Ranking the Miami Dolphins Super Bowl appearances
By Brian Miller
There are now almost two generations of Miami Dolphins fans who have never witnessed the team in the Super Bowl here are the ones to watch.
In this day and age it is easy enough to find the Miami Dolphins Super Bowls online. In fact you can even watch Super Bowl VII in its entirety. Another generation of fans can’t recall the winning games of the ’70’s but can the heartache of the 80’s.
Can any game really be ranked if it was a loss? Probably not because as a fan we don’t want to remember the bad and we sure as hell don’t want to watch them again. Even if a game was close.
The obvious is that finale to the 1972 season. It is the best of everything that the Miami Dolphins have accomplished in their history. It has stood the test of time and challenges by other teams but for Dolphins fans the number game will always be the one with Don Shula carried off the field with a perfect record.
The 2nd best game is still an easy ranking considering the Dolphins have won two Super Bowls. The 1973 season concluded with back-to-back Super Bowl wins and a Super Bowl MVP award for Larry Csonka. The Dolphins had little problems handling the Minnesota Vikings in that game. Sadly it would be the last Super Bowl for most of that teams members and the last in the 70’s decade.
If we are ranking the best to worst how do you rank the three worst games which were all losses? Is it a personal feeling or a statistical one? We can rank them in reverse.
Of the three losses the one that personally ranks the worst was the 1983 game against the Redskins. This was personal because I lived just outside of Washington, D.C. and was surrounded by Redskins fans.
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The fact that Miami led the game and then watched John Riggins power his way to leading the team to victory still stings. Miami’s return to the Super Bowl was not what fans had hoped for but the Dolphins would return a couple of years later.
It was the match-up of the year. The incredible gunslinger Dan Marino vs. Joe Montana. The Dolphins had one of the best offenses in the 1984 season but they were no match for the 49’ers defense. Marino and company put up 16 points while the Montana led 49’ers and the legs of Roger Craig posted 38 in a runaway blowout that was never really close.
The game however sits in the middle of the three losses by the Dolphins. The teams first appearance came against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI and the Dolphins managed only three points. The three points is still the least amount of points ever scored in a Super Bowl. It’s a record that in today’s NFL will likely never be broken by a shutout.
Maybe the next time the Dolphins make the Super Bowl, hopefully in my lifetime, it will rank on the winning side and not on the bottom. Then again, at this point, even a loss in the Super Bowl is something we would all take if it means they got there.