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In a game serving as a preview of what was to come for the Browns during the 1980s, it was a game that was oh so close and ended in heart-breaking fashion.
It was a game that might have changed the fortunes of the franchise in the 1970s — a decade mostly of mediocrity for the Browns.
Instead, it was just another near-miss as Cleveland led, 14-13, with eight minutes to play in this particular game but lost, 20-14. It’s a game that — at times — gets lost in franchise lore but was extra large in the scope of NFL history.
Fifty years ago this season, the 1972 Browns nearly changed the course of NFL history when they had the 1972 Miami Dolphins — and their soon-to-be undefeated season — on the ropes.
How it nearly happened ranks up there with the 1985 Browns — who finished 8-8 — nearly shocking the Dolphins in a divisional playoff game before losing, 24-21. In 1972, the stakes were much higher. Miami became the first and still the only undefeated team in NFL history when it went 14-0 in the regular season, then 3-0 in the playoffs. Its most difficult game in the playoffs was against the Browns.
Here’s how Cleveland almost shocked the world:
The previous season in 1971, the Dolphins and Browns were division winners. Cleveland won the AFC Central at 9-5, and Miami won the AFC East with a 10-3-1 mark. In the playoffs, the Browns were hammered, 20-3, by the Baltimore Colts in the divisional round. The Dolphins made it to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Cowboys, 24-3. It was the first of five Super Bowls for legendary coach Don Shula, who grew up in Grand River and graduated from Harvey and John Carroll.
December 24, 1972#Browns #FinsUp
Cleveland goes to the 🍊 bowl to play the undefeated #Dolphins #1972AFCDivsionalThread #1972DolphinsBrownsThread pic.twitter.com/ecL3WACbZQ— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) August 1, 2022
In 1972, the Browns started slowly at 2-3, but finished strong by winning eight of their last nine. The most impressive victory during that stretch was a 26-24 win at home on Nov. 19 against the Steelers. Three weeks later in Pittsburgh, Cleveland was shut out, 30-0. Wins at Cincinnati and at the New York Jets gave the Browns a wild-card playoff spot. Nationwide, NFL fans weren’t that impressed with the Browns.
Especially when the Dolphins were on the cusp of football immortality with a perfect 14-0 regular season. That run included 11 victories by double-digits behind the powerful rushing attack led by Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris.
As the playoff bracket took shape, few — if any — thought the Browns posed any threat to taking down the Dolphins as the teams prepared for their divisional playoff game on Christmas Eve. But as history has proven countless times in sports, things don’t always play out the way many predict.
In the early 70s, the Browns and Dolphins were connected in many ways.
Eight years earlier, Shula — then the coach of the Colts — suffered a stunning 27-0 loss to the underdog Browns in the NFL championship game. It was a loss that haunted the late Shula his entire life. Things only amplified when Shula’s heavily favored Colts lost to Joe Namath and the Jets in Super Bowl III. Shula had the reputation as a coach who couldn’t win the big one, but many believed 1972 was the Dolphins’ year.
Not to be lost in the pre-week hype was the Paul Warfield factor. Warfield was traded by the Browns to the Dolphins for the No. 3 overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft — a pick Cleveland used on Purdue quarterback Mke Phipps. In that draft, the Steelers used the No. 1 overall pick on Louisiana Tech QB Terry Bradshaw — who went on to win four Super Bowls for Pittsburgh in the 1970s.
Phipps was the Browns’ starting QB in 1972, and appeared ready to be the starter throughout the 1970s. Inconsistent play by Phipps never allowed that to happen. In 1977, he was traded to the Bears for Chicago’s 1978 No. 1 pick — which was later used to select Ozzie Newsome.
In 1972, Phipps was good enough. He threw for a little less than 2,000 yards with 13 touchdown pass and 16 interceptions while completing 47 percent of his passes. In fairness to Phipps, at the time the NFL was not a passing league like it is today.
The league average for completion percentage was in the mid-50 percent range. Namath led the league with 2,816 passing yards in 1972. Of the league’s top 20 QBs, only eight passed for more TDs than interceptions.
Like the Dolphins, the Browns made their living running the ball. Leroy Kelly led the team with 811 rushing yards, and fullback Bo Scott was second with 571. Phipps was a solid runner as well with 256 yards and a team-high five rushing TDs.
Phipps and Warfield, as expected, played key roles in the playoff game, but first the buildup:
Cleveland began the week 11-point underdogs. Then on the Wednesday of game week, Pro Bowl selections were announced. Miami had a league-high nine players on the AFC squad, The Browns — despite being 10-4 and a playoff team — had none. New England (3-11) was the only other team without a Pro Bowl selection. All of which fired up the Browns.
