1975: Oilers Defeat Dolphins Thanks to Two Bubba Smith Blocks of PATs

The Houston Oilers were a surprising 6-2 as they hosted the Miami Dolphins on November 16, 1975. Under first-year Head Coach Bum Phillips, the team that had been 1-13 in both 1972 and ’73 was playing like a contender. The Oilers ran the ball effectively with HB Ronnie Coleman and FB Don Hardeman carrying most of the load, and while the passing game was unexceptional, there was an emerging star in WR Ken Burrough. The solid 3-4 defense was the key to Houston’s success, with NT Curley Culp anchoring the line and rookie LB Robert Brazile proving to be a valuable addition. Topping it off was WR Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, who was an exciting kick returner and had already scored twice on punt returns.

One lineup change for the Miami game involved a fading star who had been brought in to provide defensive depth. 30-year-old DE Bubba Smith (pictured above) had been let go by the Raiders and was now backing up his younger brother, Tody, on the defensive line, who was out with a knee injury.

The Dolphins came into Houston at 7-1, having not lost since the opening week. Since Head Coach Don Shula’s arrival in 1970, Miami had been as successful as the Oilers were mediocre. But while there were still some stalwarts, such as QB Bob Griese and HB Eugene “Mercury” Morris, remaining, the Dolphins were in the process of retooling.

There were 48,892 fans in attendance at the Astrodome. The Oilers had first possession and drove 48 yards in 13 plays. Ronnie Coleman and Don Hardeman ran effectively, picking up three first downs, but after reaching the Miami 17 QB Dan Pastorini was sacked by LB Bob Matheson on third down and Skip Butler kicked a 43-yard field goal.

The teams exchanged punts following short possessions, and Miami was driving as the first quarter ended. Bob Griese completed a screen pass to FB Norm Bulaich for 13 yards on a third-and-nine play and then hit on three straight throws to WR Freddie Solomon for eight yards, TE Jim Mandich for 10, and WR Howard Twilley for 31 yards to the Houston 18. But on the second play of the second quarter, another Griese pass was intercepted by LB Ted Washington, who returned it 23 yards.

On a series that advanced 63 yards in seven plays, Pastorini threw to FB Fred Willis for 16 yards and Hardeman broke away for a 37-yard carry to the Miami 12. Butler kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it a 6-0 game.

Miami responded with an eight-play, 64-yard possession. Griese completed three of his passes, the last to Mandich for a 26-yard touchdown. However, the score remained tied when Bubba Smith blocked Garo Yepremian’s try for the extra point.

The Oilers moved into Miami territory on the next series thanks to a Pastorini throw to Ken Burrough that covered 24 yards, but after reaching the 35, two sacks backed them up and they were forced to punt. With time running out in the first half, the Dolphins drove to the Houston 32 before Griese was sacked by Robert Brazile and DE Elvin Bethea. The teams went into halftime still tied at 6-6.

A short Miami series to start the third quarter lost yardage and ended with a punt that Billy “White Shoes” Johnson returned 83 yards for a touchdown. Butler converted and the home team was ahead by 13-6.

Griese started off the next series for the Dolphins by throwing to Twilley for 24 yards and they drove methodically to the Houston nine. However, a completion to HB Larry Seiple at the goal line that was originally called a touchdown by one official was instead ruled down inches short of the goal line by the referee.  FB Don Nottingham was stopped by Smith on a fourth down play and Miami came up empty.

The Oilers went three-and-out and punted and this time Miami didn’t fail to put points on the board. Again facing fourth down, HB Benny Malone ran for the last two yards and a TD and, with Yepremian successfully adding the point after, the score was tied at 13-13 as the game headed into the fourth quarter.

Houston had to punt from deep in its own territory following the next series and the Dolphins took possession at the Oilers’ 48. Three plays later, Solomon took the handoff on a double reverse and sped 35 yards to the Houston three, and from there Nottingham ran for a TD. But once again Bubba Smith blocked Yepremian’s extra point try and the visitors held onto a six-point lead at 19-13.

Following another exchange of punts, the Oilers took possession at their 11. They proceeded to drive 89 yards in 15 plays. Johnson ran for 19 yards on an end-around, Pastorini completed a pass to TE Mack Alston for 24 yards, and on a third-and-seven play from the Miami 26 at the two-minute warning, Pastorini connected with Coleman for 10 yards. Still, the Oilers were facing fourth-and-six when it appeared that another pass intended for Alston was picked off by SS Charlie Babb. But Miami was penalized for defensive holding, allowing Houston to keep the ball with a first down at the seven. Coleman swept around end for a touchdown from there, breaking three tackles in the process, and Butler’s all-important extra point was good to put the Oilers on top by one. A few plays later, an interception by LB Gregg Bingham sealed the 20-19 win for Houston.

