Jan 5, 2017 4 min read

1972 AFC Championship

Miami 21, Pittsburgh 17

December 31, 1972

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers stumbled on the last step to a Super Bowl berth when QB Bob Griese rallied the unbeaten Miami Dolphins, 21-17, past the Steelers, who were coming off their win over Oakland the week before in the Immaculate Reception game.

The outcome might have been determined on a trick play. With the Steelers leading 7-0 by virtue of a touchdown on their initial possession, Larry Seiple ran 37 yards on a fake punt deep into Pittsburgh territory. The play took away the Steelers’ early momentum and led to the Dolphins’ tying score.

After a field goal early in the third quarter gave Pittsburgh its last lead at 10-7, Griese took over from Earl Morrall and drove his team 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. A blocked field goal attempt paved the way for Miami’s third TD.

Terry Bradshaw made it necessary as he returned to the game after suffering a first quarter head injury. He completed four straight passes for 71 yards to pull his team within four points with a TD pass, but two interceptions ended Pittsburgh’s Cinderella season.

1979 AFC Divisional Playoff

Pittsburgh 34, Miami 14

December 30, 1979

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers were flawless in the first quarter, controlling the football for more than 13 minutes and scoring touchdowns the first three times they had the ball en route to a 34-14 victory.

Miami ran just seven plays for a net of two yards. Pittsburgh was four of four on third-down plays in the opening period and was successful on 11 of 14 in the game.

In directing the three early drives, Terry Bradshaw completed 7 of 9 passes.

With a big cushion, the defense never gave Miami a chance, stopping the Dolphins without a score twice in the second quarter when they had first downs inside the Pittsburgh 10-yard line. Dennis Winston’s interception ended one drive and a great goal-line stand the other.

At halftime the Steelers held a 229-35 edge in yardage and a 15-4 margin in first downs. The Dolphins, a ball control team, rushed for 25 yards on 22 carries with 21 of those yards coming in the final quarter.

It was the fourth-straight postseason game in which the Steelers had scored over 30 points. Bradshaw set a personal postseason record with 21 completions, and Franco Harris was the leading rusher for the 12th time in 15 postseason games increasing his all-time total to 1,357 yards. He also scored his 15th touchdown, another postseason record. The victory was the Steelers’ 15th straight at home and sixth postseason win in a row at Three Rivers Stadium.

1984 AFC Championship

Miami 45, Pittsburgh 28

January 6, 1985

MIAMI — Dan Marino set AFC Championship game records with 421 yards passing and four touchdowns to lead the Dolphins to a 45-28 victory over Pittsburgh.

Eleven of Marino’s 21 completions were for 20 yards or more and three were at least 40 yards, as the Steelers secondary could not contain the ultra-quick Dolphins receivers. Three of their touchdown drives took less than two minutes to complete.

The Steelers controlled the ball on the ground most of the first half but after they took a 14-10 lead on John Stallworth’s NFL-record 11th postseason touchdown reception, the Dolphins scored two touchdowns in the last 2:52 of the half and added another one on their first possession of the second half to grab control.

Following the scoring barrage, the Steelers were forced to open up their offense and stray away from their ball-control game, which had been effective in the first 30 minutes, accounting for 123 yards rushing.

With one minute remaining in the first half and Miami leading, 17-14, Mark Malone suffered his third interception which the Dolphins quickly converted into a touchdown and a 10-point margin. From the end of the first half to their first series of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins scored on five straight possessions.

The 1,024 total yards by both teams was an AFC title game record as was the 50 first downs. Stallworth added to his touchdown reception mark with a tumbling third-quarter touchdown reception that brought the Steelers to within 10 points. Marino answered with 80 and 66-yard drives to put the game out of reach. Malone had 312 yards passing.