1971 Playoffs: Dolphins 27, Chiefs 24 Quiz

Answer: In their entire history, the Dolphins had never beaten or tied the Chiefs

This 1971 playoff game was the first meeting between the two teams since 1969. In the old AFL, they had played six times, with Kansas City winning each encounter. The defending Super Bowl champions in 1971 were the Colts, not the Chiefs, who failed to make the 1970 playoffs after winning the Super Bowl the previous season.

Answer: Both of these

1971 was the first time the NFL had games on Christmas. The Cowboys defeated the Vikings earlier that day, then the Chiefs and Dolphins squared off. The NFL avoided playing another Christmas game the next several times Christmas fell on a weekend, before resuming the practice with a Monday night game in 1989. One of the premier teams of the old AFL, the Chiefs and their original incarnation as the Dallas Texans had played all their postseason games on the road or at a neutral site, until this one, the first and only Chiefs playoff game ever played at Municipal Stadium.

The team then started its 1972 season in brand-new Arrowhead Stadium, losing to the Dolphins again, 20-10, the first of Miami's victims in their undefeated season.

Answer: Nick Buoniconti

Linebacker Buoniconti played most of his AFL career with the Boston Patriots, joining the Dolphins in 1969. Griese and Csonka were drafted by the Dolphins in 1967 and 1968 respectively, and had too few years in the league for its all-time team. Warfield was with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL through the 1969 season and never played in the AFL. All four are in the Hall of Fame.

Answer: At the end of the game, 27-24

The sole Dolphins lead was the one that counted most. They tied the Chiefs at 10 in the second quarter. In the second half, Kansas City scored a touchdown in the third and fourth quarter, with Miami tying the game each time.

Answer: Wendell Hayes

The Chiefs' Wendell Hayes personified the small, versatile running backs favored by coach Hank Stram. He and his backfield mates could run, block, catch passes, or do anything else the team needed. His 22 carries for 100 yards led all rushers, followed by Larry Csonka of the Dolphins (24-86) and Ed Podolak of the Chiefs (17-85).

Answer: Paul Warfield

The Dolphins' spectacular Warfield caught seven passes for 140 yards, trailed by Chiefs Podolak (8-110) and Wright (3-104). Podolak had one of the greatest games ever by an NFL player, adding 155 yards returning punts and kickoffs to give him 350 all-purpose yards for the day.

Answer: A 50-yarder was short

After Miami had tied the game late in regulation, the Chiefs returned the kickoff deep into Dolphin territory and spent three plays positioning the ball for a simple 32-yard attempt, but Stenerud was wide right (it was later discovered that he had never before attempted a field goal from exactly 32 yards).

In the first overtime, the Dolphin's Nick Buoniconti blocked a 42-yard attempt. The most interesting miss occurred in the second quarter, with the Chiefs up 10-7. They lined up for a field goal, but the play was designed to snap the ball directly to Stenerud, who would then attempt to run for a first down. Stenerud's behavior before the play was so convincing that he fooled the Chiefs' center into believing the play was a real field goal attempt.

The center snapped the ball to the holder, who wasn't expecting it, and in the confusion, Stenerud was forced to attempt a kick when he'd been planning to run. He missed, leaving the Chiefs and their fans to ponder what might have been: the Dolphins had been fooled as well on the play, leaving nothing but an open field between Stenerud and the end zone.

Answer: "Sudden victory"

"Don't call it sudden death," Gowdy would exclaim again and again through the coverage, "Call it sudden victory!" Sports Illustrated magazine made note of this in their account of the game, but Gowdy's term never caught on.

Answer: Prevented a Kansas City kickoff return for a touchdown

After Marv Fleming's five yard touchdown and Yepremian's extra point tied the game at 24 with about a minute to go, Ed Podolak took the kickoff, cleared the knot of Miami defenders, and was running down the sideline toward what looked like a sure touchdown. Yepremian ran toward Podolak, throwing him offstride and allowing the Dolphins' Curtis Johnson to knock him out of bounds.

The skinny Yepremian later joked to Sports Illustrated that he personally didn't make tackles because, "I must protect my magnificent body."

Answer: 3:30

The game took three hours and 21 minutes to play, far shorter than many modern regulation games take. Amazing what it was like without so many commercials and replay reviews.