1971 AFC Championship Game

For the game played in January 1971 to determine the AFC champion for the 1970 season, see 1970 AFC Championship Game.

1971 AFC Championship Game

Baltimore Colts (10-4) Miami Dolphins (10-3-1) 0 21 Head coach: Don McCafferty Head coach: Don Shula
1 2 3 4 Total BAL 0 0 0 0 0 MIA 7 0 7 7 21
Date	January 2, 1972
Stadium	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Referee	Jack Vest
Attendance	76,622
TV in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis

The 1971 AFC Championship Game was the second title game ^{[lower-alpha 1]} of the American Football Conference. Played on January 2, 1972, the game was hosted by the AFC East champion Miami Dolphins who played their division rivals, the defending AFC and Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. Along with the 1971 NFC Championship Game played on the same day, this game constituted the penultimate round of the 1971-72 NFL playoffs which had followed the 1971 regular season of the National Football League.

Miami shut out Baltimore 21-0 ^[1] to earn the right to represent the AFC in Super Bowl VI.

Background

The Dolphins reached the AFL title game in their sixth season, thus becoming the first of the then-four NFL teams which had commenced play after the start of the Super Bowl era to play in a title game. This made them the youngest franchise to make it to a Super Bowl era title game up to that point. ^{[lower-alpha 2]} Miami won the AFC East with a 10-3-1 regular season record and defeated the AFC Central champion Kansas City Chiefs in the longest NFL game in history, (27-24 in double overtime) at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium in the Divisonal Round to advance to the AFC Championship game.

This was the second consecutive AFC Championship Game contested by the Colts, their third title game in the past four seasons, ^{[lower-alpha 3]} and their sixth title game appearance overall. ^{[lower-alpha 4]} While the defending AFC and Super Bowl champions failed to repeat as AFC East champions, their 10-4 regular season record was good enough for the then-one AFC wild card berth. Baltimore defeated the AFC Central champion Cleveland Browns 20-3 at Cleveland Stadium in the Divisonal Round to reach the AFC title game.

In addition to being the first playoff meeting between these teams, the AFC title game was the Dolphins' first playoff game at home. Their only previous playoff game had been in the 1970-71 NFL playoffs when they were the AFC wild card.

This was the first post-merger conference championship game contested between division rivals, and also the first in either conference to not feature a West Division team. Miami and Baltimore split their two regular season games in the 1971 season, with the Dolphins winning 17-14 at the Orange Bowl while the Colts won 14-3 at Memorial Stadium.

Game summary

Although Miami quarterback Bob Griese completed only 4 passes, the Dolphins defense shut out the Colts. Defensive back Dick Anderson intercepted Johnny Unitas three times, returning one of them 62 yards for a touchdown.

Paul Warfield recorded a 75-yard touchdown reception midway through the first quarter on the Dolphins second drive. Meanwhile, the Colts managed to move the ball close enough for Jim O'Brien to twice attempt field goals, but he missed both times. In the second quarter, the Colts drove from their own 18 to the Dolphins 9-yard line, featuring a 28-yard reception by Don Nottingham, but on 4th down and 1, Nottingham was stuffed by a gang of Dolphins defenders just inches short of the first down marker.

In the third quarter, Unitas threw a pass that was deflected by cornerback Curtis Johnson into the hands of Anderson, who took off for a 62-yard scoring return. Then in the fourth quarter, Griese's 50-yard pass to Warfield set up Larry Csonka's 5-yard touchdown run.

Scoring

• First quarter
  • MIA – Warfield 75 pass from Griese (Yepremian kick) MIA 7–0
• Second quarter
  • no scoring
• Third quarter
  • MIA – Anderson 62 interception return (Yepremian kick) MIA 14–0
• Fourth quarter
  • MIA – Csonka 5 run (Yepremian kick) MIA 21–0

Aftermath

The AFC champion Dolphins made their first Super Bowl appearance. Miami lost 24-3 to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Conference in Super Bowl VI.

This was the first of three consecutive AFC titles for the Dolphins, who would go on to win two consecutive Super Bowls with their first such championship being the only perfect NFL season in the modern era.

This was the last AFC Championship Game appearance by the Colts while they were based in Baltimore. The Colts relocated to Indianapolis in 1984, but did not return to the AFC Championship Game until the 1995 season which incidentally was the last season of the NFL's absence from Baltimore. A Baltimore-based team would finally return to the AFC Championship Game in 2000, which Baltimore's current team (the Ravens) won en route to their first Super Bowl championship.

Six NFL teams have been enfranchised since 1971, four of which reached a title game (two in each conference) in less than the six seasons it took Miami to do so. ^{[lower-alpha 5]} Of those four clubs, the only team to win their first title game was the aforementioned Ravens in their fifth season. It should be noted however that the Ravens upon their enfranchisement acquired the roster of the Cleveland Browns, who suspended operations for three seasons. Therefore, the Ravens were not a 1996 expansion team from a football operations perspective.

Notes

1. In this series of articles, title game refers to pre-merger AFL and NFL Championship Games up to and including the 1969 season as well as post-merger AFC and NFC Championship Games from the 1970 season onward.
2. The Super Bowl era began with the 1966 season, the AFL's seventh, which was the same year Miami joined the AFL. The Dolphins were the first AFL expansion team to join after the eight charter AFL franchises. The first NFL Championship Game of the Super Bowl era included the Dallas Cowboys, who also commenced play the same year as the AFL teams.
3. The Colts had previously appeared in and won the 1968 NFL Championship Game prior to completion of the AFL-NFL merger.
4. Prior to the Super Bowl era, the Colts appeared in three NFL Championship Games, of which they won two.
5. The six teams that have joined the NFL since 1971 are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who commenced play in 1976 and reached the NFC title game in their fourth season, the Seattle Seahawks who also commenced play in 1976 and reached the AFC title game in their eighth season, the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, who commenced play in 1995 and reached the NFC and AFC title games respectively in their second seasons, the Baltimore Ravens who joined the NFL in 1996 (although they acquired the roster of the Cleveland Browns) and won the AFC title and Super Bowl in their fifth season, and the Houston Texans who commenced play in 2002 and have yet to play in a title game. Also notable is that the Browns were restocked by an expansion draft upon their 1999 re-activation, and have also not appeared in a title game since.

References

1. "Pro Football Reference".

See also

• 1971 NFC Championship Game
• AFC Championship Game
• 1971-72 NFL playoffs
• 1971 NFL season
• American Football Conference
• National Football League