Dolphins Super Bowl Rankings and Superlatives

The best and worst of the Miami Dolphins' five Super Bowl appearances

For a 38th consecutive NFL season, the Super Bowl will be playing without the Miami Dolphins involved.

There was a time, though, when the Dolphins were regulars in the big game, making five appearances in a 14-year span ranging from the 1971 season to 1984.

The Dolphins went 2-3 in those five Super Bowls, defeating Washington and Minnesota and losing against Dallas, Washington and San Francisco.

As we get ready to watch Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, we revisit those five Dolphins Super Bowl appearances and the best and worst of them.

RANKING THE DOLPHINS' FIVE SUPER BOWL PERFORMANCES

1. Super Bowl VIII — Dolphins 24, Minnesota 7

The Dolphins took the opening kickoff and drove 62 yards for a touchdown, had a three-and-out on defense, then went 56 yards for another touchdown and the rout was on. It was 24-0 before Minnesota score.

2. Super Bowl VII — Dolphins 14, Washington 7

The Dolphins also were in control of most of this game, thanks to another dominating effort by their defense.

3. Super Bowl XVII — Washington 27, Dolphins 17

The Dolphins did very little offensively in this game, but were able to stay in contention until midway through the fourth quarter thanks to Fulton Walker's kickoff return for a touchdown and David Woodley's 76-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Cefalo.

4. Super Bowl XIX — San Francisco 38, Dolphins 16

The Dolphins' magical season ended against one of the all-time great teams, but this game didn't become a blowout until the second half after the 49ers led 28-16 at halftime.

5. Super Bowl VI — Dallas 24, Dolphins 3

The Dolphins' first Super Bowl appearance was one to forget, as they were done in by three turnovers and an inability to stop the Dallas running game (252 yards).

THE FIVE BEST DOLPHINS INDIVIDUAL SUPER BOWL PERFORMANCES

1. G Bob Kuechenberg, Super Bowl VIII

It was Larry Csonka who won MVP honors in this game, but he ran behind some great blocking and Kuechenberg handling NFL Defensive MVP Alan Page despite playing with a broken arm was some kind of impressive.

2. DT Manny Fernandez, Super Bowl VII

There are many who think Fernandez, and not Jake Scott, should have been the MVP in the Super Bowl victory, and there might be some merit to that after he had 11 tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss.

3. KR Fulton Walker, Super Bowl XVII

Along with recording the first kickoff return for a touchdown in Super Bowl history, Walker also had a 42-yard return.

4. S Jake Scott, Super Bowl VII

Scott earned MVP honors for this game after coming up with two of the Dolphins' three interceptions, including one in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

5. FB Larry Csonka, Super Bowl VIII

Good blocking aside, Csonka absolutely punished the Minnesota with his bruising performance.

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FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM

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THE FIVE MOST MEMORABLE DOLPHINS SUPER BOWL PLAYS

1. Fulton Walker's kickoff return, Super Bowl XVII

Washington had just tied the score 10-10 in the second quarter when Walker went 98 yards for a touchdown that unfortunately would be their last score of the game.

2. Larry Csonka's 49-yard run, Super Bowl VII

Csonka had a lot of good runs in his three Super Bowl appearances, but none better than his long one against Washington that's described in the game book as "broke several tackles."

3. David Woodley's TD pass to Jimmy Cefalo, Super Bowl XVII

The Dolphins had only 176 yards of offense against Washington and 43.2 percent of that total came on the one play when they took advantage of a busted coverage.

4. Bob Griese's TD pass to Howard Twilley, Super Bowl VII

After being held to a field goal in their first Super Bowl appearance, the Dolphins got their first touchdown on the next-to-last play of the first quarter on a third-and-4 from the 28 when Griese hit Twilley at the right hash at the 5-yard line and Twilley just got into the end zone.

5. Jake Scott's fumble recovery, Super Bowl VIII

With the Dolphins leading 17-0, Minnesota faced a fourth-and-1 from the Miami 6 in the final minute of the second quarter looking to get back into the game. But Nick Buoniconti stoned Oscar Reed on a fourth-down run and forced a fumble that Scott recovered to end the scoring threat.

THE FIVE MOST FORGETTABLE DOLPHINS SUPER BOWL PLAYS

1. Garo's gaffe, Super Bowl VII

Could there be there any other choice? The Dolphins were looking at the possibility of winning the game 17-0 to cap their 17-0 season, but instead Yepremian's low kick was blocked, setting the stage for the blooper play to top them all.

2. Griese's 29-yard sack, Super Bowl VI

No play epitomized the Dolphins' dreadful first Super Bowl appearance than Griese going backward to try to get away from defensive lineman Bob Lilly, only to be dropped for a 29-yard sack on the final play of the first quarter.

3. John Riggins' fourth-down TD run, Super Bowl XVII

Thanks to their big plays, the Dolphins led 17-13 early in the fourth quarter when Washington faced a fourth-and-1 from the Miami 43, which is when Riggins authored one of the most famouns plays in Super Bowl history. Riggins got a clear path to the outside and cornerback Don McNeal came up with the difficult challenge of trying to bring him down. We all know how it turned out.

4. Kim Bokamper's near INT, Super Bowl XVII

Riggins' big touchdown run capped a drive that began at the Washington 5 and featured a play early on that could have put the Dolphins in great position to win. It was on first-and-10 from the Washington 18 that Kim Bokamper batted a screen pass in the air and got his hands on the ball ready to make the interception before QB Joe Theismann reached in and knocked the ball away. 

5. Chuck Howley's INT, Super Bowl VI

The Dolphins still had a chance against the Cowboys early in the fourth quarter when they faced a third-and-4 at their 49 trailing 17-3, but Bob Griese's pass after he rolled to his right went straight to linebacker Chuck Howley, who returned it to the 9 and might have scored had he not stumbled. It didn't matter because Roger Staubach threw a touchdown pass to Mike Ditka three plays later to make it 24-3.

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