‘72 Dolphins need a fourth-quarter drive to beat the Browns to open the playoffs

DOLPHINS 20, BROWNS 14 (Dec. 24, 1972)

AFC Divisional Playoff

After turning in a perfect regular season, it appeared it was all about to go for naught.

That was the moment when Cleveland Browns wide receiver Fair Hooker, on a rare busted coverage by the Dolphins secondary, came wide open in the corner of the end zone to reel in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Mike Phipps.

The score put the Browns up 14-13 and there was only 8:11 left in an AFC Divisional playoff game and perhaps the Miami season as a stunned Orange Bowl crowd probably was collectively thinking “NOT NOW!!!

Dolphins wide receiver Howard Twilley sure was.

“Let me tell you I was damn scared,” said Twilley candidly after the game. “When they went ahead I thought ‘Oh no, this can’t be happening to us. This really isn’t happening.’”

But it was happening as the Dolphins, for only the second time all season and first time since Week 3 at Minnesota, found themselves behind in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately there was no panic when quarterback Earl Morrall trotted the offense back out on to the field as the Dolphins proceeded to put together the clutch drive of the season.

This ultimately turned out to be a happy ending as Morrall, with a great leaping catch by Paul Warfield for a 45-yard gain highlighting the drive, led the Dolphins 80 yards in eight plays to go back in front when Jim Kiick, behind great blocking up front, knifed his way up the middle from 8 yards out with 4:54 left.

It still wasn’t over though as Phipps led the Browns back downfield. Cleveland reached the Miami 34 with a minute left when Phipps dropped back looking for Hooker again. But linebacker Doug Swift read the play perfectly and picked it off for his second interception of the day as Dolphins fans were breathing a huge sigh of relief.

“Maybe we wanted this one so badly we were too tight,” said Warfield. “We didn’t play nearly as well as we could have, but fortunately found a way to win.”

The day could not have started any better for the Dolphins as they jumped all over the Browns in the first quarter. First came a blocked punt by rookie Charlie Babb who not only blocked it but then fell on the ball at the 5-yard-line before jumping up and trotting into the end zone for the score.

One possession later, the Dolphins drove from their 16 to the Cleveland 33 where Garo Yepremian drilled a 40-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

But that drive was about it for the offense as the Dolphins struggled to move the ball for most of the remainder of the game until their clutch drive at the end.

“Everything was laid out for us with a little more than eight minutes to go when we fell behind,” coach Don Shula said. “Then we got the 80-yard drive for the touchdown on a drive that exemplified our team all year as they’ve done what they had to do to win and showed that out there today.”