“Seventeen and Oh,” a wonderful book written by Marshall Jon Fisher, is an excellent history lesson of the 1972 Miami Dolphins and their undefeated season. Fisher shares stories of the hiring of Don Shula by then-owner Joe Robbie who somehow some way became an NFL owner. Robbie was the cheapest of cheap owners and by giving Shula interest in the team, lured him from the Baltimore Colts. Shula eventually turned this expansion team into a Super Bowl champion. And because of their undefeated season in ’72, those who were part of history have a tradition of celebrating when every NFL team has at least one loss.
Most of them likely didn’t stay up late Monday night to watch the undefeated Eagles lose their first game of the season. So the Dolphins likely uncorked their champagne, and maybe added a little orange juice to their drink, on Tuesday morning. Straight champagne at their ages early in the morning might make for a rough day.
The ’72 Dolphins probably will remain the only team to go through the NFL regular and postseason undefeated. The season is too long, there’s too much media scrutiny and the game is vastly different. However, their approach to winning games back then was much like the Commanders' tactics Monday night. Run the ball, control the game with their offense and keep their opponent’s offense off the field. Ball control and time of possession were huge factors in deciding who won games in the early 1970s as the NFL wasn’t a passing league yet. The 1972 Dolphins averaged slightly fewer than 18 passes a game, had two 1,000-yard running backs in Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris and averaged 27.5 points per game.
The Commanders, behind quarterback Taylor Heinicke, controlled the game with their ability to convert third downs, ran the ball into the heart of the Eagles' defense and for the first time all season, the Eagles' offense gave the ball away.