January 2, 1982: The Kellen Winslow Game

January 2, 1982, 40 years ago: History calls it "The Epic in Miami" or "The Kellen Winslow Game." Sports Illustrated called it "The Game No One Should Have Lost." San Diego Chargers fans called it "The Greatest Game Ever Played." Miami Dolphins fans call it "The Miracle That Died."

The AFC Eastern Division Champion Dolphins hosted the AFC Western Division Champion Chargers at the Orange Bowl. Despite a starting time of 5:00 PM, it was hot, 88 degrees. That shouldn't have bothered a team from San Diego. But, like Arizona, San Diego usually has a dry heat. This game also came with a lot of humidity, and that would have seemed to favor the Miami team.

The 1st quarter was all Chargers. Dan Fouts, engineer of head coach Don Coryell's "Air Coryell" attack, drove them down the field, but all they could get was a 32-yard field goal from Rolf Benirschke. Still, their much-maligned defense forced the Dolphins to punt, and Wes Chandler returned that punt 56 yards for a touchdown.

The Dolphins fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Chargers recovered. They drove until Chuck Muncie scored from 1 yard out. And then Glen Edwards intercepted Dolphin quarterback David Woodley, setting up a touchdown pass from Fouts to James Brooks. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Chargers led, 24-0. The game looked over already.

The 2nd quarter didn't start out to disabuse anyone of that notion: The Dolphins' next drive was an incompletion, 2 sacks and a fumble. Finally, head coach Don Shula pulled young quarterback David Woodley, and replaced him with veteran Don Strock, who had waited for years behind Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese. Strock got the Dolphins moving, and Uwe von Schamann kicked a 34-yard field goal to get them onto the ledger.

(Benirschke was the Boston-born, San Diego-raised son of a German immigrant, who overcame ulcerative colitis to become a star kicker; while von Schamann was a German immigrant, who moved to Fort Worth, Texas as a teenager and switched from soccer to American-style football.)

Now, the game was going the Dolphins' way: They forced a fumble by Fouts, and Strock took his team down the field and threw a touchdown pass to Joe Rose. The Dolphins' defense, known as the Killer B's for all their players with names beginning with B -- Bob Baumhower, Doug Betters, Kim Bokamper, Doug Barnett, Bob Brudzinski, and the brothers Glenn and Lyle Blackwood -- held the Chargers, and Coryell chose to sent Benirschke out to try a 55-yard field goal, which fell a little short.

That gave the Dolphins great field position. Shula was in his 29th season in the NFL, his 22nd as a coach, his 19th as a head coach, and his 12th with the Dolphins -- totals that would eventually reach 43, 36, 33 and 26, respectively -- and he was a very conservative coach, not known for calling trick plays. This time, with 6 seconds left in the half and the ball on the Charger 40-yard line, he called one: Strock threw to Duriel Harris, who caught the ball, and immediately lateraled to Tony Nathan, who took it in for a touchdown. At halftime, it was Chargers 24, Dolphins 17, and anybody's ballgame.

Early in the 3rd quarter, Strock threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rose. The Chargers had now blown a 24-point lead: The game was tied.

Finally, the Chargers woke up. Fouts led them 60 yards in 6 plays, and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Winslow. Along with Ozzie Newsome of the Cleveland Browns, Winslow was considered the best tight end in the game at the time. But Strock came right back, and threw a touchdown pass to his own tight end, Bruce Hardy. It was 31-31, and still only in the 3rd quarter.

Late in the quarter, Charlie Joiner, a future Hall-of-Famer, slipped, allowing Lyle Blackwood to intercept Fouts, and to then lateral the ball to Gerald Small, who took it to the Charger 15. On the 1st play of the 4th quarter, Nathan ran 12 yards for a touchdown. For the 1st time in the game, the Dolphins led: 38-31.

Now, the clock was the Dolphins' ally, just the way Shula liked it. They kept the ball on the ground, and tried to run the clock out. But with 4:39 left in regulation, Louie Kelcher stripped the ball from Andra Franklin, and Pete Shaw recovered the ball on the Charger 18. Fouts took control, got the Chargers to the Dolphin 9, and, with 1:06 left threw a pass intended for Winslow. It went over his head, but was caught in the end zone by Brooks. It was 38-38.

The Dolphins had time for one more drive, but could only get to the Charger 26. von Schamann tried a game-winning field goal, but Winslow deflected it with his fingertips. This hot, humid, wild game was not done yet: It was going to overtime.

Both teams were tired. Both teams were dehydrated. Both teams wanted it over quickly. Many people in the stadium remembered a game the Dolphins had played 10 years earlier, beating the Kansas City Chiefs in a game that went to a 2nd overtime. That game was in Kansas City, and the weather was unseasonably warm. The people in the Orange Bowl would have taken that at this point.

The Chargers won the coin toss, and got inside the Dolphin 10, but got no further. Benirschke came on for a 27-yard field goal attempt. It should have been easy. But the snap and hold were both bad, and the kick went wide left. The Dolphins took this great chance, and got close enough for von Schamann to try a 35-yard field goal. But he kicked it low, and Leroy Jones became the 2nd Charger player of the game to block a field goal attempt.

The Chargers took over on their own 16. Fouts got his team a little closer, and a little closer, with the exception of a 39-yard catch by Joiner. Finally, he got close enough for Benirschke to try a field goal from 29 yards out. It was good: After 73 minutes and 52 seconds, the final score was Chargers 41, Dolphins 38.

This game set new NFL Playoff records: Most points by both teams (79), most total yards by both teams (1,036), and most passing yards by both teams (809). Strock had 403 yards passing, still a record, regular season or Playoff, for any NFL quarterback coming off the bench. Fouts completed 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards, a new team record. Each of those totals was a new NFL Playoff record.

But what everyone remembers is Kellen Winslow. He caught 13 passes, then an NFL Playoff record, for 166 yards and a touchdown. During the game, he was treated for a pinched nerve in his shoulder, a cut on his lip that needed 3 stitches, dehydration and cramps. The defining image of the game was of Winslow being helped off the field by offensive tackle Billy Shields and receiver Eric Sievers.

He cited the 3rd fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, in 1975: "I've never felt so close to death before. That's what Muhammad Ali said in Manila, and that's how I felt out there at the end."

Coryell said, "There has never been a game like this. It was probably the most exciting game in pro football history." Sure, he could say that: His team won, so he didn't have to explain why they had blown a 24-point lead. But Shula, who blew a 4th-quarter lead at home, agreed with him: "A great game, maybe the greatest ever." And Bryant Gumbel, calling the game for NBC, said, "If you didn't like this football game, you didn't like football."

Just 8 days later, the Chargers played the AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals -- and it was the biggest shift in temperature in the history of sports, from 88 degrees to 9 degrees below zero. With the name "Ice Bowl" already taken, this one was called the "Freezer Bowl," and they couldn't handle it, losing 27-7. The Chargers never got this close to the Super Bowl again for 13 years.

The Dolphins, on the other hand, got back the next season, though they lost Super Bowl XVII to the Washington Redskins.