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Miami went into cruise control the next three games, recording two shutouts and outscoring their opponents, 105-16. They would not be tested again until week ten in a rematch with the New York Jets. With a chance to clinch the AFC East title, the Dolphins found themselves trailing the Jets, 24-20 as the fourth quarter started. But Mercury Morris, who rushed for 107 yards during the game, would not be denied as he scampered fourteen yards into the endzone for the go ahead score. The Dolphins clinched the AFC East title, and were the proud owners of a 10-0 record.
The Dolphins finished off the final four games of the season in a dominant fashion. They knocked off the Cardinals, 31-10, the Patriots, 37-21, and then the Giants, 23-13. In week fourteen, the final week of the regular season, the Dolphins beat Baltimore, 16-0, in a game that was Johnny Unitas' last with the Colts. Not since the Chicago Bears finished the season undefeated thirty years earlier had a team finished the regular season schedule without a loss.
Miami had gotten through the regular season unscathed, but could they continue their winning streak throughout the playoffs? The Cleveland Browns would be the first to find out. In the first round, Miami was able to slip past the Browns as Paul Warfield was able to slip past defenders for sixty of the eighty yards in the Dolphins game winning drive.
In the AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Dolphins were able to capitalize on mistakes by the defense and the return of Bob Griese. They squeezed past the Steelers, 21-17, to take their undefeated record to the Super Bowl to face the Redskins.
Washington, the NFC champion, went into the Super Bowl as a three point favorite despite the fact that the Dolphins had not lost a game all year. Miami had the Redskins down, 14-0, and seemed to be on their way to a dominant victory as they lined up for a field goal attempt. Then, in one of the strangest plays in Super Bowl history, Garo Yepremian's field goal attempt was blocked. Instead of just covering the ball, he tried to pick it up and throw it. The ball slipped out of his hand and was batted right into the arms of Redskin's cornerback Mike Bass, who ran the ball back 49 yards, cutting the lead in half. Fortunately for Yepremian, the Dolphins were able to hold on to win the game, 14-7, and to finish off their undefeated season with a Super Bowl championship.
