The Miami Dolphins are one of the older franchises in professional football, and have appeared in the playoffs on 23 different occasions since entering the league nearly sixty years ago. Today, the Miami Dolphins play in the AFC East Division of the National Football League along with the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.
Here are five fascinating facts about the Miami Dolphins.
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- The Miami Dolphins are the only team to go undefeated in the regular season and win the Super Bowl. (source) In 1972, when the National Football League was still operating on a 14-game regular season schedule, the Miami Dolphins managed to go undefeated throughout, win all three of their playoff games, and cap off the year with a victory in Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins (14-7). It has been nearly fifty years since this happened, but no other team has repeated what the 1972 Miami Dolphins did. The team that came the closest to reaching this milestone was the 2007 New England Patriots, who went 16-0 in the regular season and won both of their playoff games, but lose 17-14 to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.
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- The most lopsided win in Miami Dolphins history came against the New England Patriots. (source) On November 12, 1972 as part of the Dolphins’ most historic season in franchise history, the Dolphins also had their most lopsided victory. At the Miami Orange Bowl on that day, the Miami Dolphins defeated the visiting New England Patriots by a score of 52-0. Even to this day, the Dolphins have not had a more dominant victory on the scoreboard in the NFL.
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- With 274 victories, no Dolphins head coach has more victories than Don Shula. (source) Don Shula was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1970 through 1995, and in that time was able to lead the franchise to 257 regular season victories and 17 playoff wins. Between the regular season and the NFL playoffs, Don Shula coached 423 games for the Miami Dolphins, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997. During his tenure with the Dolphins, he led the franchise to two Super Bowl Championships, 19 playoff appearances, 5 AFC Championships, and 11 AFC East Division Titles.
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- From 1970-1999, the Miami Dolphins made the NFL playoffs 20 times. Since 2000, the Dolphins have made the playoffs four times. (source) Ever since legendary Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino retired following the 1999 NFL season, it has been a tough ride for the franchise. Since the 2000 season, the Miami Dolphins have only made the playoffs in 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2016, and all of those outside of 2000 resulted in first round exits from contention. As of 2021, the last time the Miami Dolphins appeared in a playoff game was following the 2016 season, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-12 in the opening round.
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- The 2007 season was the worst in Miami Dolphins history, as the team finished 1-15. (source) The 2007 marked the worst win total for the Miami Dolphins since their 1966 season, when the franchise finished with a 3-11 record. The 2007 season, however, was the worst in franchise history, as the Dolphins’ only win was an overtime victory against the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 22-16. The following season, the Dolphins had a massive turnaround, finishing the year 11-5 and making it to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2001.
The Miami Dolphins were first established as a professional franchise in 1965, and have put together quite the history since then. If you’re a fan and have more fun Miami Dolphins facts to share about your favorite team, drop them for us in the comments below!
Featured image photo credit: Nathan Rupert, 2009. Originally found on Flickr.com. Image was resized and cropped. Creative Commons 2.0.
