1972–73 NFL playoffs
The Dolphins playing against the Redskins in Super Bowl VII
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| Dates | December 23, 1972–January 14, 1973 | ||||
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| Teams | 8 | ||||
| Games played | 7 | ||||
| Defending champions | Dallas Cowboys | ||||
| Champions | Miami Dolphins | ||||
| Runners-up | Washington Redskins | ||||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 1972 season began on December 23, 1972. The postseason tournament concluded with the Miami Dolphins defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, 14-7, on January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, becoming the first (and to date the only) NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated and untied.
Like the previous NFL seasons, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly divisional rotation, excluding the wild card teams who would always play on the road.
Within each conference, the three division winners and one wild card team (the top non-division winner with the best overall records of all remaining teams in the conference) qualified for the playoffs. The NFL did not use a seeding system until the 1975 season, and instead home teams during the first two rounds of the playoffs alternated by division. Thus it was possible for a team to host another club with a better regular season record. For the Super Bowl, the third and final round played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.
Steelers fullback Franco Harris scored the winning touchdown on what became known as the Immaculate Reception. In a game that was mostly dominated by defense, the contest remained scoreless throughout the entire first half. On the opening drive of the second half, Pittsburgh drove 67 yards to take a 3-0 lead on Roy Gerela's 18-yard field goal. Following two Raiders drives that were shut down by Jack Ham's interception and a fumble recovery by Glen Edwards, Steelers defensive back Mike Wagner fell on a fumble by quarterback Ken Stabler (who had replaced injured starter Daryle Lamonica earlier in the game) at the Oakland 35. Five plays later, Gerela kicked a 29-yard field goal that gave Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead in the fourth quarter. Stabler responded by leading his team 80 yards to score on a 30-yard touchdown run with 1:13 left in the game.
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