The Minnesota Vikings are on the road Sunday as they will be in Miami to take on the Dolphins. Kickoff is at noon at Hard Rock Stadium. The game will be televised on Fox with Kenny Albert on play-by-play, Jonathan Vilma as analyst and Shannon Spake on the sideline.
It will be the 14th meeting between the teams.
The first game between the teams was on Oct. 1, 1972 at Metropolitan Stadium, the third game of what would be a perfect 17-0 season for the Dolphins.
Miami rallied from a two-score deficit with less than five minutes to play to win 16-14. There was no two-point conversion option in the NFL at that time.
Vikings defensive tackle Bob Lurtsema was called for a penalty that kept the Dolphins alive.
A 51-yard field goal from Garo Yepremian cut the score to 14-9 with 4:15 to go, and the Lurtesma penalty for roughing the passer fueled what became the game-winning touchdown drive.
“That was the worst call ever,” Lurtsema said in 2019. “Without that, they wouldn’t have made history. I’ve told [Griese] that before, ‘I never roughed you, you faker.’ . . . I turned around to watch the ball and Griese made a fake fall. I never touched him. He had brushed into me. When I saw the flag, I thought maybe it was holding on Miami.”
Griese threw a three-yard TD pass to Jim Mandarich and Yepremian added the extra point for the final margin.
The Vikings finished the season with a disappointing 7-7 record, but the following season the teams met in Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in Houston with the Dolphins winning 24-7.
1972 Dolphins results
Regular season
Miami Dolphins 20, Kansas City Chiefs 10
Miami Dolphins 34, Houston Oilers 13
Miami Dolphins 16, Minnesota Vikings 14
Miami Dolphins 27, New York Jets 17
Miami Dolphins 24, San Diego Chargers 10
Miami Dolphins 24, Buffalo Bills 23
Miami Dolphins 23, Baltimore Colts 0
Miami Dolphins 30, Buffalo Bills 16
Miami Dolphins 52, New England Patriots 0
Miami Dolphins 28, New York Jets 24
Miami Dolphins 31, St. Louis Cardinals 10
Miami Dolphins 37, New England Patriots 21
Miami Dolphins 23, New York Giants 13
Miami Dolphins 16, Baltimore Colts 0
Postseason
Miami Dolphins 20, Cleveland Browns 14 (Division Playoffs)
Miami Dolphins 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 17 (AFC Championship)
Miami Dolphins 14, Washington Redskins 7 (Super Bowl VII)
Notable
QB Kirk Cousins’ streak of 35 games with at least one touchdown pass is the longest active streak in the NFL.
Cousins is closing in on 3,000 career completions. He has 2,956 entering Sunday’s game. There are 30 quarterbacks who have reached that level.
With 154 yards receiving last week vs. Chicago, WR Justin Jefferson has eight straight games with at least 140 receiving yards. That’s the most in the NFL since 2020.
S Harrison Smith will play his 150th career game at Miami. That’s second only to Paul Krause (172) for most games played by a safety in team history.
Miami enters Sunday’s game with 499 wins in franchise history. The Dolphins are 479-387-4 in the regular season and 20-21 in the playoffs.
The first time
Here’s what was happening when the Vikings and Dolphins played for the first time on Oct. 1, 1972.
No. 1 TV show
After the Vikings and Dolphins played in the 3:00 window on NBC much of the country turned over to ABC to watch the Sunday Night Movie, Love Story.
Love Story became the most watched film on television surpassing Ben-Hur with 27 million homes watching, with a score of 42.3 by Nielsen ratings and an audience share of 62%.
The rating was equaled the following year by Airport and then surpassed in 1976 by Gone with the Wind.
No. 1 movie
In theatres that week, Super Fly was number one for the second straight week.
Here’s the trailer:
That year The Godfather was No. 1 for 22 straights weeks, Butterflies are Free took over for one week and then The Godfather moved back in for three more weeks before giving way to Super Fly.
No. 1 song
The top song in the U.S. was Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me by Mac Davis.
Series highlights
Miami leads the series 8-5
Current streak: Minnesota has won 1
Longest Vikings win streak: 3 (1994-2007)
Longest Dolphins win streak: 3 (1977-1988)
Most Vikings points: 41 (2018)
Most Dolphins points: 35 (1994)
Fewest Vikings points: 7 (1973, 1988)
Fewest Dolphis points:7 (2004)
Scores
Results in the series between the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins.
12-16-2018: Minnesota Vikings 41, Miami Dolphins 17
12-21-2014: Miami Dolphins 37, Minnesota Vikings 35
09-19-2010: Miami Dolphins 14, Minnesota Vikings 10
11-19-2006: Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 20
12-21-2002: Minnesota Vikings 20, Miami Dolphins 17
09-10-2000: Minnesota Vikings 13, Miami Dolphins 7
09-25-1994: Minnesota Vikings 38, Miami Dolphins 35
10-02-1988: Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7
12-05-1982: Miami Dolphins 22, Minnesota Vikings 14
09-16-1979: Miami Dolphins 27, Minnesota Vikings 12
12-11-1976: Minnesota Vikings 29, Miami Dolphins 7
01-13-1974: Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7 (Super Bowl VIII)
10-01-1972: Miami Dolphins 16, Minnesota Vikings 14
Total points: Miami Dolphins 271, Minnesota Vikings 260