including the TD.

Miami finished the season at the top of the AFC East once again with an 11-3 record; they lost an epic Divisional playoff game to Oakland to end the pursuit of a potential third straight title. San Diego ended up at 5-9 and tied with the Chiefs at the bottom of the AFC West.

Woods had a career year, gaining 1162 yards rushing (second in the NFL) on 227 carries for a 5.1-yard average gain and seven touchdowns; he also caught 26 passes for 349 yards and another three TDs. He was named AFC Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. However, injuries held Woods to five games in ’75 and he never gained more than 514 yards on the ground in any of his remaining six seasons.

Nat Moore also had a notable rookie season, although he proved to have far more staying power. He gained 1344 total yards, including 605 on 37 pass receptions. When Paul Warfield departed the team for the WFL in ’75, it was Moore who took up the slack and lasted 13 seasons, all with the Dolphins, catching 510 passes for 7546 yards and 74 touchdowns.

1969: Greg Cook Leads Bengals Past Dolphins for Paul Brown’s 300th Win

The September 14, 1969 season-opening game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium achieved a couple of milestones – one highlighting the long-term achievement of a head coach and the other marking the arrival of a talented player whose career would flame out all too quickly.

Paul Brown (pictured above) had returned to pro football coaching in 1968 after an absence of five years. The architect of the Cleveland Browns team that dominated the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946-49 and then appeared in six consecutive title games in the NFL had been summarily dismissed by young owner Art Modell following the 1962 season. Brown returned with the AFL expansion Cincinnati Bengals, where he was not only the general manager (as he had been in Cleveland) but had a part ownership in the franchise (all the better for job security).

Brown was a winning coach at every level, starting at Severn School, a prep school in Maryland where he began his coaching career (16-1-1) before returning to his native Ohio and Massillon Washington High School, where he first gained notoriety by leading the team to six consecutive state high school championships during his nine years there (80-8-2). It was on to the college level at Ohio State (18-8-1, including a national championship in 1942) and then service football at Great Lakes Naval Station (15-5-2). Entering the ranks of pro coaches with the Cleveland Browns, first in the AAFC (52-4-3, including postseason) and NFL (115-49-5, also including postseason), he had gone through a typically difficult 3-11 expansion season in ’68 with the Bengals. When added together, Brown entered the 1969 AFL season with 299 career wins as a head coach at all levels.

During 1968, Brown had personally scouted Greg Cook, a quarterback at the University of Cincinnati. The legendary coach liked what he saw and the Bengals made Cook their first choice in the ’69 draft. From the beginning, it seemed as though Cook had all the ingredients for greatness. He was tall, at 6’4”, weighed in at 220, had a strong and accurate throwing arm, a quick release, and good mobility. Moreover, he was intelligent, confident, and had the right emotional makeup – all in all, an excellent blend of physical ability and intangibles.

Cook threw three touchdown passes to nearly lead the College All-Stars to an upset of the defending AFL champion Jets. Even though his All-Star game participation caused him to get a late start in training camp, he became the sensation of the preseason and was the starting quarterback for Cincinnati in the opening game. He did not disappoint.


After the Dolphins took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass from QB Bob Griese to WR Karl Noonan, HB Paul Robinson (the AFL’s leading rusher as a rookie in ’68) scored at the end of the period on a four-yard run. The game didn’t remain tied for long as HB Mercury Morris of the Dolphins returned the ensuing kickoff 105 yards. But Cook (pictured at left) showed off his passing skill as he threw two touchdown passes to split end Eric Crabtree, of 69 and 25 yards, to put Cincinnati ahead by 21-14 at halftime.

Horst Muhlmann booted two third quarter field goals, and while HB Jim Kiick ran for a fourth quarter TD, the Bengals held on to win, 27-21. Paul Brown had the 300th win of his illustrious coaching career.

Miami’s third-year quarterback, Bob Griese, threw for 327 yards and a TD, but also gave up two interceptions. Greg Cook completed 11 of 21 passes for 155 yards with the two touchdowns and had one picked off. Eric Crabtree, thanks to the two long scoring receptions, gained 113 yards on three catches. The Bengals also outran the Dolphins, 101 yards to 79, with FB Jess Phillips leading the way at 62 yards on 11 attempts.

It was a good beginning for Cincinnati, and Cook and the Bengals became the talk of the league as they improved to 3-0 with wins over the Chargers and Chiefs. However, the Kansas City game marked the beginning of the end for the rookie phenom. While rolling out on a pass play, Cook was hit hard and came down on his throwing shoulder. In the days before MRIs, it wasn’t recognized that Cook had severely damaged his rotator cuff (it was misdiagnosed as a shoulder separation).

Cook was rested for four weeks – all games that Cincinnati lost with backup Sam Wyche at quarterback – and returned to lead the Bengals to an upset of the Oakland Raiders by a score of 31-17. Cook threw two touchdown passes despite his damaged shoulder (and greatly impressed Oakland’s first-year head coach, John Madden). He threw four touchdown passes and accumulated 298 yards through the air the following week in a 31-31 tie with Houston. But the next week Cook was intercepted three times as the Bengals lost to the Patriots.

There were further injuries in addition to the rotator cuff, causing Cook’s performance to suffer in the remaining games. Cincinnati lost five straight to close out the season and ended up with a 4-9-1 record. The rookie threw for 291 yards and a TD in the finale at Denver, which was effectively the last game of his career. Cook appeared in a contest for the Bengals in 1973, in which he completed one of three passes, and that was it. Playing through the rotator cuff injury – and not having modern diagnostic and surgical techniques available to him – proved disastrous.

