Miami Dolphins: The perfect season
Everyone knew the Miami Dolphins were a good team in 1972. They had just won 10 games in each of the past two seasons — which also happened to be the first two years of the Don Shula era in South Beach. They even went to the Super Bowl after the 1971 NFL season but dropped that one to the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 24-3.
So with that all being said, everyone thought the Dolphins would be good. But no one was expecting them to be perfect. Shula and his team did exactly that, as they bowled their way through the regular season with a 14-0 mark.
During that campaign, the Dolphins even overcame a serious injury, as starting quarterback Bob Griese broke his ankle in Week 5. He was replaced by Earl Morrall, who had been to the Super Bowl in the past as a member of the then-Baltimore Colts. Morrall was added to Miami’s roster before the season, as he was reunited with Shula.
The head coach praised Morrall’s football IQ and that came in handy, as he guided the team all the way to Super Bowl VII against the Washington Football Team. In that game, Morrall ended up giving way to Griese, who returned from the injury and led them to a 14-7 win.
While both Morrall and Griese were important members of the team, the offense ran through Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris. Csonka had 1,117 yards on the ground and six scores, while Morris added 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns.
They were also insanely balanced, as they boasted the No. 1 scoring offense and defense — although the “no-name defense” never got the praise they deserved due to the star power on offense.
To this day, Miami is the only franchise to ever complete a perfect season. It was threatened once in 2007 when the New England Patriots won 16 regular-season games, but they lost in the Super Bowl, which means this team’s record is still untouched.