Top five 1970s Cleveland Browns games to watch while social distancing

Browns at unbeaten Miami, Divisional Playoffs, 1972

Someone should definitely put up a statue of Art Modell in front of their stadium, but not the Browns. The Miami Dolphins owe so much to the Browns for deft trades with Modell acting as his own general manager, that brought them Hall of Famer Paul Warfield, and Bob Matheson, who was famous as the catalyst of the “53 defense.”  He also traded away future All-Pro halfback Ron Johnson for a wide receiver to replace Warfield, and he managed ten receptions for the entire season.

The Dolphins would not have gone 17-0 that year without the help of Warfield and Matheson, and moreover the Browns would not have lost that playoff game in 1972 had it not been for Mike Phipps having the worst game of his career.

The Dolphins won this game by picking off Phipps five times, while also scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt.

They were saved by Warfield, who had two carries for 41 yards. He also snagged two balls from Earl Morrall for 50 yards (over half the team receiving total).

The Browns were led by fullback Bo Scott, who was good for 94 yards, and as a team the Browns compiled 165 rushing yards and 5.2 yards per carry. That is usually enough to win, but not if you trade a Hall of Famer who contributes 91 yards against you while your guy is firing five balls into  the aqua jerseys.

The Browns defense completely shut down Morrall, holding him to 88 yards, completing only six of 13 pass attempts, with four sacks and pressure on all of his dropbacks. Wait, Earl Morrall, not Bob Griese? Yes, many casual fans assume Morrall faded into the woodwork after the Super Bowl III disaster, but not so. He followed coach Don Shula to Miami and started 11 of 17 games due to an injury to Griese.

Not that many fans remember this game, perhaps because the Dolphins were undefeated and no one expected the Browns to beat them. But the reason why it hurts is because this was 1,000 percent on Browns owner Art Modell, who gave the Dolphins their main offensive star in this game, while Mike Phipps contributed not one, not two, not three, not four but five interceptions. The game ended with the Browns behind 20-14 and driving for a potential game-winning touchdown, only to have Phipps toss his fifth interception to extinguish the drive.

To be fair, Phipps had better success after leaving Cleveland, going 14-6  for the Chicago Bears despite injuries. It was not his fault that Modell overdrafted him to be the Namath of the Browns. So do not blame Phipps for being overvalued by the Browns, but do blame Mr. Modell for ruinous trades and interfering with the football operation. And do blame him for losing the playoff game that would have killed the Dolphins’ undefeated season.

Without Warfield and Matheson, the Dolphins absolutely, positively would not have gone 17-0, and they absolutely positively would not have prevailed in this playoff game.

Cleveland Browns at Miami Dolphins, Divisional Playoffs, 1972