The Miami Dolphins’ historic accolades may not boast the highest number of Lombardi Trophies when compared to the rest of the league, but the team does certainly have an impressive historic resume and offers a number of impressive records to hang their hat on nonetheless. Of all the NFL teams and all the Super Bowl champions, only the 1972 Miami Dolphins can claim an undefeated season from start to finish.
And because of that, any debate for the best team in the history of the game must include the 1972 Dolphins. The conversation always makes for a great offseason topic and with the dog days of summer here, the debate has once again come to the surface. This time the debate comes from CBS Sports, who ultimately went on to rank the 1972 Dolphins as the second-best team in NFL history:
“Nearly 50 years later, the ’72 Dolphins remain the NFL’s only perfect team. They featured a dominant “No Name” defense (led by Nick Buoniconti, Manny Fernandez and Super Bowl MVP Jake Scott) that allowed 17 points or less 14 times. Miami’s offense boasted the first pair of teammates to each run for over 1,000 yards in a season in Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris. When the Dolphins did throw, Miami fans were treated to the balletic play of Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield.
Hungry to avenge their 24-3 loss to the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI, Don Shula’s team did not lose a single game en route to defeating the Browns and Steelers (on the road, no less) in the playoffs before out-playing Washington in Super Bowl VII. Miami would have recorded the only shutout in Super Bowl history if not for one of the most iconic blunders in NFL history. The Dolphins can continue to take pride in being the NFL’s only unblemished team, but the fact that they faced just one team (an 8-6 Chiefs team) that finished with a winning record during the regular-season left them one spot off the top of this list.” — Bryan DeArdo, CBS Sports
Miami’s best squad finished behind the 1978 Steelers for the title of greatest team in NFL history. That Pittsburgh team boasted a slew of future Hall of Famers and finished their season with a 17-2 record, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII that season. That Pittsburgh team is certainly one of the greats, but that ‘2’ in the loss column certainly doesn’t have as much shine as a 1972 ‘0’.