| In 1973, the Dolphins were still the class of the AFC East, but Coach Chuck Fairbanks and the Patriots began to lay a foundation for the future. The first brick in the foundation was top draft pick and future Hall of Famer John 'Hog' Hannah. Fellow members of his draft class included Sam 'Bam' Cunningham and Darryl Stingley. The Patriots led the NFL in passing yards allowed, now this was not a result of a stellar defensive backfield, but more the result of a defense that could not stop the run. Opponents would average over 200 yards a game against the Patriots' run defense to include O.J. Simpsons two most productive days during his record breaking 2003 yard season. After a slow start, the Patriots played close to .500 ball the rest of the way, but good teams simply ran on them and special teams would let the team down on several ocassions. There were signs that the team was going to turn it around. Jm Plunkett rebounded from his poor 1972 season. Reggie Rucker developed into a fine receiver and Mark Herron gained nearly 1900 yards rushing, receiving and in returns for the season. 1974 looked bright indeed. |
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| Passing Cmp Att Pct. Yards TDs INTs QBRtg Jim Plunkett 193 376 51.3 2550 13 17 67.0 |
| Rushing Att. Yards AVG TDs Sam Cunningham 155 516 3.3 4 John Tarver 72 321 4.5 4 Josh Ashton 93 305 3.3 0 Jim Plunkett 44 209 4.8 5 Mark Herron 61 200 3.3 2 Darryl Stingley 6 64 10.7 0 Bob McCall 10 15 1.5 0 Bob Adams 2 7 3.5 0 Paul Gipson 5 -1 -0.2 0 Reggie Rucker 2 -1 -0.5 0 Claxton Welch 1 -2 -2.0 0 Bob Winsdor 1 -6 -6.0 0 Randy Vataha 2 -15 -7.5 0 |
| Receiving Rec Yards AVG TDs Reggie Rucker 53 743 14.0 3 Bob Windsor 23 348 15.1 4 Darryll Stingley 23 339 14.7 2 Randy Vataha 20 341 17.1 2 Mark Herron 18 265 14.7 1 Sam Cunningham 15 144 9.6 1 Bob Adams 14 197 14.1 0 Josh Ashton 11 113 10.3 0 John Tarver 9 41 5.1 0 Claxton Welch 6 22 3.7 0 Bob McCall 3 18 6.0 0 |
| Kicking XP XPA FG FGA PTS Jeff White 21 25 14 25 63 Bill Bell 4 5 1 4 7 |
| Interceptions
Ron Bloton 6; Sandy Durko 3, Ralph Anderson 2; Honor Jackson 1; Ron Acks 1 |
| AFC East W L T .Pct PF PA Dolphins 12 2 0 .857 343 150 Bills 9 5 0 .643 259 230 Patriots 5 9 0 .357 258 300 Jets 4 10 0 .286 240 306 Colts 4 10 0 .286 226 341 AFC Division Playoffs: Oakland 33 Pittsburgh 14 Miami 34 Cincinnati 16 AFC Championship Miami 27 Oakland 10 Superbowl VII Miami 24 Minnesota 7 |
| 1973 |
| Buffalo 13-31 0-1 Kansas City 7-10 0-2 @Miami 23-44 0-3 Baltimore 24-16 1-3 N.Y. Jets 7-9 1-4 @Chicago 13-10 2-4 Miami 14-30 2-5 @Philadelphia 23-24 2-6 @N.Y. Jets 13-33 2-7 Green Bay 33-24 3-7 @Houston 32-0 4-7 San Diego 30-14 5-7 @Buffalo 13-37 5-8 @Baltimore 13-18 5-9 |
| Roster QB - Brian Dowling QB - Jim Plunkett HB - Josh Ashton HB - Mark Herron HB - Bob McCall HB - Claxton Welch FB/HB - Paul Gipson FB - Sam Cunningham FB - John Tarver WR - Reggie Rucker WR - Darryl Stingley WR - Randy Vataha TE - Bob Adams TE - John Mosier TE - Bob Windsor T - Tom Neville T - Leon Gray T - Bob Reynolds G - Willie Banks T/G - Sam Adams G - John Hannah G - Bill Lenkaitas G - Len St. Jean C - Jon Morris C - Doug Dumler DE - Nate Dorsey DE - Ray Hamilton DE - Donnell Smith DT/DE - Julius Adams DT - Rick Cash DT - Mel Lunsford DT - Art Moore DT - Dave Rowe LB - Ron Acks LB - Edgar Chandler LB - Will Foster LB - Bob Geddes LB - Steve Kiner LB - Steve King LB - Brian Stenger LB - John Tanner DB - Ralph Anderson DB - Ron Bolton DB - Greg Boyd DB - Sandy Durko DB - George Hoey DB - Honor Jackson DB - Don Martin DB - Dave Mason P - Bruce Barnes K - Bill Bell K - Jeff White Injured Wayne Patrick |
| Offense Ranking Points: 258 (16 of 26) Run: 454-1612 (22 of 26) Pass: 2581 (8 of 26) Defense Ranking Points: 300 (16 of 26) Run: 560-2850 (26 of 26) Pass: 1600 (1 of 26) |
| Pro Bowlers: None |
| 1974 |
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| Coach: Chuck Fairbanks |
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