The Dolphins led in total yards (350 to 239) and first downs (23 to 15). They also recorded four sacks, to three by Houston, and the Oilers were penalized 10 times at a cost of 90 yards while Miami was flagged five times. However, the Dolphins turned the ball over twice, to none by Houston, and gave up the punt return touchdown as well as the two blocked extra points that ultimately determined the outcome.

Dan Pastorini completed 11 of 22 passes for 111 yards and no touchdowns, although also with none intercepted. Don Hardeman gained 60 yards on seven attempts and Ronnie Coleman rushed for 58 yards on 13 carries that included a TD and caught three passes for another 20 yards. Fred Willis, in addition to running the ball 9 times for 32 yards, led the Oilers with four pass receptions for 33 yards. In addition to his third punt return touchdown of the season, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson (pictured at left) had two catches for 10 yards plus the one 19-yard run.

For the Dolphins, Bob Griese was successful on 21 of 29 throws for 257 yards and a TD, but was intercepted twice. Jim Mandich caught 6 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown and WR Nat Moore contributed five receptions for 59 yards. The ground game was not strong and Benny Malone was the club’s top rusher with 38 yards on 12 carries that included a score.

“Take a step, watch for the kick, and jump up. Just as easy as that,” said Bubba Smith of how he blocked the two extra point attempts, also noting that in film study they had noticed that Yepremian tended to kick low and center Jim Langer took a step back to block.

“I hit the ball low on the second (blocked) one,” explained a dejected Garo Yepremian in talking about his two blocked extra point tries, his fourth and fifth of the season. “I had a bad day…I got to go back to work. I cost us the game. There’s nobody to blame but myself.”

Houston lost its next two games to the only teams it lost to all year, the Steelers and Bengals, and ended up in third place behind those AFC Central rivals with a 10-4 record, missing out on the postseason. The Dolphins lost again the next week, and it was especially costly because Bob Griese went down with a knee injury. They also finished at 10-4, placing second in the AFC East and missing the postseason for the first time since Shula’s arrival.

Bubba Smith appeared in 12 games for the Oilers and started two of them in what was his next-to-last season in the NFL. Billy “White Shoes” Johnson led the league with a 15.3-yard average on 40 punt returns, including the three touchdowns. He also averaged 24.2 yards on 33 kickoff returns and returned one for a TD. Adding in his 393 pass receiving yards and 17 by rushing, he totaled a career-high 1820 all-purpose yards and was named to the Pro Bowl.

Garo Yepremian, in his sixth year with the Dolphins, ended up failing on six of his 46 extra point attempts, but led the NFL with a field goal percentage of 81.3 (13 for 16). He spent another three seasons with Miami.

1966: Yepremian Kicks 6 Field Goals as Lions Defeat Vikings

Soccer-style placekickers were still a novelty in 1966 when Garo Yepremian joined the Detroit Lions. At 5’7” and 160 pounds, he was significantly undersized and had no background in the sport. The left-footed former semipro soccer player from Cyprus had, in fact, signed with the Lions just six weeks after arriving from London to visit his brother in Indianapolis, and had never seen an American football game prior to that. But on November 13, 1966 against the Minnesota Vikings he had a record-setting day in his new profession.

The Lions, coached by Harry Gilmer, started off the season with two wins in their first three games but had gone winless since (including a tie the week prior to the Minnesota game) and were a dismal 2-6-1. Adding to their problems, QB Karl Sweetan, who had taken over the starting job after veteran Milt Plum went down with an injury, was himself playing with broken ribs suffered the week before against the Bears.

Minnesota was 3-4-1 coming into the game, having won three of their previous four contests following a slow start. Head Coach Norm Van Brocklin’s team was suffering from inconsistency, not helped by conflict between the coach and starting QB Fran Tarkenton.

There were 43,939 in attendance at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. In their first possession, the Vikings went 73 yards in 14 plays but the drive stalled at the Detroit 7 and they settled for a 15-yard Fred Cox field goal. Shortly thereafter, SS Dale Hackbart intercepted a pass by Sweetan and returned it for a touchdown that, with the successful extra point, made it 10-0.

Yepremian, who had connected on just one of his six field goal attempts since joining the team, missed his first attempt from 48 yards. However, he found the range in the second quarter. The Lions had drives of 50, 52, and 51 yards, respectively, to set up each of Yepremian’s first three field goals, from 33, 26, and 15 yards.

