dolphins chargers 1981 box score
Copyright: ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. The "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 games in NFL history, and the San Diego Chargers vs. Miami Dolphins clash in the 1981 AFC Divisional Round lands at No. Do you have a blog? San Diego also had an outstanding rushing attack, led by Pro Bowl running back Chuck Muncie, who rushed for 1,144 yards and a league-leading 19 touchdowns, while also catching 43 passes for 362 yards. Aided by a pair of receptions by Chandler and a 39-yard catch by Joiner, Fouts led his team 74 yards to Miami's 10-yard line, where Benirschke attempted a 29-yard field goal. Your favorite teams, topics, and players all on your favorite mobile devices. Keenan Allen had three catches for 32 yards on the drive and finished with 12 receptions for 92 yards. Fouts completed 33-of-53 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns. Miami scored and the Orange Bowl, once quiet, was whipped into bedlam. The following is a list of all regular season and postseason games played between the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers. View the Box Score for the NFL football game between the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins on January 2, 1982. In addition to his 56-yard punt return touchdown, Chandler caught six passes for 106 yards. And he was on the winning team. Incredibly, a poll in the 1990s among Dolphins fans also saw The Epic in Miami voted as the greatest game their team ever played in, despite losing it and having won two previous Super Bowls. His attempts, completions, and passing yards were all NFL postseason records. I just really felt like that took the air out of them a little bit. "I just don't buy it. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. This time his 29-yard field goal was true, giving the Chargers the victory. Receivers Jimmy Cefalo (29 receptions, 631 yards, three touchdowns) and Duriel Harris (53 receptions, 911 yards, two touchdowns) provided the main deep threat on the team. Fouts completed 15 of 28 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions; the future Hall of Fame QB sadly noted that the brutal weather conditions made it very difficult for him to throw the ball, adding that he was impressed that Ken Anderson was able to throw spirals during the game. In short, the Chargers played at a temperature difference of 120 degrees in a week. "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 teams in NFL history, and the 1991 Washington Redskins, who defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI behind a Super Bowl MVP performance from quarterback Mark Rypien, land at No. The Dolphins needed to win by more than 3 points to cover the spread. 1981 AFC divisional round: Chargers 41, Dolphins 38 (OT) Dan Fouts and the "Charger Power" offense sprinted out to a 24-0 lead before Miami took a 38-31 lead on a series of crazy plays. Do you have a blog? This time defensive end Leroy Jones got his hand in the way. Woodley recovered from his poor performance in the Epic in Miami and regained his position as the Dolphins starting quarterback in the following season. Miami Dolphins lead series 19-17- Miami vs LA Chargers In many cases, great games are defined by their endings. For Fouts, its a memory hell always cherish, telling the Chargers official website the following: Its designed to go to Kellen, which was a good idea. "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 teams in NFL history, and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens -- who defeated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV behind the play of linebackers Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware, defensive lineman Tony Siragusa and defensive bac, "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 teams in NFL history, and the 1993 Dallas Cowboys -- who defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII behind the play of quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, wide receiver Michael Irvin, defensive en. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick causes Viking defenders to collide on GW run. How many represent the apex of an iconic team, while simultaneously representing the start of its end? Later in the quarter, San Diego faced a fourth down on the Dolphins 37-yard line. 100. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Strock, a career backup, had the game of his life. ET. Miami made it back to the Super Bowl in 1984, but they lost Super Bowl XIX to the San Francisco 49ers 3816. Miami's offensive line was anchored by Pro Bowl guard Ed Newman, veteran guard Bob Kuechenberg and center Dwight Stephenson. That game, which became known as The Epic In Miami, was played in the heat and humidity of Miami, and the Chargers found themselves dealing with the exact opposite conditions in the AFC title game. The team has reached the Super Bowl a total of seven times, losing in its last two appearances in the 2019 and 2012 seasons. Muncie rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown. The Chargers' offense featured three future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame: quarterback Dan Fouts, receiver Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow. The following season, Woodley lost his starting spot to rookie Dan Marino. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. And Jerry Magee, who covered the game for the San Diego Union-Tribune, said. Their offense was led by quarterbacks David Woodley and Don Strock. TOTAL The over/under was 55 and the teams scored 40 points, so. With only 1:06 left in regulation, a heavy Dolphins pass rush forced Fouts to throw a blind pass intended for Winslow in the end zone. They did not cover, so people who took the Chargers won. Search through thousands of plays from pro football history using our Event Finder tool. After spending two more seasons with the Chargers, Brooks was traded to the Bengals in exchange for Pete Johnson, and remained on the team until 1991. Dolphins coach Don Shula said, "We knew afterwards that it had certainly one of the greatest games that's ever been played." [11]", "A great gameMaybe the greatest When he was a player for the Green Bay Packers in 1967, Gregg played in the famous NFL championship game against the Dallas Cowboys that became known as the Ice Bowl. Includes all passing, rushing and receiving stats. Following a 4-yard run by Charles Alexander, the Bengals scored a touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Anderson to tight end M. L. Harris, increasing their lead to 100. However, once again this amounted to nothing as Fouts was intercepted in the end zone by rookie safety Bobby Kemp. "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 teams in NFL history, and the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV and were dubbed "The Greatest Show on Turf," land at the No. Miami Dolphins. Epic in Miami: 1981 AFC Divisional Round Playoffs: NFL Full Game, Don Strock Past Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards databaseFootball.com, "Rummaging Through The Attic: A Bee-utiful Poster", "A MATTER OF LIFE AND SUDDEN DEATH THE 1982 PLAYOFF BETWEEN THE CHARGERS AND DOLPHINS WASN'T JUST A FOOTBALL GAME AND WASN'T A WAR, EXACTLY, BUT IT DID CHANGE A FEW PEOPLE'S LIVES", "America's Game: The Missing Rings 1981 San Diego Chargers (Part 6 of 7)", "1/2/82: Chargers 41, Dolphins 38 Ot -- The Greatest Game Ever Played? Seattle will not pick up the fifth-year option on starting inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks ahead of Tuesday's deadline, a source said. The ninth-year pro revived Miami, scoring 10 quick points in the second quarter to close the gap. Nathan rushed for 48 yards, caught nine passes for 114 yards, and scored two touchdowns. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 teams in NFL history, and the 1962 Green Bay Packers, who finished with a 13-1 record and defeated the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game, land at No. In between his moments of greatness, Winslow was writhing in pain on the Orange Bowl sidelines, cramping up with exhaustion. "That's what Muhammad Ali said in Manila and that's how I felt out there at the end.". Get box score updates on the Miami Dolphins vs. Los Angeles Chargers football game. 13. [6][7] Fouts then led his team down to Miami's nine-yard line. Find out more. The 1981 AFC Divisional Game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins is often referred to as the "Epic in Miami", or "The Kellen Winslow Game" unof. Later in the quarter, with the Dolphins just trying to maintain their lead and run out the clock, Chargers defensive tackle Louie Kelcher stripped Dolphins running back Andra Franklin of the ball, which was recovered by San Diego safety Pete Shaw on San Diego's 18-yard line with 4:39 left in regulation. Strock was widely considered to be one of the best reserve quarterbacks in the league and had played in 15 of 16 regular-season games,[2] completing 79 of 130 passes for 901 yards (6.7 yards per throw) with six touchdowns and eight interceptions. Dicker's kick capped a 17-play, 79-yard drive that took 8:39 off the clock. But this time, they could not return the AFC Championship Game for the third straight year, as the Dolphins avenged their defeat 3413 in the AFC Second Round playoffs, also in Miami. Then Anderson went to work, rushing three times for 31 yards and completing a 19-yard pass to Ross on a drive that moved the ball inside the San Diego 10-yard line. For the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins, their 1981 AFC Divisional playoff was supposed to be a good game. The Dolphins' secondary, consisting of Mike Kozlowski, Fulton Walker and brothers Lyle and Glenn Blackwood was also extremely talented. Harris caught the ball and immediately lateraled it outside and back to the trailing Tony Nathan. Or write about sports? The pass sailed over Winslow's head, but went right into the arms of Brooks for a touchdown to tie the game. 1994 NFL Scores & Schedule; San Diego Chargers Schedule; Miami Dolphins Schedule; On this page: Scoring; Game Info; Expected Points Summary; Team Stats; Passing, Rushing, & Receiving; Do you have a blog? He became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 13,000 yards in his first three seasons. None of the primary players in the Epic in Miami ever won a Super Bowl ring, except for left guard Bob Kuechenberg, who was a member of the Dolphins' Super Bowl-winning teams in 1972 and 1973. [1], Despite the Bengals dominating 4017 win over the Chargers during the season, their meeting in the championship was expected to be a thrilling, hard-fought game. Box Score; Play-by-Play; Team Stats; Herbert, short-handed defense lead . Meanwhile, the Chargers narrowly defeated the Miami Dolphins in overtime 4138, in a game that set playoff records for most points scored in a playoff game with 79, the most total yards by both teams with 1,036, and most passing yards by both teams with 809. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? 4. video 'NFL 100 Greatest'. The Chargers (7-6) moved into position for the final AFC playoff berth, ahead of the New York Jets. Defensive tackle Gary Johnson from the Chargers defense made the Pro Bowl, and fellow tackle Louie Kelcher was named Second Team All-Pro. Finally, with only 1:08 remaining in overtime, San Diego kicker Rolf Benirschke scored the winning points on a 29-yard attempt. 9. Cincinnati won the game, 27-7, advancing to Super Bowl XVI. The Dolphins had a chance to win the game with four seconds left, but San Diego tight end Kellen Winslow blocked Uwe von Schamann's 43-yard field goal attempt, forcing overtime. With The Epic in Miami, the drama began immediately. After intercepting the pass, Blackwood quickly lateraled the ball to Gerald Small, who returned it to the Chargers 15-yard line, setting up Nathan's 12-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter and giving Miami its first lead of the game. This time, his kick was good, giving the Chargers a 4138 win after 13 minutes and 52 seconds of overtime play.[10]. The game was played on January 10, 1982, at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, and televised by NBC, with announcers Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen. The only significant contributors in the Epic in Miami who did go to a Super Bowl were Brooks, who made it to Super Bowl XXIII as a member of the Bengals, guard Ed White, who was a Minnesota Viking for four Super Bowls and Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, who joined former Chargers, and fellow "Bruise Brothers" Louie Kelcher and Fred Dean (who had been traded to eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco after Week 5, also due to contract problems) winning Super Bowl XIX with the San Francisco 49ers. But, in the thousands of times we ran that play never once did the running back figure in. Within one week, the Chargers went from playing an overtime game in Miami in 88F or 31.1C, high humidity weather to playing in the 59F or 50.6C wind chill in Cincinnati, an effective difference of 147F or 81.7C. Quarterback Dan Fouts made the Pro Bowl for the third year in a row, completing 360 of 609 passes for an NFL record 4,802 yards and 33 touchdowns, with only 17 interceptions. On the opening drive of the second half, San Diego drove to the Bengals 38-yard line, only to lose their fourth turnover of the day when Reggie Williams stripped the ball from Chuck Muncie and Cincinnati lineman Ross Browner recovered it. On a 76-degree night in 80 percent humidity (real feel of 88 degrees), San Diego raced out to a 24-0 first-quarter lead, spurred on by a 58-yard Wes Chandler punt return for a score. Entering the second day of 1982, the Dolphins were home. NFL Scores Dolphins vs. Chargers final score and immediate reactions The Miami Dolphins dropped their second straight game with a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night. San Diego responded with a drive to the Bengals 5-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs with less than three minutes left. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Miami's Jason Sanders booted a 55-yard field goal with 1:10 remaining, but Los Angeles recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock. Do you have a sports website? The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. It was an incredible team win, Staley said. Cincinnati also had several stars on offense. Thank God we got out alive. There was a scramble for the loose ball until Hill picked it up, changed direction and quickly sprinted to his right and up the sideline. With the exception of a 76-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Cefalo in the first quarter, Woodley had a poor performance, completing only 4 of 14 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown, with one interception. San Diego made the playoffs again with largely the same team in 1982, but fell in the Divisional round to the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl. The New York Jets addressed their need at offensive tackle on Monday by agreeing to a one-year contract with veteran Billy Turner, who has experience playing for Nathaniel Hackett and Aaron Rodgers. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Woodley was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1984 and spent the rest of his career as a backup before retiring after the 1985 season. Miami then drove deep into Chargers territory, setting up a 35-yard field goal attempt for von Schamann, but his kick was low, and defensive lineman Leroy Jones managed to leap in the air and block it. [11]", "The locker-room celebration was more low key than other locker rooms I'd been in. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Future Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula went to the latter portion of his famed WoodStrock quarterbacking duo, inserting Don Strock for the sputtering David Woodley. My ball was intended for Kellen; Kellen was exhausted and really, out of nowhere flashes JB to make the catch for the score. [5] Going into the locker rooms at halftime, the Dolphins had closed the game to within one score and regained the momentum. INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Brandon Staley knew it was going to take a complete game for his Los Angeles Chargers squad to have a chance at beating the Miami Dolphins. The Chargers recovered and furiously drove downfield, culminating in the absurd. It became legendary. Austin Ekeler, who finished with 104 scrimmage yards, had a 1-yard run off left tackle on fourth-and-goal with 18 seconds left in the quarter to extend the lead to 17-7. Nevertheless, Johnson kept the Bengals moving on those plays, first rushing for 8 yards and then gaining 14 yards on a screen pass on 3rd down and 8. It worked to perfection. The Dolphins finished the 1981 regular season by winning the AFC East with an 1141 record. Fouts finished the game completing 33 of 53 passing attempts for a franchise record 433 yards and three touchdowns. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. 6. It was also referred to in the Miami Herald as the "Miracle That Died", while Sports Illustrated dubbed it the "Game No One Should Have Lost". It really just goes back to the details of how we play our offense, and were not all dialed in with that.. Frequently Asked Questions about the NFL and Football, Pro-Football-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Football: Get your first month FREE. 52. Ekeler now has 375 receptions in his six-year career. At Miamis 9-yard line with 1:06 to play, Fouts targeted star tight end Kellen Winslow in the end zone. The "NFL 100 Greatest" ranks the top 100 games in NFL history, and the 1982 AFC Championship Game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins lands at No. Brooks made the Pro Bowl four times with the Bengals and left Cincinnati as the team's all-time leading rusher. The Chargers held Miami to 219 yards despite not having safety Derwin James, cornerback Bryce Callahan and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day because of injuries. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. AFC Championship - San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals - January 10th, 1982 NFL Scores Playoffs San Diego Chargers 7 11-7 Prev Game Coach: Don Coryell Cincinnati Bengals 27 14-4 Prev Game Next Game Coach: Forrest Gregg Sunday Jan 10, 1982 Start Time: 1:00pm Stadium: Riverfront Stadium Logos via Sports Logos.net / About logos Team Stats "The great football games are like pieces of theater. The Chargers held a 24-0 lead before Miami stormed back to send the game to OT, referred to as the "Epic in Miami" pic.twitter.com/pVhM1103AM Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) January 3, 2022 Theres a lot of investment, and its not good enough, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. Next it was the Dolphins who had the chance to win. The Epic in Miami was the National Football League AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins that took place on January 2, 1982 in the Miami Orange Bowl. This ended up being another famous game in NFL lore,[16] and has since become known as the Freezer Bowl. Chargers vs Dolphins Box Score Pass D. Fouts (SD), 28-15-185, 2 INT, 1 TD K. Anderson (CIN), 22-14-161, 0 INT, 2 TD Rush C. Muncie (SD), 23-94 P. Johnson (CIN), 21-80, 1 TD Rec W. Chandler (SD), 6-79 D. Ross (CIN), 5-69 Chargers vs Bengals Box Score Regular Season Pass D. Fouts (SD), 25-19-330, 0 INT, 3 TD B. Sipe (CLE), 57-31-375, 2 INT, 2 TD Rush Several plays later, Strock converted the turnover into points with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joe Rose, cutting the deficit to 2410. Chargers cornerback Michael Davis slipped in coverage at the LA 40, allowing Hill to make an easy catch and saunter untouched to the end zone to get Miami to 17-14. He finished the contest with 13 catches (a divisional playoff record) for 166 yards and a touchdown plus the critical blocked field goal, all the while battling debilitating fatigue and muscle cramps. Miami's defense ranked fifth in the NFL in fewest points allowed (275). "There was no way that Kellen Winslow was so winded that he had to be continually helped off the football field," said Dolphins wide receiver Jimmy Cefalo. "Defensively we answered all the challenges in the game that we had to face. Fouts moved the Chargers downfield, hitting Wes Chandler for 20 yards and Charlie Joiner for 29. In addition to his blocked field goal, he recorded an NFL playoff record 13 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown, despite suffering numerous injuries. A week earlier, the Bengals won their first ever playoff game by defeating the Buffalo Bills 2821 after forcing Buffalo to turn the ball over on downs during their final drive.