Nevertheless, Cook made an impression in 1969. He led the AFL in passing (88.3 rating), completion percentage (53.8), yards per attempt (9.4, still the record for a rookie quarterback), and yards per completion (an excellent 17.5); his 15 touchdown passes resulted in a TD percentage of 7.6, which ranked second. Perhaps tellingly, despite missing significant time to injury, he was ranked second in the league in times sacked (29, tied with Denver’s Steve Tensi).

Perhaps John Madden best summed up the impact of Cook’s performance in ’69: “That was the year that Daryle Lamonica had his best year and the year that Len Dawson led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl. But Cook looked like the best quarterback in the league – better than Lamonica, better than Dawson, better than Namath, Hadl, or Griese. I thought that this kid was going to be better than anyone I had ever seen.”

As for Paul Brown, he remained coach until his retirement following the 1975 season and led the Bengals to the postseason three times (including 1970, in just the third year of the franchise’s existence). He accumulated another 51 wins beyond the 300th in the victory over Miami and ended up with 222 (counting the postseason) as a pro coach alone (AAFC, AFL, NFL).

1972: Cowboys Finally Win Title, Defeat Miami in Super Bowl VI

The Dallas Cowboys joined the NFL in 1960 and, under Head Coach Tom Landry, steadily developed into a contending team. By 1966, they were in the postseason and battled the Green Bay Packers fiercely in two losing NFL Championship games. They continued to reach the playoffs, falling farther short before making it to their first Super Bowl appearance after the 1970 season and losing a close contest to the Colts. The Cowboys had outstanding personnel and were well coached, but had yet to win it all.

In 1971, Dallas went 11-3 in winning the NFC East. They had started slowly and were 4-3 at midseason, when Landry finally stopped alternating his two quarterbacks, Craig Morton and Roger Staubach, and handed the job exclusively to Staubach (pictured above). The Cowboys responded by winning their remaining seven games and vaulting past Minnesota and San Francisco to win the conference title. The running game was strong, especially when RB Duane Thomas ended his holdout. The defense was solid and included DT Bob Lilly, linebackers Chuck Howley and Lee Roy Jordan, CB Mel Renfro, and SS Cornell Green.

The team the Cowboys faced in Super Bowl VI was the Miami Dolphins, under Head Coach Don Shula. The Dolphins were in the postseason for the second consecutive year, had won a thrilling Divisional playoff in overtime at Kansas City (see Dec. 25), and then shut out the Colts for the AFC Championship. Bob Griese was developing into an elite quarterback and had an outstanding target to stretch defenses in WR Paul Warfield. FB Larry Csonka and HB Jim Kiick were solid runners, with HB Mercury Morris providing outside speed.

It was a cool, sunny day, and there were 80,591 fans at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans for the game on January 16, 1972. The Dolphins made the first mistake in the opening quarter when Csonka muffed a handoff and fumbled for the first time all season. Howley recovered for the Cowboys near midfield. Dallas proceeded with an 11-play drive that ended with a Mike Clark field goal from 9 yards out and a 3-0 lead.

On the next series, the Cowboys defense made a huge play when Griese, on third-and-nine at his own 38 yard line, couldn’t find an open receiver and began to scramble ever further back, finally being sacked by Lilly for a 29-yard loss. The Cowboys scored their first touchdown after a long second quarter drive of 76 yards in 10 plays, with Staubach passing to WR Lance Alworth for a seven-yard TD.

Miami was able to drive quickly down the field on their next possession and score on a 31-yard Garo Yepremian field goal with four seconds left in the half. The Dallas lead at the intermission was 10-3, but they had clearly dominated play.

The Cowboys essentially put the game away in their first drive of the second half, going 71 yards capped by Thomas running in for a TD from three yards out. It was a clear demonstation of Dallas’ ability to run the football effectively – all but one of the eight plays in the possession were runs, with one of them a 16-yard reverse by WR Bob Hayes.


The Miami offense was stymied in the third quarter, running 10 plays and gaining 13 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Griese threw a pass at midfield intended for Kiick that was picked off by Howley and returned 41 yards to the Dolphins 9 yard line. TE Mike Ditka (pictured at right) scored on a seven-yard pass from Staubach three plays later.

Miami was able to enter Dallas territory on the following drive, for the only time in the second half, making it to the 16 yard line before Cowboys DE Larry Cole recovered a fumble by Griese to end the threat. Dallas came close to scoring again, controlling the ball for the next 6:40 and driving to the Miami four before RB Calvin Hill fumbled and DT Manny Fernandez recovered for the Dolphins.

Miami went nowhere in the remaining time and the final score stood at a convincing 24-3 win for the Cowboys.

Reflecting the score, the statistics showed conclusively that Dallas had controlled the game. The Cowboys outgained the Dolphins, 352 total yards to 185, with 23 first downs to 10 for Miami. 252 of those yards came on the ground, with Duane Thomas (pictured at bottom) leading the team with 95 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown. FB Walt Garrison also had solid numbers, with 14 rushes for 74 yards. Roger Staubach, the game’s MVP, completed 12 of 19 passes for 119 yards with two TDs and none picked off. Thomas was the leading receiver for the Cowboys, with three catches (for 17 yards) while Mike Ditka and Lance Alworth tied for most receiving yards with 28, each on two catches including a score.

Miami’s strong running game was held to 80 yards; Jim Kiick and Larry Csonka ran for 40 yards apiece. Bob Griese passed 23 times with 12 completions for 134 yards and an interception. Paul Warfield was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 39 yards, but was kept from burning the Cowboys deep throughout the game.

Said Don Shula afterward, “My biggest disappointment was that we never challenged. They completely dominated.”

The Cowboys finally had a championship, but while remaining contenders, lost the next two NFC Championship games. Miami was still on the rise and won the following two Super Bowls, with a particularly memorable season in 1972 (see Jan. 14).