Ranking the Miami Dolphins' Super Bowl Teams

The 1972 Dolphins had the only perfect season in NFL history, but was that even the best team in franchise history?

Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese (12) in action against the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Dolphins defeated the Redskins 14-7 completing a 17-0 undefeated season. | Darryl Norenberg-Imagn Images

With Super Bowl LX week under way in Northern California, media coverage will focus on the two teams involved in the big game this season (New England and Seattle) but also on past title games and superlatives.

Before the week is out, you probably can expect a national media story ranking the Super Bowl winners, as was done last year.

Though it might be hard to envision considering their long drought without even so much as a playoff win, the Miami Dolphins did at one time win the Super Bowl. They did twice, in fact, winning Super Bowl VII to cap their perfect 1972 season and repeating in Super Bowl VIII.

One such ranking done last year had the 1972 Dolphins as the No. 3 Super Bowl team, though we would take issue with that.

OUR DOLPHINS SUPER BOWL TEAM RANKINGS

1. 1973 Team — Yes, this is blasphemy in some circles because that team was 12-2 compared to the 14-0 team of 1972, but the schedule has to be considered — the Dolphins didn't play a team in the regular season that had better than an 8-6 record — and we also have to consider this team winning its three playoff games by 18, 17 and 17 points. If you think we're crazy for this ranking, just know we're not alone.

2. 1972 Team — Again, we get those defending this team — and we certainly wouldn't want to upset Larry Csonka, who's expressed some strong opinions about this — but we'll point out this team actually allowed more points than the 1973 team and it's also one of three Super Bowl winners to not win a playoff game by more than seven points (along with the 2001 Patriots and the 2022 Chiefs).

3. 1984 Team — The 1984 Dolphins started the season by winning their first 11 games and finished 14-2 with their record-setting offense. Even if the defense and running game couldn't be considered great, the passing game was so good that this team would have won the Super Bowl in many other seasons but just couldn't match that 1984 49ers team's balance.

4. 1971 Team — This was an awfully young but also awfully talented team. The Dolphins finished 10-3-1 that season before recording the breakthrough victory in the playoff game at Kansas City (the longest game in NFL history). The Super Bowl was not a good representation of this 1971 Dolphins team, which committed three turnovers in a 24-3 loss that also saw Bob Griese give up a sack for a 29-yard loss (yes, 29 yards).

5. 1982 Team — The 1982 Dolphins went to the Super Bowl in the strike-shortened season after finishing 7-2 in the regular season and then defeating New England, San Diego and the New York Jets in the eight-team AFC playoffs. The Killer B's defense was about as good as it gets and the running game was solid, but the passing game simply wasn't Super Bowl caliber, which is what led to the drafting of Dan Marino a few months later.