Just before the end of the first half, LB Mike Lucci intercepted a Tarkenton pass and returned it 16 yards to the Minnesota 13. Yepremian kicked his record fourth field goal of the quarter, from 20 yards, and the Lions went into halftime with a 12-10 lead.

The Vikings turned things around in a two minute span of the third quarter with help from the defense. First, FS Ed Sharockman intercepted a pass by QB Tommy Myers (who had come in for one play in place of Sweetan) and returned it 38 yards to set up a two-yard scoring carry by HB Dave Osborn. On the next series, DE Jim Marshall forced a fumble by Sweetan that was recovered by LB Roy Winston at the Detroit 12. FB Bill Brown scored from that distance and the Vikings were up by 24-12.

Yepremian missed a 39-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, but shortly thereafter got another chance after Lucci again came up with an interception. This time he was successful from 28 yards to tie the existing NFL record for field goals in a game as well as narrow Minnesota’s lead to 24-15.

Following another interception of Tarkenton, this time by safety Tom Vaughn, Yepremian added his record-breaking sixth field goal from 32 yards. The diminutive Cypriot had thus far accounted for all 18 points scored by the Lions and it was now a six-point game.

In the fourth quarter, Lucci struck again, intercepting Tarkenton for the third time and on this occasion returning it 53 yards for a touchdown. With Yepremian’s successful extra point, the Lions were back in front at 25-24.

Soon afterward, DB John Robinson returned a punt 64 yards for the Lions to set up another touchdown. HB Bobby Felts, replacing the injured Amos Marsh, powered in for the three-yard TD and Yepremian added another extra point to improve Detroit’s margin to eight points.

With 2:42 left, the Vikings finally got on the board again. They drove 71 yards in 10 plays that ended with HB Billy Barnes running for a three-yard touchdown. Minnesota had one last shot, taking over with 1:01 on the clock, but couldn’t reach field goal range and ended up turning the ball over on downs to effectively end the game. Detroit won by a final score of 32-31.

The Lions had the edge in total yards (268 to 232) and first downs (16 to 15). Detroit failed to run the ball effectively, gaining just 50 yards on 22 carries, while the Vikings managed only 83 net passing yards. There were nine turnovers in all, with Minnesota accounting for five to four by Detroit.

Garo Yepremian had the biggest day, setting a then-league record with six field goals in eight attempts, including four in one quarter. The six field goals broke the previous NFL record of five that had been held by four players (Ernie Nevers, Bob Waterfield, Roger LeClerc, and Jim Bakken, who would in turn exceed Yepremian’s mark).

Karl Sweetan completed 24 of 41 passes for 226 yards with no touchdowns and one intercepted. Flanker Pat Studstill had 9 catches for 116 yards. FB Tom Nowatzke led Detroit’s anemic running attack with 18 yards on 10 carries, although he caught 5 passes for 35 yards. Mike Lucci (pictured at left) was the star on defense with his three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

Fran Tarkenton had a rough outing for the Vikings as he was successful on just 11 of 24 throws for 106 yards with no scores and five interceptions. Bill Brown led the rushers with 45 yards on 13 carries that included a TD and Dave Osborn added 39 yards and a score on 16 attempts. Brown also was the top receiver with three catches for 17 yards. TE Preston Carpenter gained 40 yards on his two receptions.

Detroit won again the next week with an upset of the Colts but lost the remaining games, including the rematch with the Vikings. Both clubs finished at 4-9-1 and at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Garo Yepremian ended up kicking 13 field goals in 22 attempts (59.1 %) and was successful on all 11 of his extra points.  He returned for the 1967 season but entered the US Army and was let go by the Lions. After a stint in the Continental Football League, Yepremian caught on with the Miami Dolphins in 1970 and went on to have an outstanding career that finally came to an end with Tampa Bay in 1981. Overall, the unlikely-looking football player who had been ridiculed when he first joined the Lions for his lack of knowledge of the game ended up kicking 210 field goals out of 313 attempts (67.1 %) and 444 extra points for a total of 1074 points. He also was twice selected to the Pro Bowl and received All-NFL honors on two occasions. While his single-game field goal record didn’t last long – it was broken by Jim Bakken of the Cardinals in 1967 - the four field goals in a quarter remain a record, tied several times.

1971: Dolphins Defeat Chiefs in Longest NFL Game

The Miami Dolphins came to Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium for an AFC Divisional playoff game on Christmas Day, December 25, 1971, having never defeated the Chiefs in six attempts. An expansion team in 1966, the Dolphins made the postseason for the first time just the previous year, in Head Coach Don Shula’s first season with the team. Kansas City, under Head Coach Hank Stram, had won three AFL championships over the previous decade and the Super Bowl following the 1969 season.

