‘72 Dolphins shut out Colts to go 7-0 as Shula gets a win in Baltimore

DOLPHINS 23, COLTS 0 (Oct. 29, 1972)

Don Shula’s previous two trips to Baltimore (since leaving the Colts following the ‘69 season) had not gone well. First was a 35-0 shellacking by the Colts in 1970 followed by a 14-3 late-season defeat in 1971.

But as the Dolphins reached the regular season’s halfway point, Shula would enjoy his first win in his old stadium, and it came with relative ease. The Dolphins dominated from the opening whistle as the offense pounded out 286 yards on the ground (385 total) while the defense held the Colts to 192 total yards in a 23-0 shutout win.

This was nothing close to the same Colts team that had won the Super Bowl less than two years before and battled the Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game 10 months earlier. An aging roster (Johnny Unitas had already been benched for Marty Domres) combined with the arrival of new bombastic owner Robert Irsay made for a tumultuous start to the season as the Colts entered the game tied for the worst record in the AFC at 1-5.

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Don McCafferty, less than two years from winning a Super Bowl, was fired after just five weeks, replaced by interim head coach and future Shula assistant John Sandusky.

Thus the Dolphins took advantage of a franchise in turmoil and showed no mercy. Miami took its opening drive and rammed it right down Baltimore’s throat, going 80 yards in 10 plays, Larry Csonka bulling in from 1 yard.

The second quarter was highlighted by a Curtis Johnson blocked punt giving the Dolphins a short field at the Colts 20, followed by another Csonka 1-yard score and 13-0 lead after Garo Yepremian’s PAT was blocked. Miami added a short 25-yard Yepremian field goal 17 seconds before halftime to take a 16-0 lead.

Any thoughts of a Colts comeback were put to rest when Bruce Laird muffed a Larry Seiple punt on Miami’s first possession of the second half, setting the Dolphins up at the Baltimore 21. Mercury Morris went around the left side from 7 yards out five plays later and the scoring for the day was done.

The Colts only crossed midfield three times as Vern Den Herder and Manny Fernandez combined to sack Domres three times.

“Our first drive set the pace for the offense and defensively it was a shutout, and you can’t get any better than that,” said Shula after the game. “I told the team before we went on the field today that the law of averages was on our side. We eventually had to get a win here [Baltimore] and went out and got it.”