Dolphins-Steelers Series Highlights
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It's not a coincidence that the Miami Dolphins' 50th-year anniversary celebration of their 1972 perfect team will come on a night they're facing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It was, after all, the Steelers that the Dolphins defeated in the 1972 AFC Championship Game on their way to the only perfect season in NFL history.
That 21-17 Dolphins victory at the old Three Rivers Stadium — home field for the conference championship games in those days was determined on a rotation basis — will be most remembered for Larry Seiple's 37-yard run out of punt formation to spark the Dolphins after a slow start.
It was, as it turns out, just one of the many memorable moments — some good, some bad — from Dolphins-Steelers games through the years.
1973 — Dick Anderson's memorable Monday night
Safety Dick Anderson earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1973 when the Dolphins repeated as Super Bowl champions, and his crowning moment probably came when he came up with four interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, in a 30-26 Monday night victory against the Steelers in December. That game also will be remembered for the intentional safety the Dolphins took late in the game, which had Howard Cosell going crazy about the genius of Don Shula.
1981 — Vigorito shines on Thursday night
In an early-season Thursday night game at the Orange Bowl, the Dolphins routed the Steelers 30-10 and the big play was an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown by rookie fifth-round pick Tom Vigorito.
1984 season — The Marino show in the AFC title game
The second Dolphins-Steelers AFC title game wasn't anywhere near as close as the first, and that was because the Steelers simply had no answer for Dan Marino and the Dolphins passing game. Marino passed for 421 yards and four touchdowns.
1989 — Tough day in the rain
The Dolphins are supposed to be more accustomed to the South Florida rain than their opponents, but — pardon the pun — they were the ones who looked like fish out of water — on this November day when pouring rain turned Joe Robbie Stadium into a muddy mess. Miami led 14-0 before Pittsburgh roared back for a 34-14 victory, and images of players sliding down the field dominated the day.
1998 — Zach attack
Linebacker Zach Thomas was a big-time player for the Dolphins in his first two seasons, but he took his game to another level (first All-Pro nod) in 1998 and one of his big moments came in Week 3 when his pick-six highlighted a 21-0 victory.
2006 — A disappointing debut
After the Steelers won Super Bowl XL, it was the Dolphins who were chosen to face them in the NFL kickoff game in 2006 and it looked like they were on their way to an upset victory in Daunte Culpepper as they led 17-14 midway through the fourth quarter. But everything fell apart after tight end Heath Miller got behind the defense for an 87-yard touchdown in Pittsburgh's 28-17 victory.
2007 — The slop-fest at Heinz Field
The 2007 season was nightmarish for the Dolphins, but the Monday night game at Heinz Field in late November was almost funny. Playing on a messy field that had hosted high school and college games all weekend and not drained, the Steelers and Dolphins slopped their way to a 3-0 final (Pittsburgh won). The best testimonial to that game was the image of Brandon Fields' punt literally getting stuck in the mud after landing.
Dolphins week! #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/zW8rYvFa9W
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) October 19, 2022
2014 — The questionable fumble/no recovery call
Who can forget the ending of Pititsburgh's 23-22 victory, Ben Roethlisberger's fumble near the goal line that the Dolphins apparently recovered but that wasn't ruled a lost fumble because referee Gene Steratore said it couldn't determined definitely that there was a clea recovery?
2016 — Ajayi's eye-opening outing
There was no reason to expect much from his October game at Hard Rock Stadium with the Dolphins coming in with a 1-4 record, but the day ended with Jay Ajayi's first of three 200-yard rushing performances in 2016 and a 30-15 victory that propelled a run of nine wins in 11 games that secured a playoff berth.
One of our own 🇬🇧.
— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) April 10, 2021
Celebrating the best plays from BRITISH-BORN Super Bowl winner Jay Ajayi 🚂. pic.twitter.com/R9PkGFFYmi
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