Both teams had 10-3-1 records during the regular season. Miami, winners of the AFC East, featured a strong ground game led by power-running FB Larry Csonka (1051 yards) and halfbacks Jim Kiick and Eugene “Mercury” Morris. Bob Griese, rapidly developing into an outstanding quarterback, could keep defenses honest by throwing to deep threat WR Paul Warfield and possession receiver Howard Twilley. Kansas City, top team in the AFC West, featured veteran QB Len Dawson passing to WR Otis Taylor (57 catches, 1110 yards) and a good stable of running backs that included HB Ed Podolak, FB Wendell Hayes, HB Warren McVea, and FB Jim Otis; the defense was well-seasoned.

The Chiefs certainly appeared to be the more experienced team as they scored on their first two possessions, delighting the 50,374 fans present, and taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Jan Stenerud kicked a 24-yard field goal and then, after LB Willie Lanier intercepted a pass by Griese, Dawson threw a seven-yard TD pass to Podolak.

However, the Dolphins came back on the next series. The Chiefs were having success stopping Csonka and Kiick, so Griese threw to Warfield for a 23-yard gain to the Kansas City 21 yard line. Griese went to the air again, with a 16-yard strike to TE Marv Fleming, that set up their first touchdown on a one-yard plunge into the end zone by Csonka. The Dolphins tied the score before the half when they recovered a Podolak fumble deep in Chiefs territory and Garo Yepremian booted a 14-yard field goal.


In the third quarter, it was the Chiefs putting on an impressive show of ball control as they drove 75 yards over ten minutes on 15 plays, capped by Jim Otis crashing over from a yard out. Miami came right back again, with Griese throwing key passes to Twilley and Warfield and Kiick scoring on a one-yard TD run (pictured). It was 17-17 after three quarters.

Both teams traded turnovers, with Miami LB Nick Buoniconti recovering a fumble and Chiefs LB Jim Lynch intercepting a pass deep in his own territory. Miami’s zone defense had been neutralizing the Kansas City deep passing game, but Dawson connected with rookie WR Elmo Wright for 63 yards, and Podolak ran the final three yards to put the Chiefs back in front midway through the fourth quarter, 24-17.

The Dolphins came back with a 76-yard drive, with Griese hitting Warfield on passes of 17 and 26 yards, and Twilley catching a pass at the Chiefs five yard line. Fleming caught the resulting five-yard TD from Griese, and with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the score was tied again. However, it appeared that the home team would prevail when Ed Podolak ran the ensuing kickoff back 78 yards, finally being caught by Dolphins CB Curtis Johnson at the Miami 22. The Chiefs were well within Jan Stenerud’s range and conservatively ran the clock down to set up for the field goal attempt. In a stunning development, the typically dependable Stenerud hooked the kick to the left and missed. The game went into overtime.

Kansas City won the toss, and once again Podolak came through, returning the kickoff to the Chiefs 46 yard line. The Chiefs again drove to within Stenerud’s range, but Buoniconti blocked the 42-yard attempt for the Dolphins. It was Miami’s turn to try a field goal, but Yepremian’s attempt from 52 yards failed.

The game proceeded into an additional “sudden death” period. The Dolphins got the ball back, and on a misdirection play, Csonka rumbled 29 yards to the Kansas City 36. Now it was Miami’s turn to maneuver for a field goal, and this time it was Yepremian successfully connecting from 37 yards (pictured at top). The longest game in NFL history, which went 7:40 into the sixth period of play (22:40 altogether into overtime), was finally over, and a 27-24 win for the Miami Dolphins.


The Chiefs outgained the Dolphins offensively, 451-407. Ed Podolak (pictured at right) was truly the player of the game, putting on a spectacular show with 350 total yards (85 yards on 17 carries with a TD rushing, 110 yards on 8 pass receptions, 154 yards on three kickoff returns, and one yard on two punt returns). Dawson completed 18 of 26 passes for 246 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Elmo Wright, like Podolak, had over a hundred receiving yards (104 on three catches) thanks to the long reception in the fourth quarter. Wendell Hayes ran for an even 100 yards on 22 carries.

Larry Csonka (24 rushes for 86 yards and a TD) and Jim Kiick (15 carries for 56 yards and a TD) were the workhorses for Miami. Bob Griese completed 20 of 35 passes for 263 yards with a TD and two interceptions. Paul Warfield led the receivers with 7 catches for 140 yards.

Miami went on to beat the Baltimore Colts for the AFC Championship, but lost in the Super Bowl to Dallas. They were still a team on the rise. Kansas City, however, was on the way down and would not appear again in the postseason until 1986.