All NFL game summaries for 01/16/1972:
In the pre-game hype, the question was asked again and again: "Can Don Shula win the big one?" Coach Shula had been highly successful at Baltimore in the 1960s, but his Colts had been upset by Cleveland in the 1964 NFL title game, lost in overtime to the Packers in a 1965 playoff, and been humiliated by the Jets in losing Super Bowl III. Now, in only his second year at Miami, he had his young Dolphins in the Super Bowl. Could he at last break the jinx that had followed him?
Meanwhile, the same question was being asked about his opponent -- Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry. After a series of playoff losses in the 1960s, Landry had finally reached the Super Bowl the year before only to have his team play a dreadfully sloppy game and lose on the final play. Ironically, one of the two most successful coaches in football would emerge from the game with the tag "loser" affixed to his name.
In retrospect, Super Bowl VI can be seen as a contest between Shula's not-quite-ready-for-prime-time over-achievers, still a year away from greatness, and Landry's perhaps till then underachievers ready to blossom big time. This Cowboy team had talent, experience, and a new quarterback. Roger Staubach had warmed the bench behind the competent Craig Morton in 1970; in 1971 he took his first steps toward the Pro Football Hall of Fame by earning the game's MVP award.
In the opening quarter, Chuck Howley, the Super Bowl MVP of the previous year, recovered Dolphin Larry Csonka's fumble at midfield. It was Csonka's first fumble of the entire season. Dallas turned it into a nine-yard field goal. The Cowboys put on a dominating, 76-yard drive in the second quarter to move their lead to 10-0. Only one of the ten plays in the drive gained fewer than five yards. The touchdown came on a seven-yard pass from Staubach to Lance Alworth with a minute and 15 seconds to go. That was just enough time for Miami to tighten the score by driving 44 yards to where Garo Yepremian booted a 31-yard field goal as the half ended. That also ended Miami's scoring for the day.
The Cowboys more or less wrapped up the game by taking the second-half kickoff and driving 76 yards to another touchdown in eight plays, seven of which were runs. Duane Thomas, Dallas' leading rusher for the day by running for 95 yards on 19 plays, scored the touchdown on a three-yard dash. The Cowboys shut down the Dolphins throughout the rest of the third quarter, allowing a mere 13 yards on ten plays. Early in the final period, the ubiquitous Howley intercepted a Bob Griese pass and returned it 41 yards to the Miami nine-yard line. Two plays gained two yards and then Staubach threw successfully to Mike Ditka for the final Dallas touchdown.
With the game out of reach, Miami put on a face-saving drive to cross midfield for the only time in the second half. The Dolphins reached the Dallas 16 before Larry Cole recovered a Griese fumble. The Cowboys then drove 79 yards before being thwarted by a fumble of their own. For the day, Dallas rushed for 252 yards. After the game, Shula said, "My biggest disappointment was that we never challenged. They completely dominated." That about summed it up for a game that wasn't as close as the score.
Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):
| Team | Rush Yds/Gm | Pass Yds/Gm | Tot Yds/Gm | Turnovers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Miami Dolphins | OFFENSE | 173.5 (1) | 141.6 (19) | 315.1 (5) | 23 |
| DEFENSE | 118.6 (8) | 142.9 (6) | 261.5 (5) | 30 | |
 Dallas Cowboys | OFFENSE | 160.6 (3) | 199.0 (2) | 359.6 (1) | 35 |
| DEFENSE | 81.7 (2) | 166.0 (19) | 247.7 (3) | 51 |
Line: Cowboys by 6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins (12-4-1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Dallas Cowboys (14-3-0) | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
( 0- 3) DAL Mike Clark 9 yard field goal ( 0-10) DAL Lance Alworth 7 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Mike Clark kick) ( 3-10) MIA Garo Yepremian 31 yard field goal ( 3-17) DAL Duane Thomas 3 yard rush (Mike Clark kick) ( 3-24) DAL Mike Ditka 7 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Mike Clark kick)
MIA DAL
First Downs: 10 23
Rushes-yards: 20-80 48-252
Yards/rush: 4.0 5.2
Comp-Att-Yd-INT: 12-23-134-1 12-19-119-0
Sacked-yards: 1-29 2-19
Net pass yards: 105 100
Net yards/pass: 4.4 4.8
Total net yards: 185 352
Total plays: 44 (45% run) 69 (69% run)
Yards/play: 4.2 5.1
Fumbles-lost: 2-2 1-1
Turnovers: 3 1
Penalties-yards: 0-0 3-15
Attendance: 81,023
Passing:MIA: Bob Griese, 12 of 23 for 134 yards (1 int)
DAL: Roger Staubach, 12 of 19 for 119 yards and 2 TDs
Rushing:
MIA: Jim Kiick, 10 for 40 yards; Larry Csonka, 9 for 40 yards; Bob Griese, 1 for 0 yards
DAL: Duane Thomas, 19 for 95 yards and 1 TD; Walt Garrison, 14 for 74 yards; Calvin Hill, 7 for 25 yards; Roger Staubach, 5 for 18 yards; Mike Ditka, 1 for 17 yards; Bob Hayes, 1 for 16 yards; Dan Reeves, 1 for 7 yards
Receiving:
MIA: Paul Warfield, 4 for 39 yards; Jim Kiick, 3 for 21 yards; Larry Csonka, 2 for 18 yards; Marv Fleming, 1 for 27 yards; Howard Twilley, 1 for 20 yards; Jim Mandich, 1 for 9 yards
DAL: Duane Thomas, 3 for 17 yards; Mike Ditka, 2 for 28 yards and 1 TD; Lance Alworth, 2 for 28 yards and 1 TD; Bob Hayes, 2 for 23 yards; Walt Garrison, 2 for 11 yards; Calvin Hill, 1 for 12 yards
Kick returns:
MIA: Mercury Morris, 4 for 90 yards; Hubert Ginn, 1 for 32 yards
DAL: Ike Thomas, 1 for 23 yards; Charlie Waters, 1 for 11 yards
Punt returns:
MIA: Jake Scott, 1 for 21 yards
DAL: Bob Hayes, 1 for -1 yards
Interceptions:
DAL: Chuck Howley, 1 for 41 yards
Punting:
MIA: Larry Seiple, 5 for 200 yards
DAL: Ron Widby, 5 for 186 yards
Field Goals:
MIA: Garo Yepremian, 1/2
DAL: Mike Clark, 1/1