The Kansas City Chiefs meet the Miami Dolphins in one of the week 3 matchups on the NFL schedule, and that will make the “Throwback Thursday” feature for this week a game played between these two franchises on Christmas Day, December 25, 1971, that became the longest game played in league history. The game was played in the era prior to regular season overtime being implemented, but because it was a playoff game it had to be played until a winner was determined, and wound up going into double overtime. The Chiefs, under coach Hank Stram, had won the Super Bowl 2 seasons earlier, having shocked the Minnesota Vikings to give the upstart AFL their second straight title before the merger took full effect and the AFL was dissolved. It was the last game played at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, as the Chiefs would move into their new home, Arrowhead Stadium, the following year. Both coaches, Stram and Miami’s Don Shula, would go on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as would 12 other players involved in the game. The game was a see-saw affair, as K.C. jumped out to a 10-0 lead, only to see the Dolphins come back to tie. The teams traded scores and Chief quarterback Len Dawson then engineered a classic 91 yard scoring drive, with unsung back Ed Podolak supplying much of the yardage and capping off the drive with a three yard TD run. Miami’s Bob Griese then matched Dawson by guiding the Fish to a tying score, hitting tight end Marv Fleming with a short touchdown pass to cap it off. When Podolak returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the Dolphins 22 yard line, it looked like the Chiefs were a lock to win, especially since their field goal kicker was Jan Stenerud, arguably the best kicker of the era and still the only pure placekicker to make it into the Hall of Fame. Stenerud, however, sent his game-winning 31 yard attempt sailing wide right, and suffered his own personal Scott Norwood moment 20 years before the Bills’ kicker’s failed attempt. The game then went on long into the night, before the Dolphins’ Garo Yepremian finally won it with a field goal after 82 minutes and 40 seconds of playing time. It became the longest game in pro football history, surpassing the 1962 AFL title game between the Houston Oilers and Dallas Texans. The Texans won that game, and ironically the coach and quarterback of that Texan team were Stram and Dawson, as the Chiefs began their AFL lives in Dallas as the Texans before moving to Kansas City.
Podolak had a game for the ages in a losing cause for the Chiefs. He rushed for 85 yards on 17 carries, caught 8 passes for another 110 yards, returned 3 kickoffs for an amazing 153 yards, and with an additional few yards on punt returns, set an NFL record with 350 all-purpose yards in a single game, a mark that still stands today, some 40+ years later. Miami fullback Larry Csonka was quoted as saying afterwards that the game was going to be played until “somebody won, or died.” The win was the first playoff victory in Miami franchise history, and they would go on to advance to the Super Bowl, where they lost to Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.
Chiefs’ LB Willie Lanier takes on Miami FB Larry Csonka (photo courtesy of Spokeo.com)