GAME 15, VS. CLEVELAND, 20-14

Cleveland	0	0	7	7	--  14
Miami	10	0	0	10	--  20
Passing: Morrall 6-13-88
Rushing: Morris 15-72
Receiving: Warfield 2-50

Dec. 24: AFC playoff. The Browns were not expected to do much, but they came out in a nasty mood and led 14-13 late in the fourth quarter. "I mean, we were ready to play, but they surprised us," Warfield says. "They just wouldn't go away. It was nerve-racking." Finally, with 4:54 to go, Miami got the winning touchdown on an eight-yard run by Kiick.

Cleveland's Mike Phipps threw five interceptions, the final one to linebacker Doug Swift. "I made the last tackle of the day -- on Swift," Buoniconti says. "The guy was from Amherst, supposed to be smart. But there he was, running around like a halfback. I yelled, 'Just fall down, idiot!' Then I dropped him."

GAME 16, AT PITTSBURGH, 21-17

Miami	0	7	7	7	--  21
Pittsburgh	7	0	3	7	--  17
Passing: Griese 3-5-70
Rushing: Morris 16-76
Receiving: Warfield 2-63

Dec. 31: AFC championship. "The Dolphins didn't scare us," says Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw. "They didn't have those mean, intimidating-type people. I mean Earl Morrall . . . and that defense of theirs . . . basically nice guys. They didn't have a Mean Joe Greene or a Mad Dog White like we had."

"We didn't scare him, huh?" says Buoniconti. "Please remind Mr. Bradshaw that our defense gave up the fewest points in the NFL that year."

And knocked Bradshaw out of the game. On a first-quarter scramble, he was hit, he fumbled, the ball was recovered for a Steeler TD, and Bradshaw nursed a bruised shoulder. Miami, which hadn't done a thing, got back in the game on a 30-yard run off a fake punt by Seiple.

"But what really turned the game," Seiple says, "was Shula coming in with Griese for Morrall in the second half." On his first possession, Griese threw a 52-yard pass to Warfield to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

GAME 17, VS. WASHINGTON, 14-7

Miami	7	7	0	0	--  14
Washington	0	0	0	7	--  7
Passing: Griese 8-11-88, 1 TD, 1 int.
Rushing: Csonka 15-112
Receiving: TWarfield 3-36

Jan. 14: Super Bowl VII, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Fourth quarter, game well in hand, Miami up 14-0. Yepremian tries a 42-yard field goal ... it's blocked ... the ball hits Miami's 6'6" Bob Heinz in the back ... Yepremian picks it up ... he tries to pass. ... Uh-oh, the ball slips out of his hand, and the Redskins' Mike Bass scoops it up and runs 49 yards for a touchdown. Now it's 14-7, with 2:07 left.

"I still remember the deathly silence when Garo came back to the bench," Kuechenberg says. "Except for Shula, who told him, 'You should have fallen on the damn ball.' Me? All I felt was intense anger. I still do. I mean, here we were out there, bleeding through every pore of our bodies and. . . . I don't want to talk about it. I get too mad."

"I was throwing to Csonka," Yepremian says. "Big target. The day before in practice, I was throwing 30-yard passes to David Shula on the sideline. I was trying to make something happen."

Garo, was there any Dolphin who said something nice to you after that play? "Just one," he says. "Norm Evans. He's a Christian minister now. He told me, 'Don't worry, God loves you whether you do wrong or not.' "

"What gets me," Kuechenberg fumes, "is that over the years Garo has cashed in big-time on that play."

"There's not a day in my life when someone doesn't mention it," Yepremian says.

Well, what the hell. The game ended 14-7, and the Dolphins were 17-0 history makers and Super Bowl champs. "You know what kills me?" Buoniconti says. "We were unbeaten going into the Super Bowl, and we were still two-point underdogs to the Skins. Just no respect."