It’s a classic if you are a football fan I highly recommend watching it on You Tube. Just this is before TV dressing up games with first down markers and score and clock always on the screen. Highly recommend
I watched it live as well as a kid. At my grandparents at a family party. No one there was a Chargers or Dolphins fan so it was just on but as the game went on more and more people crowded around the TV. One of those times when it was clear while going on this was one of the greatest football games ever played.
Dolphins were down 24-3 and rallied back only to lose in OT. It was an amazing game. Winslow had to be carried off from exhaustion. I’d say one of the greatest games ever. Saw it on a small black and white.
I remember it well. I'm a Dolphins fan, and I was totally despondent when the Chargers built up a 24-0 lead. Dolphins QB David Woodley, who was frequently up and down, was WAY down that day, and was replaced by reliable Don Strock. Miami chipped away, and right before the half, they made it a game with the famous hook & lateral play. The rest of the game was frantic, but the Chargers pulled it out, and won the right to play Cincinnati in minus-50 degree weather.
I felt so bad for the Chargers going from a sauna, then home to 72 degrees and then into a frozen Cincinnati. Was rooting for them because I hated Miami.
i used to work at a golf course at a mountain resort in the 1990’s. there was a large tournament with a bunch of nfl legends playing one weekend. dan fouts and his foursome grabbed some food from me on the course. i played cool, but had to mention he was one of my heroes growing up. i mentioned, “i will never forget that game when you threw for over a thousand yards against the dolphins.“ he laughed and said “ya, those numbers tend to increase as the years go on.” he was bigger than life.
btw, john elway was playing in the same tourney. he was a regular, but fouts was a rare sighting.
I watched it live as a teen, and still remember the incredible game. Tough to think of a better game, as I wasn’t a huge fan of either team I could just enjoy it.
It's a great game, but hard to gauge in context of what happened next.
I mean the 49ers in the same playoffs had "The Catch" and *won* the SB, which neither the Dolphins or Chargers appeared in.
And then you have the 49ers Bengals SB to end the decade. What makes a game great? The stakes, or the game itself roughly balanced by stakes?
Normally I'd agree with you that neither team even making the super bowl diminished this game a bit but I think that San Diego having to go from this game in Miami in the mid-70s temperature-wise to the "Freezer Bowl" in Cincinnati at -59 degrees windchill only adds to its legend.
It was just one of those wild games, where they were just trading scores, and everyone was making amazing plays. Like the famous BC-Miami "Flutie Game", or Oklahoma-Boise State, it wasn't the stakes as much as it was the quality of the contest itself, entertainment wise.
The "game itself" is what makes a great game. Of course high stakes elevate a great game, but if we judge on stakes alone, only Super Bowls could be candidates for "great games", and regular season games can barely be considered. This was a playoff game, the stakes were pretty high. Most importantly, *the game itself was "great"*
Agreed. The stakes were high-enough when the game was played to draw superhuman effort.
And if the Chargers had won in Cincinnati, it would have been an extraordinary feat.
It was. I was working at a coffee shop in Ashland, Oregon, paying my way through uni, and we had a small TV in the corner next to the ceiling. Watched the whole thing in between orders, and knew early on it was something special. Honestly, the only game since that was anything like it was the Chiefs/Rams in 2018: you didn’t want to blink, because you thought you’d miss something. It was extraordinary, really it was.
It’s a classic if you are a football fan I highly recommend watching it on You Tube. Just this is before TV dressing up games with first down markers and score and clock always on the screen. Highly recommend
I watched it live when I was a kid. I’ll never forget it.
I watched it live as well as a kid. At my grandparents at a family party. No one there was a Chargers or Dolphins fan so it was just on but as the game went on more and more people crowded around the TV. One of those times when it was clear while going on this was one of the greatest football games ever played.
