Good Point doing my research of the 1981 Miami Dolphins were 0-1-1 against the Jets back in '81 and remember back in weeks 5 & 12 contests both the Jets were very close games between these longtime AFC East rivals. Week 5 counter between the Jets & Dolphins ended in a 28-28 overtime tie in week 5 then seven weeks later in the rematch at Shea Stadium the Jets won a thriller in the 4th quarter on a game-winning drive by Jets QB Richard Todd threw a touchdown with:16 seconds in regulation in the 4th quarter to give the Jets a 16-15 win as the Jets had extended their unbeaten streak at (7-0-1) in their last 8 games. Had the Dolphins won either or both games against the Jets? which the Dolphins should have they would have finished (13-3) with the best record in the AFC and the road to Super Bowl XVI in Pontiac would have gone through The Orange Bowl meaning the Dolphins would have still had to play the Chargers in the AFC Divisional Playoffs anyway because under the old playoff format which two teams in the same division could not face off against each other in the divisional playoffs until the Conference Championship in their respective Conferences. Ironically the Dolphins Chargers playoff game was a classic which was one the all-time playoff games now had the Dolphins won in week 5 at the Orange Bowl instead of the overtime and would both teams would have split their season series at (1-1)? The Dolphins would have gone (12-4) they would have the exact same identical record with the Bengals who also had a (12-4) record. The difference would be between (12-4) vs (11-4-1) have in common? both teams were tied in the loss column with the same number of losses apiece with four. The Bengals would have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs because the Bengals had a better conference record (10-2) to the Dolphins (8-3-1). 1981 Miami Dolphins were the most underrated team coached by a Don Shula team because they lost three players to retirement including future Hall Of Famers Bob Griese and Larry Little they were able to win another AFC East title and their 9th playoff appearance in the last 12 years. This was a stretch where between 1970-1985 the Dolphins either tied/shared or outright finished first in the AFC East 13 times including qualified for the playoffs 14 times including winning two Super Bowls, a perfect undefeated 17-0 season in 1972, appeared in the AFC Championship title game winning five of the six times during that 16-year span. As for the 1981 season, it was a season full of surprises my 49ers would go 13-3 in the regular season led by Bill Walsh and Joe Montana and the Bengals and the both of the New York teams both the Giants and the Jets making the playoffs for the first time in years then two memorable playoff games the Chargers with their high octane explosive offense of QB Dan Fouts, WR Charlie Joiner, Wes Chandler, and TE Kellen Winslow winning that overtime classic in The Orange Bowl against the Dolphins 41-38 then a week later the Niners beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship at Candlestick Park where Joe Montana hit Dwight Clark for "The Catch" then which culminated two weeks later in Super Bowl XVI when the Niners beat the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals 26-21at the Pontiac Silverdome to win the franchise first Super Bowl which started a run of dominance during the decade of the '80s.

Imagine if they had a QB. Miami in '81 was a defense without an offense.

Bob Kuechenberg felt that the Dolphins wouldn't have fared any better against the Bengals than the Chargers did. The reason he gave was that the Epic in Miami drained so much out of both teams that, as was the case with the Chargers, the Dolphins wouldn't have had anything left, either. Now had the Bills been able to hold on against the Bengals in the other Divisional Playoff match-up, and they had a real chance, things could easily have wound up differently, because the Bills had trouble against both the Chargers (who beat them in the playoffs in 1980) and Dolphins, who they could never beat back then. But in the end, the Bengals were the best team in the AFC in 1981 and rightly deserved to be in the Super Bowl that season.

@Scott Martin rip shula , will probobly never see a coach have a job that long maybe ever again

@@cjs83172 Agreed. I don't see 1981 as a missed opportunity for Miami. 1985 on the other hand...

After Miami lost ILB #51 Rusty Chambers to tragic & fatal car accident on July 1st, 1981, I am thinking that #55 Earnest Rhone was an upgrade. #55 Rhone was a quick, and active sort and was Miami's most productive 1981 LB with a whopping 171 tackles (60 more than the next defender). Not a big basher @224 pounds, Rhone accelerated off blocks, pursued well laterally, and was nimble in pass-defense. He also had six sacks in 1981.

@@plntntvzn Rhone was a nice find, but Imagine Rhone , rusty chambers, Larry Gordon and AJ Duhe as a stable of LBs in early 80s - regrettably Gordon (the best of them ) died of heart attack in 1983. 1st Round pick RB David Overstreet died during same offseason as Gordon. Early 80s Dolphins had a disproportionate share of tragedy.

@@davidpridham3741 I know Larry Gordon was the best athlete of the group, but too many blown coverages & assignments made Gordon a feast-or-famine type. You think Rusty Chambers was better than 1981 arrival Brudzinski?

@@plntntvzn Ex Ram brudzinski was not terrific in coverage but was a good run stopper. Beudzinkski outlasted many of the official 1981-82Killer B’s .....Bowser and Brown replaced Rhone and Gordon and Duhe by. Mid-80s when the Miami D took massive steeps backwards. Best guess is that Bill Arnslarger would keep the D in reasonable shape had he not left for the college ranks - his replacement chuck studley was a disaster.......1986 was a prime example of the fall off between an Arnsparger D and Studley D......the 85-87 defences were awful.......despite Marino having a season In 1986 that truly rivalled his 84 season - the best Miami could do was 8-8.

@@davidpridham3741 Yes, and I should not have even been implying that Miami was better off without LB#51 Rusty Chambers as their run-defense was better in 1980 than it was in the years after, while their pass-defense remained strong. I know I call LB#50 Larry Gordon a feast-or-famine type but lots of NFL LBs who have gone on to be among the very greatest pass-rushers in NFL history would have also been just feast-or-famine had they been asked to cover atleast as much as, if not more than, they were used as pass-rushers. Gordon, the best athlete of Miami's LBs, should have always been used as a pass-rusher, as on '1977 NFL week 13' @1:44-50 Gordon could not even be stopped by (of all people) #73 Patriot LG legendary Hannah the Destroyer. It was also in 1977 that #77 AJ Duhe was drafted in 1st-round and I still think AJ Duhe was their best defensive player. With enough strength to play on the D-line, Duhe was also mobile enough to step up vs the run as a former DE, and enough coverage skills to be used there as well, the half-LB-half-lineman and special talent gave the Dolphin defense its unpredictability. An opposing QB first had to locate Duhe in the defense, then guess what the explosive Duhe was going to do, then pray somebody would be in position to block him. Duhe had excellent quickness (amazing quickness for a big man at 6'4"250-pounds) and attacked from every angle as a big-play machine, until knee & shoulder injuries caught up to him sometime in 1984.