A dreadful Steeler loss to the Dolphins: Larry Seiple's fake punt in 1972

... still remember that play 45 years later 

In 1972, the Steelers were still a developing team under fourth-year Coach Chuck Noll. However, they had a great opportunity to finally end the team's Super Bowl woes and appear in an NFL title game.

The only problem was that to do so, they have to upset the undefeated Miami Dolphins of Coach Don Shula.

The game at Three Rivers Stadium was a dandy. The Steelers had never been in an AFC championship game -- had never won an NFL title in all the years since 1933.

Now, by virtue by the miraculous Immaculate Reception a week before that gave them a win over Oakland -- take that, John Madden -- the Steelers were there.

The Steel Curtain was still in its infancy, but it was tough. The final four games of the regular season resulted in just 15 points by our opponents, under four points per game. Then, against the high-powered Oakland Raiders in the AFC semifinal a week earlier, they yielded only seven points that occurred on a scramble by Ken Stabler on a broken play to give Oakland the 7-6 lead that was erased by the Immaculate Reception.

As miraculous as Dec. 24, 1972 was, Dec. 31, 1972, was a day of Pittsburgh sports infamy. The Steelers lost a game that they had under control, and later that day, one of the greatest athletes in Pittsburgh history, Roberto Clemente, died in a plan crash as he delivered supplies to victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua.

One lousy play

And against the Dolphins, one stinking play ruined it all for us. A 37-yard fake punt by Larry Seiple that gave the Dolphins a first down deep in Steeler territory.

From there, backup QB Earl Morral connected with Larry Csonka for a 9-yard TD pass to tie the game at halftime.

Seiple's fake took Noll and his staff and team by surprise.

Pittsburgh did have some bad luck prior to that. On their first scoring drive, quarterback Terry Bradshaw was hit in the head and left with a concussion. Bradshaw fumbled into the end zone, but lineman Gerry Mullins did recover it for the 7-0 advantage.

The Steelers had dominated the first half, but the Dolphins took a 21-10 lead in the second half before Noll reinserted Bradshaw for the woeful Terry Hanratty.

[Shula had replaced Morral with Bob Griese in the second half, which led to their building their lead.]

Bradshaw led one scoring drive to narrow it to 21-17, but could not get any closer. He also tossed a couple of interceptions late in the game that could have been turned into TDs that would have given them the win.

That fake punt in the first half turned around a game that the Steelers had dominated with their defense. It was the difference in the AFC title game.

The play is on YouTube, but it is brutal to watch.

Few times did Noll's teams get outsmarted, but they did on this one.

[Noll had coached with Shula when the Dolphins coach was the head coach of the Baltimore Colts.]

So, on Jan. 8, 2017, the Steelers are the favored team, though it is two weeks from the AFC title game. However, they should be able to handle the Dolphins today.