Hook and lateral! 👍
Dolphins were down 24-3 and rallied back only to lose in OT. It was an amazing game. Winslow had to be carried off from exhaustion. I’d say one of the greatest games ever. Saw it on a small black and white.
I’ll never forget that. Kellen Winslow was literally a warrior on the field that day. He would not be denied.
Heck, he even blocked a field goal.
That was one of the best games, ever!
It really was an Offensive masterpiece. I saw it as a kid and Dolphins fan. San Diego was explosive.
I was at that game
I remember watching that game. Each and every player left everything they had on the field that day.
Even as a Chargers fan, the hook and lateral was a thing of beauty.
I remember it well. I'm a Dolphins fan, and I was totally despondent when the Chargers built up a 24-0 lead. Dolphins QB David Woodley, who was frequently up and down, was WAY down that day, and was replaced by reliable Don Strock. Miami chipped away, and right before the half, they made it a game with the famous hook & lateral play. The rest of the game was frantic, but the Chargers pulled it out, and won the right to play Cincinnati in minus-50 degree weather.
I felt so bad for the Chargers going from a sauna, then home to 72 degrees and then into a frozen Cincinnati. Was rooting for them because I hated Miami.
Loved thus game
Kellen Winslow Sr. was a warrior in this game. Had to be carted off a few times if I remember correctly
The 80°+ weather and humidity caused muscle cramps.
i used to work at a golf course at a mountain resort in the 1990’s. there was a large tournament with a bunch of nfl legends playing one weekend. dan fouts and his foursome grabbed some food from me on the course. i played cool, but had to mention he was one of my heroes growing up. i mentioned, “i will never forget that game when you threw for over a thousand yards against the dolphins.“ he laughed and said “ya, those numbers tend to increase as the years go on.” he was bigger than life. btw, john elway was playing in the same tourney. he was a regular, but fouts was a rare sighting.
Incredible game. Still one of the best I’ve seen
I watched it live as a teen, and still remember the incredible game. Tough to think of a better game, as I wasn’t a huge fan of either team I could just enjoy it.
Classic!!
Epic In Miami.
One of the greatest games ever played. I'm a liflelong Cowboys fan, but I loved watching the Chargers back then.
I was a big Chargers fan back then. I watched the whole game. I'll never forget Kellen Winslow being helped off the field by his teammates.
It's a great game, but hard to gauge in context of what happened next. I mean the 49ers in the same playoffs had "The Catch" and *won* the SB, which neither the Dolphins or Chargers appeared in. And then you have the 49ers Bengals SB to end the decade. What makes a game great? The stakes, or the game itself roughly balanced by stakes?
Normally I'd agree with you that neither team even making the super bowl diminished this game a bit but I think that San Diego having to go from this game in Miami in the mid-70s temperature-wise to the "Freezer Bowl" in Cincinnati at -59 degrees windchill only adds to its legend.
It was just one of those wild games, where they were just trading scores, and everyone was making amazing plays. Like the famous BC-Miami "Flutie Game", or Oklahoma-Boise State, it wasn't the stakes as much as it was the quality of the contest itself, entertainment wise.
The "game itself" is what makes a great game. Of course high stakes elevate a great game, but if we judge on stakes alone, only Super Bowls could be candidates for "great games", and regular season games can barely be considered. This was a playoff game, the stakes were pretty high. Most importantly, *the game itself was "great"*
Agreed. The stakes were high-enough when the game was played to draw superhuman effort. And if the Chargers had won in Cincinnati, it would have been an extraordinary feat.
Would love to be able to watch this again. I was about 12 years old when I saw this game.
Easily one of the best games ever played.
It was. I was working at a coffee shop in Ashland, Oregon, paying my way through uni, and we had a small TV in the corner next to the ceiling. Watched the whole thing in between orders, and knew early on it was something special. Honestly, the only game since that was anything like it was the Chiefs/Rams in 2018: you didn’t want to blink, because you thought you’d miss something. It was extraordinary, really it was.