“We’re just happy to have a ticket to the dance,” said former Browns owner Art Modell in the new book, “Seventeen and Oh: Miami, 1972, and the NFL’s Only Perfect Season.” “I just hope we can make it through the national anthem.”
Warfield was also motivated. The former Ohio State standout who grew up in Warren was crushed when he was traded to the Dolphins.
“I was hurt,” said Warfield about the trade in “Seventeen and Oh.”
Even after being shipped to Miami, he and his family kept their Cleveland home. But nothing would be a sweeter Christmas present for Warfield than sticking it to his former team. Warfield didn’t vow revenge.
“Don’t get made. Get even,” said Warfield in “Seventeen and Oh.”
Shula’s connections to Northeast Ohio were obvious but there were several others on the Dolpins’ coaching staff. Shula’s teammate at JCU — Carl Taseff, one of the greatest players in John Carroll football history — was Miami’s defensive backs coach. Fellow assistant coaches Mike Scarry and Monte Clark — a standout at right tackle for Cleveland in the 1960s — also played for the Browns.
The most notable player on Miami’s roster from the Greater Cleveland area was tight end Jim Mandich, who grew up in Solon and played at Michigan, where he helped break Ohio State’s collective hearts when the Wolverines beat the No. 1 Buckeyes, 24-12, in 1969.
Cleveland and Miami’s daily newspapers also took jabs at each other during the week. According to “Seventeen and Oh,” The Plain Dealer ran a full-page ad poking fun at the Dolphins’ pressure-filled run at perfection. It read, “Merry Christmas to the Dolphins. We hate to see you plagued by anxiety. So we’re sending you a can’t-miss antidote … the Cleveland Browns.”
On the same day, The Miami Herald ran an ad that read, “When the Dolphins play the Browns, we’re betting on your hometown boys.”
The Browns were set on stopping Csonka, who prepped at Stow High School and ran for a team-high 1,117 yards in 1972. Csonka and Morris (1,000 yards) became the first duo in NFL history on the same team to run for 1,000 yards in the same season. That feat was equaled by two other teams, including the Browns in 1985 with Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner.
The Cleveland defense delivered in that goal as it held Csonka to 32 yards on 12 carries. Still, mistakes by Phipps (who threw three first-half interceptions) and on special teams allowed Miami to lead, 10-0, at halftime.
In the third quarter, the upstart Browns came alive. Thom Darden’s 38-yard punt return after Miami went three and out on its first possession of the second half put them in business. Five plays later, Phipps (47 rushing yards) faked a handoff, rolled right and scored on a 5-yard run.
A Garo Yepremian field goal made it a 13-7 game early in the fourth quarter, but the drama was just about to unfold. The Dolphins were driving for a score that might have put the game out of reach but Kiick fumbled inside the Browns’ 30 and gave new life to the underdogs.
Phipps was driving Cleveland into scoring territory but Dick Anderson intercepted a pass at the 18. On the return, Anderson fumbled and Phipps’ intended target Fair Hooker recovered. Two plays later, Phipps thew a 27-yard TD pass and catch to Hooker, and with 8:11 remaining in the game, the Browns led, 14-13. It was the latest Miami trailed in a game since Week 3.
1972 Divisional Playoff#Browns #Dolphins
Charlie Babb recovers a blocked punt in the end zone.
Morrall leads Miami down the field in the 4th for the game winning TD scored by Kiick.
20-14 #Dolphins #1972UndefeatedThread pic.twitter.com/zkHd2agtDa— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) March 2, 2020
Behind backup Earl Morrall (in for injured starter Bob Griese), the Dolphins looked to Warfield to save the day. Warfield delivered, and broke the hearts of Browns fans everywhere. He was responsible for 60 of Miami’s 80 yards on its game-winning TD drive — including a 35-yard catch. Kiick finished the drive with a 8-yard TD run.
The Browns had one last chance with a drive that began at the 50 with 2 minutes remaining. They got to the 34 but Doug Swift’s interception — Phipps’ fifth of the game — ended the upset bid.
A week later, Miami won at Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game, 21-17, then capped a 17-0 season with a 14-7 win over the Redskins in the Super Bowl. The Browns managed just two more winning records the rest of the 1970s, and no playoff appearances.
Who knows what could have been had the Browns delivered on Christmas Eve in Miami 50 years ago this season.
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